Overland Partners
Overland Partners is an employee-owned architecture and urban design firm founded in 1987, providing full-service architecture, master planning, and sustainable design for enterprise and institutional clients across education, hospitality, civic, healthcare, and residential sectors in the U.S. and internationally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1987
- HeadquartersSan Antonio, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Overland Partners does
Overland Partners is a privately held, employee-owned architecture and urban design firm founded in 1987 in San Antonio, Texas, by Rick Archer and Tim Blonkvist. The firm operates across seven project typologies — civic, commercial & mixed-use, education, entertainment & experience, hospitality, master planning & urban design, and residential — and is organized around two signature proprietary frameworks: the trademarked Human Handprint™ methodology (built on the tenets of Aspiration, Inspiration, Relationships, Stewardship, and Well-Being) and Unlocking the Embedded Potential™. Its service portfolio spans full architecture (schematic design through construction administration), master planning, urban design, interior design, and strategic advisory, supplemented by specialized Impact Design, Sustainable Design, and Innovation modules. The firm has been an early and sustained leader in regenerative design, holding two AIA COTE Top Ten Awards — the inaugural 2000 award for Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the 2026 award for Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, which it designed as the world's first net-positive-energy botanical complex and a Living Building Challenge Petal-certified Living Community.
The firm serves enterprise and institutional clients across education (Baylor University, University of Texas, Texas A&M, Austin Community College, Alamo Colleges), hospitality (Auberge Resorts Collection for Stanly Ranch and Mirasol Springs; Zachry Hospitality for The Monarch), cultural and civic institutions (Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, ChildSafe, Haven for Hope, The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center), healthcare (Christus Children's), and government (Austin Parks & Recreation, Fair Park Capital Improvement Plan). Pricing is custom-quoted, project-based professional services with no published rates; go-to-market is direct enterprise engagement supported by thought leadership, awards recognition, and professional community participation in AIA, USGBC, and NOMA Central Texas. Marquee projects include the $500 million Binational River Conservation Project and the world's first net-positive restaurant (Green Orchid, March 2024). The firm employs 75–95 people across San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Denver, Nashville, and New York, with 23 employee-owners, and has delivered projects in the U.S., Japan, China, Mexico, and New Zealand.
Recent strategic activity includes the April 2024 acquisition of Sanders Architecture, an Austin office expansion in 2023, leadership transition (Adam Bush as President from 2023, Rick Archer as Senior Principal and Dean of Belmont's O'More College of Architecture), and consecutive Texan by Nature 20 recognition (2022, 2023, 2025) for conservation leadership. The firm is part of the 2.5% of U.S. architecture firms that have signed the AIA 2030 Commitment and maintains an unusually high density of staff with LEED AP, LFA, WELL AP, and NCARB credentials. No revenue, funding, or M&A disclosure beyond the Sanders transaction appears in public sources.
Overland Partners firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Overland Partners
- Legal name
- Overland Partners, Inc.
- Website
- https://overlandpartners.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1987
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Overland Partners is an employee-owned architecture and urban design firm founded in 1987, providing full-service architecture, master planning, and sustainable design for enterprise and institutional clients across education, hospitality, civic, healthcare, and residential sectors in the U.S. and internationally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Overland Partners is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Antonio
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices6 records
Markets served
Overland Partners business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Architecture Services: Full-service architecture including design, master planning, urban design, and interior design for diverse project types across multiple sectors globally
- Strategic Advisory: Provides strategic advisory services for complex projects including fundraising support, market research, and alternative delivery methodologies
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels8 records
Overland Partners product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Overland Partners is a full-service architecture and urban design firm providing architecture, master planning, urban design, interior design, and strategic advisory services for clients across education, hospitality, civic, cultural, healthcare, commercial, and residential sectors globally. Services span schematic design, design development, construction documentation, and construction administration, with deep specialization in sustainable design, trauma-informed design, and net-positive energy buildings. The firm operates from offices in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Nashville, and New York, serving institutional and enterprise clients in the U.S. and internationally.
Product overview
Overland Partners is an internationally renowned architecture and design firm offering comprehensive services across architecture, master planning, urban design, interior design, and strategic advisory. The firm operates as a single integrated practice organized around seven project typologies: Civic, Commercial & Mixed-Use, Education, Entertainment & Experience, Hospitality, Master Planning & Urban Design, and Residential. The core service offering consists of Architecture Services, Master Planning, Urban Design, Interior Design, and Strategic Advisory, supplemented by specialized modules including Impact Design Services, Sustainable Design Services, and Innovation Services. The proprietary Human Handprint Methodology framework differentiates their approach, guiding all projects through five tenets (Aspiration, Inspiration, Relationships, Stewardship, Well-Being) to unlock embedded potential. The firm is recognized for sustainable and regenerative design, holding multiple AIA COTE Top Ten Awards and leading in sustainable practices including Living Building Challenge certification. With over 75 people across offices in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Nashville, and New York, the firm delivers transformative solutions spanning education, healthcare, civic, hospitality, and residential sectors worldwide.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Architecture Services Full-service architecture design covering residential, commercial, civic, hospitality, education, and institutional building types. Services include schematic design, design development, construction documentation, and construction administration.
- Master Planning Comprehensive master planning services for campuses, urban districts, and large-scale developments. Integrates environmental stewardship, social equity, and economic viability into cohesive design frameworks.
- Urban Design Urban design services creating patterns for cohesive expressions authentic to their context. Focuses on placemaking, pedestrian-oriented environments, and sustainable urban solutions.
