Cuningham
Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc. is a privately held US architecture and interior design firm serving enterprise clients across healthcare, education, gaming, hospitality, and corporate sectors from six offices, with specialized expertise in regenerative, Passive House, and tribal-cultural design.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1968
- HeadquartersMinneapolis, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Cuningham does
Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc. is a privately held US architecture and interior design firm headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, operating from six offices (Minneapolis, Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, Las Vegas, and Orlando, which opened in 2025) and serving enterprise clients across healthcare, K-12 and higher education, tribal gaming and hospitality, corporate workplace, themed entertainment, residential, cultural, and mixed-use sectors. The firm delivers full-service architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and master planning through cross-disciplinary teams, with documented expertise in sustainable and regenerative design, including Passive House, circular-economy workplace design, and all-electric educational facilities; it also operates specialized tribal-cultural integration for gaming clients and prefabrication-based delivery for active healthcare campuses.
The firm operates on a project-based professional services model, generating revenue through architecture and interior design fees quoted per engagement. Its go-to-market is enterprise and institutional sales, with sector-dedicated National Market Leaders for PK-12 Education, Gaming & Hospitality, and Healthcare, plus embedded Office Directors in each regional market. Marquee clients include Banner Health, Dignity Health, Sharp HealthCare, Rock Ridge Public Schools, Sierra Grande School District, Viejas/ Spokane/ Tachi-Yokut tribal nations, Pendry Hotels & Resorts, Disney, Epic, and Zhuhai Southern Film & Television Culture. Sustained award recognition (2015 AIA Minnesota Firm Award, 2023 AIA Colorado Design Award of Excellence, 2025 James D. MacConnell Award, #65 on Interior Design Magazine's Hospitality Giants) and leadership credentials (FAIA, LEED AP, WELL AP, ALEP) underpin brand positioning.
Cuningham is founder/management-controlled with no disclosed institutional investors, no funding rounds, no M&A activity, and no public revenue disclosure. Leadership comprises CEO Thomas Fridstein, Founder John Cuningham (founding date attributed as 1968 in firmographics), and Board Chair Margaret (Meg) Parsons, FAIA, alongside a Principal and Associate Principal bench structured around sector specializations. The firm is GDPR- and CCPA-compliant, holds LEED Gold project certifications, and its Culver City office achieved Certified Green Business Innovator Tier status.
Cuningham firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cuningham
- Legal name
- Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc.
- Website
- https://cuningham.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1968
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc. is a privately held US architecture and interior design firm serving enterprise clients across healthcare, education, gaming, hospitality, and corporate sectors from six offices, with specialized expertise in regenerative, Passive House, and tribal-cultural design.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cuningham industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Architecture and Interior Design Services
- NAICS
- Architectural Services (541310), Interior Design Services (54141), Landscape Architectural Services (54132)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Interior Design Services (BPAHAKAB)
Keywords
Where Cuningham is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Minneapolis
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices5 records
Markets served
Cuningham business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Architecture Services: Full-service architecture and interior design services for commercial, institutional, and hospitality projects. Revenue generated through project-based professional fees.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Cuningham product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc. is a privately held architecture and interior design firm founded in 1968 that delivers integrated design services across healthcare, education, gaming/hospitality, workplace, themed entertainment, residential, cultural, restaurant + retail, and mixed-use development sectors. With 251–500 employees and six offices across the United States, the firm combines architecture and interior design under one practice to serve enterprise and institutional clients nationwide.
Product overview
Cuningham is an architecture and interior design firm offering comprehensive design services through a unified practice model. The firm's core offerings span Architecture Services, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, and Master Planning, delivered across 13 distinct market sectors including Healthcare, Education, Hospitality, Gaming, Themed Entertainment, Workplace, Residential, Cultural, Restaurant + Retail, and Mixed-Use. Rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture, the firm operates as a full-service design practice where cross-disciplinary teams collaborate on projects across market sectors, with specialized expertise in areas such as regenerative design, healthcare planning, and tribal gaming facilities. The portfolio demonstrates end-to-end capability from initial programming and master planning through construction administration, with both domestic and international project experience.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Healthcare Architecture
Quantifiable outcome
- Prefabrication approach saved 55 days compared to traditional building methods on Banner Desert Medical Center project
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Cuningham
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Cuningham technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Cuningham partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.
- DPR ConstructioncoreCuningham worked closely with DPR Construction as the primary contractor on the Banner Desert Medical Center Women's Tower Expansion. DPR employed prefabrication strategies and served as the virtual big room lead during the COVID-19 pandemic, achieving the project 55 days ahead of traditional schedules.
- AEIcoreAEI served as the MEP engineer on the Banner Desert Medical Center Women's Tower Expansion project, collaborating with Cuningham's design team.
