KPF

What KPF does

KPF (Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates) is a privately held global architecture and design firm founded in 1976 in New York. The firm provides full-service architectural and interior design across commercial, residential, hospitality, transportation, civic, and mixed-use sectors, with a category-defining specialization in supertall towers — having designed 30+ towers over 300 meters, including 6 of the 15 tallest buildings in the world (e.g., Shanghai World Financial Center, Lotte World Tower, One Vanderbilt). It operates from six offices across the US, UK, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the UAE, serving institutional clients through direct commissions, design competitions, and RFPs.

The firm operates the KPF Urban Interface (KPFui) division, a wholly owned research and technology unit that developed the Scout platform — a web-based tool for rapid iteration of urban master plans across variables like density, transit, and street width. Scout was used to evaluate 2,240 design permutations for the Cupertino project. Additional proprietary tools include XIM (Pedestrian View Analysis) and the Skyline Design Tool. These capabilities support an environmental modeling service line focused on carbon reduction and building performance, deployed alongside the firm's design work.

KPF generates revenue through project-based professional services fees, typically calculated as a percentage of construction costs or as fixed fees for defined design phases. Pricing is non-public and negotiated per project. The go-to-market is enterprise field sales targeting large-scale commercial, residential, hospitality, and infrastructure developers, government entities, and sovereign clients. Recent mandates include the Adani Airport City urban development program in India (~INR 20,000 crore, six airports), Jeddah Central's Mandarin Oriental hotel and residences in Saudi Arabia, and Changi Airport Terminal 5 in Singapore (with Heatherwick Studio). The firm has no public listing, no external investors, and no disclosure of revenue.

Name

KPF

Legal name

KPF

Website

https://kpf.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

KPF (Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates) is a privately held global architecture firm founded in 1976, specializing in supertall towers, large-scale mixed-use developments, airports, and urban master planning for enterprise developers, sovereign clients, and institutions across six international offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Transportation & Infrastructure Planning (BPAHAKAF)

Keywords

• Architectural design services
• Supertall building design
• Urban planning
• Mixed-use developments
• Interior architecture

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Architectural Design Services: KPF generates revenue through fees for architectural design services on commercial, residential, hospitality, transportation, and urban planning projects. Revenue is project-based, typically calculated as a percentage of construction costs or fixed fees for specific design phases.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

KPF (Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates) is a global architecture firm providing full-service architectural and interior design for buildings and urban environments across residential, commercial, mixed-use, hospitality, civic, transportation, and supertall tower projects. The firm supplements its design practice with the KPF Urban Interface (KPFui) division, which develops proprietary urban data analytics and computational design tools, including the Scout platform and Plan Your Neighborhood tool, to optimize massing, views, thermal comfort, and parking across thousands of design permutations.

Product overview

KPF (Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates) is a global architecture and design firm offering full-service architectural design services for buildings and urban environments. The firm's portfolio spans residential, retail, commercial, mixed-use, hospitality, civic/cultural, transportation, and supertall tower projects worldwide. The company operates KPF Urban Interface (KPFui), a specialized division developing data analytics tools including the Scout platform for urban planning optimization and Plan Your Neighborhood for interactive housing development analysis. Additional specialized offerings include environmental modeling services and computational analysis capabilities that leverage rapid design iteration tools to evaluate massing, views, thermal comfort, and parking efficiency across thousands of permutations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• KPF Urban Interface (KPFui): Urban data analytics platform for informed decision making in the design of buildings and cities

Products and services

• Architectural Design Services Full-service architectural and interior design for buildings and urban environments across residential, commercial, mixed-use, hospitality, civic/cultural, transportation, and supertall tower typologies worldwide, delivered to enterprise developers, corporations, governments, and institutional clients.
• KPF Urban Interface (KPFui) Research & Technology Division Urban data analytics research and tooling division of KPF that combines urban data collection, scenario analysis, and 3D visualization to support data-driven decision making in the design of buildings and cities.
• Scout Urban Planning Analysis Platform Web-based analysis tool for testing iterations of urban master plans by toggling neighborhood elements such as density, transit, and street width to measure impact on urban comfort and efficiency; used by KPF to analyze thousands of design permutations rapidly.
• Plan Your Neighborhood Interactive quantitative tool that allows users to explore the future potential of housing developments by toggling neighborhood parameters such as density, transit, and street width to measure impact on urban comfort and efficiency, built on the Scout platform.
• XIM Pedestrian View Analysis Quantitative analysis system that exposes how urban morphology affects pedestrian experience, beginning with pedestrian field-of-view measurements.
• Skyline Design Tool Tool for designing skylines from any point in the city, applied to projects in cities that regulate the profile of new development.
• Environmental Modeling Services Environmental analysis and modeling services that use advanced tools to minimize carbon and maximize resilience in building and urban design.
• Computational Analysis Services Advanced computational analysis services leveraging Scout to generate and evaluate design permutations rapidly, including massing optimization, urban analytics, and scenario analysis for complex district plans.