- Interior Design Interior design services integrated with architecture, emphasizing material selection, spatial planning, and alignment with overall project sustainability and human experience goals.
- Strategic Advisory Strategic advisory services including collaboration with complex stakeholder groups, fundraising support, alternative delivery methodologies, brand incorporation, market research, and post-occupancy evaluations.
Quantifiable outcome
- Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is the world's first net-positive energy botanical garden, generating more energy than it consumes
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Overland Partners
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Overland Partners technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Overland Partners partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- OLINcoreLandscape architecture partner collaborating with Overland Partners on the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens master plan and Welcome Center project. OLIN is a renowned landscape architecture firm contributing to the project's sustainable and ecological design approach.
- One80 SolarcoreSolar power engineer and contractor for the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens project, responsible for implementing the net-positive energy systems that make Selby the world's first net-power positive botanical complex.
- ArupcoreStructural, mechanical, and electrical engineering partner for the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens project, providing comprehensive engineering expertise for the net-positive energy and sustainable building systems.
- Kimley-HorncoreStructural engineering partner for the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens project, collaborating on the innovative building design and sustainable infrastructure.
- Lam PartnerscoreLighting designer for the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens project, responsible for creating lighting solutions that complement the sustainable and experiential design vision.
- Willis Smith ConstructioncoreGeneral contractor for the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens project, responsible for construction of the innovative sustainable buildings.
- Studio 8 ArchitectsminorAssociate architect for the Dougherty Arts Center project in Austin, working alongside Overland Partners on this community arts facility.
- American Institute of Architects (AIA)coreOverland is actively involved in AIA professional community engagement. The firm is a platinum sponsor for the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) Central Texas chapter with people in leadership positions on the board.
- U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)coreActive professional community engagement with USGBC. Overland is part of only 2.5% of architecture firms nationwide who signed the AIA 2030 Commitment, a climate strategy to reach carbon neutrality and net zero emissions.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Overland Partners competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- HOK: Global architecture, engineering, and planning firm with major higher education, healthcare, and science + research practices. Competes for similar large institutional commissions and has parallel sustainability leadership (carbon-neutral design commitments).
- SmithGroup: Integrated design firm combining architecture, engineering, and planning with strong higher education, healthcare, and science/research sector expertise. Comparable sustainability positioning and similar enterprise client engagement model.
- Gensler: Largest global architecture and design firm with significant presence in commercial, hospitality, and education sectors. Operates at much larger scale but competes for similar enterprise clients; notably one Overland architect interned at Gensler SA.
- Perkins&Will: Large global architecture firm with strong sustainability credentials (LEED Platinum focus, Living Building Challenge experience) and parallel higher education, healthcare, and cultural practice. Larger in scale but operates in the same mission-driven, sustainability-led segment of the market.
Direct peers
- Olson Kundig: Seattle-based architecture firm with parallel emphasis on craft, contextual design, and high-end residential/hospitality work. Similar boutique scale, design-led philosophy, and award-recognized portfolio in luxury hospitality.
- Page (formerly Page Southerland Page): Texas-headquartered architecture and engineering firm with deep higher education, healthcare, and civic portfolio. Comparable in Texas presence, sector focus on education and healthcare, and similar institutional client base.
- Bohlin Cywinski Jackson: Boutique architecture firm with parallel design excellence positioning across civic, cultural, residential, and education sectors. Comparable scale and reputation-driven business model focused on award-recognized, mission-driven projects.
- Lake|Flato Architects: San Antonio-based architecture firm with parallel sustainability focus, AIA COTE Top Ten recognition, and similar emphasis on contextual, mission-driven design across education, hospitality, and civic sectors. Most direct comparable given shared Texas roots, similar headcount scale, and overlapping client types.
- Marmol Radziner: Design-build architecture firm (one of the few with integrated construction capability) with strong residential, hospitality, and commercial practice. Comparable emphasis on craft, sustainability, and high-end custom work; differs by offering in-house construction.
- HKS Architects: Dallas-based global architecture firm serving healthcare, education, sports, and commercial sectors with similar enterprise-scale project delivery. Comparable in size, Texas roots, and enterprise client focus, though broader in market reach.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Overland Partners social profiles
Digital presenceOverland Partners compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance20 records
Overland Partners financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Overland Partners leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Overland Partners funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Overland Partners M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Overland Partners
What does Overland Partners do?
Overland Partners is a full-service architecture and urban design firm providing architecture, master planning, urban design, interior design, and strategic advisory services for clients across education, hospitality, civic, cultural, healthcare, commercial, and residential sectors globally. Services span schematic design, design development, construction documentation, and construction administration, with deep specialization in sustainable design, trauma-informed design, and net-positive energy buildings. The firm operates from offices in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Nashville, and New York, serving institutional and enterprise clients in the U.S. and internationally.
Is Overland Partners a public or private company?
Overland Partners is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was Overland Partners founded?
Overland Partners was founded in 1987. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Overland Partners based?
Overland Partners is headquartered in San Antonio, United States, in the North America region.
How does Overland Partners make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Architecture Services are the primary driver. The others are strategic Advisory.
Who are Overland Partners's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are HOK, SmithGroup, Gensler and Perkins&Will. Direct peers are Olson Kundig, Page (formerly Page Southerland Page), Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Lake|Flato Architects, Marmol Radziner and HKS Architects.
Does Overland Partners have an API?
No public API is recorded for Overland Partners.