- PK AssociatescorePK Associates provided structural engineering for the Banner Desert Medical Center Women's Tower Expansion, part of the integrated project team.
- DibblecoreDibble provided structural/mEP engineering for the Banner Desert Medical Center Women's Tower Expansion project.
- Full Circle Indigenous Planning + Design, LLCcorePartnered with Full Circle Indigenous Planning + Design, LLC to design Mino-bimaadiziwin Apartments, a culturally-specific affordable housing development for the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians.
- Devenney GroupcoreCuningham collaborated with Devenney Group on the Mercy Hospital Southwest Thomas M. Hardt Tower Addition and Renovations project in Bakersfield, California.
- iGroup DesignmajorCompleted Willows Hotel & Spa at Viejas in collaboration with iGroup Design.
- Lisa WhitedsupportingWorkplace consultant Lisa Whited collaborated with Cuningham on the Woodard & Curran New Office project, bringing circular economy principles to the programming and design process.
- EpicycledsupportingCircular economy consultant Epicycled partnered with Cuningham on the Woodard & Curran New Office project.
- Red ThreadsupportingTechnology consultant Red Thread streamlined the Woodard & Curran office's IT infrastructure, leveraging cloud-based solutions for energy savings.
- Martin Brudnizki Design StudiomajorPartnered with Martin Brudnizki Design Studio on Pendry West Hollywood project for hospitality interior detailing and material selections.
- Moz MetalssupportingCollaborated with Moz Metals to develop custom iridescent metal finish for Tachi Palace Casino that visually changes as guests interact with it.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Cuningham competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Gensler: The largest global architecture and design firm with deep practices across workplace, hospitality, healthcare, and education. Direct competitor for enterprise and institutional clients, with overlap on hospitality giants and large-scale healthcare campuses.
- HOK: Global architecture, design, and engineering firm with strong healthcare, education, hospitality, and sports practices. Directly competes for the same hospital systems, universities, and large institutional clients as Cuningham.
- Perkins&Will: International architecture and design firm with leading healthcare, education, and science & technology practices. Strong overlap with Cuningham on hospital systems, K-12 and higher education, and sustainability-led design.
- HKS: National architecture firm with a top-ranked healthcare practice (HKS is dominant in hospital design) and growing education and hospitality work. Direct competitor on healthcare tower expansions and academic medical center projects.
- DLR Group: Employee-owned architecture and design firm with comparable sector mix across K-12, higher education, healthcare, workplace, and civic. Direct competitor for mid-market institutional clients and similar design-build delivery.
- SmithGroup: Integrated architecture, engineering, and planning firm with strong healthcare, education, and workplace practices. Comparable in scale and closely competes for university, hospital, and corporate workplace commissions.
- EwingCole: Architecture and engineering firm with a nationally recognized healthcare practice. Overlaps with Cuningham on complex hospital expansions and academic medical center work in the Mid-Atlantic and nationally.
Regional players
- Kahler Slater: Milwaukee-based integrated architecture and design firm with strong healthcare, corporate workplace, and senior living practices. Direct Midwest competitor, particularly for healthcare systems and corporate clients in the region.
- Wight & Company: Midwest-based architecture, engineering, and construction firm with strong K-12 and higher education practices. Competes with Cuningham on Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana school district clients and design-build education work.
- LSW Architects: Pacific Northwest architecture firm with established K-12 and higher education practices. Adjacent regional competitor in Cuningham's education vertical, particularly for Washington and Oregon school districts.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cuningham social profiles
Digital presenceCuningham compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Cuningham financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cuningham leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles20 records
Cuningham funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cuningham M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cuningham
What does Cuningham do?
Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc. is a privately held architecture and interior design firm founded in 1968 that delivers integrated design services across healthcare, education, gaming/hospitality, workplace, themed entertainment, residential, cultural, restaurant + retail, and mixed-use development sectors. With 251–500 employees and six offices across the United States, the firm combines architecture and interior design under one practice to serve enterprise and institutional clients nationwide.
Is Cuningham a public or private company?
Cuningham is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Cuningham founded?
Cuningham was founded in 1968. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Cuningham based?
Cuningham is headquartered in Minneapolis, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cuningham make money?
One revenue line is on record: architecture Services.
Who are Cuningham's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Gensler, HOK, Perkins&Will, HKS, DLR Group, SmithGroup and EwingCole. Regional players are Kahler Slater, Wight & Company and LSW Architects.
Does Cuningham have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cuningham.
What industry is Cuningham in?
Cuningham's product category is Architecture and Interior Design Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAA, Architectural Design Services, with a secondary code of BPAHAKAB, Interior Design Services. Its NAICS code is 541310.