Quantifiable outcome

• 6 of the 15 tallest buildings in the world designed by KPF
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered major, execution partner, key partner, co-designer and core.

• Adani Airport City LimitedmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026KPF serves as the architect for Adani Airports' ambitious INR 20,000 crore first-phase urban development program spanning 655 acres across six airports in five Indian states (Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Guwahati). The project will deliver approximately 22 million sq. ft. of mixed-use real estate with nearly 70% of investment concentrated in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
• Larsen & Toubroexecution partnerImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 25 June 2026Larsen & Toubro is engaged as one of the execution partners for the Adani Airport City development project alongside KPF.
• Tata Projectsexecution partnerImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 25 June 2026Tata Projects is engaged as one of the execution partners for the Adani Airport City development project alongside KPF.
• CBREexecution partnerImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 25 June 2026CBRE is engaged as one of the execution partners for the Adani Airport City development project alongside KPF.
• JLLexecution partnerImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 25 June 2026JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle) is engaged as one of the execution partners for the Adani Airport City development project alongside KPF.
• IHG Hotels & Resortskey partnerChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 25 June 2026IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed hotel management agreements with Adani Airport City Limited for the debut of Kimpton luxury hotels in India as part of the airport city development program. KPF is the architect on this broader project.
• Jeddah Central Development CompanymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 November 2025KPF is the architecture firm partnered with Jeddah Central Development Company for a new Mandarin Oriental luxury hotel and branded residences in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The project features 140 hotel rooms, 115 apartments, and 187 branded residences as a sustainable, low-density waterfront property with expected opening in 2030.
• Heatherwick Studioco-designerStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 September 2023Heatherwick Studio collaborated with KPF on the design of Changi Airport Terminal 5 in Singapore, reimagining the airport experience as a social extension of the city.
• KPF Urban Interface (KPFui)coreOthersKPF Urban Interface is the internal research and technology division of KPF focused on urban data analytics, computational design, and smart city solutions. Collaborates with universities and government agencies on research.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM): SOM is KPF's most direct competitor in supertall tower design and global architecture, with a similarly large portfolio of iconic skyscrapers and a comparable 50+ year operating history. Both firms compete for the same high-profile commercial, institutional, and supertall commissions worldwide.
• Foster + Partners: Foster + Partners is a global architecture firm of comparable size and prestige, competing directly with KPF in supertall towers (e.g., 30 St Mary Axe), transportation hubs, and master planning. Both firms serve similar enterprise developer clients on trophy commissions.
• Gensler: Gensler is the world's largest architecture firm and a direct competitor in commercial office towers, mixed-use developments, and large-scale global projects. While Gensler has a broader interior design focus, it competes with KPF for major enterprise commercial commissions.
• Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG): AS+GG is a direct supertall specialist competitor, founded by ex-SOM principals with deep expertise in towers over 300 meters. They compete with KPF for the same supertall commissions globally, including projects in the Middle East and China.
• HOK: HOK is a global architecture, engineering, and planning firm with comparable international presence and similar sector diversification across commercial, healthcare, aviation, and education—directly competing with KPF for institutional and large-scale enterprise projects.
• Zaha Hadid Architects: Zaha Hadid Architects is a globally recognized architecture firm competing for the same iconic, high-design commissions as KPF. Both firms serve enterprise clients seeking landmark buildings and have similar award-winning international profiles.
• BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group): BIG is a contemporary global architecture firm competing with KPF for high-profile mixed-use, residential, and commercial commissions, with similar international project distribution and a comparable focus on innovative, design-forward buildings.
• Perkins&Will: Perkins&Will is a global architecture firm of similar scale and sector breadth, competing with KPF in healthcare, education, commercial, and urban planning. Both firms serve enterprise and institutional clients on mid-to-large scale projects.
• SHoP Architects: SHoP Architects is a New York-based architecture firm with comparable sector focus on supertall residential, mixed-use, and large-scale commercial projects. They compete with KPF for similar Manhattan and global real estate developer clients.

Emerging players

• Heatherwick Studio: Heatherwick Studio is a London-based design studio that has directly partnered with KPF on the Changi Airport Terminal 5 project, indicating overlapping capabilities and client base in transportation and iconic architecture commissions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kohnpedersenfox
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@KohnPedersenFox
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kpf
• Instagraminstagram.com/kohnpedersenfox
• Facebookfacebook.com/kohnpedersenfox

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KPF