Ziger|Snead Architects
Ziger|Snead Architects is a Baltimore-based architecture firm founded in 1984 that delivers historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and sustainable design services for educational, cultural, civic, and residential clients across the mid-Atlantic region.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1984
- HeadquartersBaltimore, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Ziger|Snead Architects does
Ziger|Snead Architects is a private architecture firm founded in 1984 by Steve Ziger and Jamie Snead, headquartered at 1006 Morton Street in Baltimore, Maryland. The firm provides full-service architectural design spanning new construction, renovation, adaptive reuse, historic preservation, and interior design for residential, educational, cultural, civic, and institutional clients. Core technical capabilities emphasize sustainable design (AIA 2030 Commitment signatory with documented 50%+ reductions in predicted energy use intensity), historic preservation expertise (including a National Trust Driehaus Preservation Award), and the use of analytical tools, parametric modeling, and AI-assisted workflows for project design and delivery.
The firm operates on a project-based professional services revenue model, with fees typically structured as a percentage of construction cost or fixed fees by service phase, pursued through direct client engagement, competitive RFQ/RFP processes, and a strong regional reputation built over four decades. Its client roster includes Johns Hopkins University, MICA, the Smithsonian Institution, Baltimore Museum of Art, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Loyola University Maryland, Stevenson University, Friends School of Baltimore, Port Discovery, and a long list of nonprofits and civic organizations, with notable signature projects such as the Brown Center at MICA, SNF Parkway Theater, Baltimore Design School, Hoen Lithograph Center, and Baltimore Unity Hall. The firm is currently led by Partners Douglas Bothner and Katelin Etoh following the transition of both founders to Partner Emeritus roles by 2025.
Ziger|Snead serves four primary vertical segments: cultural and arts institutions, educational institutions, civic and community organizations, and select residential clients. It markets primarily through content-driven channels (website, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook) and earned media via architectural publications and a sustained record of regional and national awards. As a privately held partnership of approximately 20 staff with no external funding, the firm combines an award-winning portfolio with a deliberately limited scale, focused on the mid-Atlantic market with concentration in Maryland and adjacent states.
Ziger|Snead Architects firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ziger|Snead Architects
- Legal name
- Ziger|Snead Architects
- Website
- https://zigersnead.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1984
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Ziger|Snead Architects is a Baltimore-based architecture firm founded in 1984 that delivers historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and sustainable design services for educational, cultural, civic, and residential clients across the mid-Atlantic region.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ziger|Snead Architects industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Architectural Design Services
- NAICS
- Architectural Services (54131)
- SIC
- Services-Engineering Services (8711)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Interior Design Services (BPAHAKAB)
Keywords
Where Ziger|Snead Architects is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Baltimore
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Ziger|Snead Architects business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Architecture and Design Services: Professional architecture services including new construction, renovation, adaptive reuse, historic preservation, and interior design. Revenue is generated through project-based fees for design, documentation, and construction administration services across residential, commercial, institutional, and civic projects.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
Ziger|Snead Architects product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ziger|Snead Architects is a Baltimore-based architecture studio providing full-service architectural design, programming, and interior design services. The firm specializes in new construction, renovation, adaptive reuse, and historic preservation across residential, educational, cultural, civic, and commercial projects, with a stated commitment to sustainability and community-centered placemaking. Services span concept development through construction documentation and administration on a project-based fee model.
Product overview
Ziger|Snead Architects is an architecture firm offering comprehensive design services centered on architectural design, historic preservation, and adaptive reuse. The portfolio spans residential homes, educational facilities, community/civic buildings, and cultural institutions. The firm operates with a collaborative studio model supported by design talent recruitment and diversity-focused fellowship programs. Services extend from initial concept through construction administration, with emphasis on sustainability, parametric modeling, and AI-assisted design workflows.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Architectural Design Services Full-service architectural design spanning residential, commercial, civic, cultural, and educational building projects. Services encompass concept development through construction documentation and administration.
- Historic Preservation & Adaptive Reuse Specialized renovation and restoration of historic structures, including adaptive reuse projects that transform existing buildings for new purposes while preserving architectural heritage.
- Educational Facility Design Design of schools, colleges, and educational institutions, including the Baltimore Design School, MICA Brown Center, and university campus expansions for clients such as Johns Hopkins University, Goucher College, and Loyola University Maryland.
- Community & Civic Architecture Design of community centers, museums, civic buildings, and public facilities including Baltimore Unity Hall, Parkway Theater, and cultural institutions serving nonprofits and government clients.
- Custom Residential Architecture Custom single-family residences, retreats, and private homes with high design standards, responding to site, maximizing natural light, and creating distinctive living environments for individual homeowners and families.
Quantifiable outcome
- Projects average more than 50% reduction in predicted energy use intensity (pEUI) through AIA 2030 Commitment
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Ziger|Snead Architects
Customer profileNamed customers23 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Ziger|Snead Architects technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature2 records
Ziger|Snead Architects partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.
- International Living Future InstitutemajorThe International Living Future Institute administers the Just Label program and Living Future Impact Awards. Ziger|Snead Architects earned the Just 3.0 Label and was selected for the 2026 Living Future Impact Award in the Advocacy in Action category.
- Living FuturemajorLiving Future organizes the annual Living Future Conference where the Impact Awards are announced. Ziger|Snead Architects was recognized at the 2026 conference in Seattle, Washington.
- Cross Street PartnerscoreCross Street Partners is coordinating the Upton Mansion redevelopment with Ziger|Snead Architects providing architecture and design services for the restoration of this historic 1838 mansion that will house the AFRO Archives.
- Commercial ConstructionmajorCommercial Construction serves as the general contractor for the Upton Mansion redevelopment project, working in coordination with Ziger|Snead Architects' design team.
- Baltimore CountymajorBaltimore County is committed to funding new outdoor amenities and athletic fields for the Pikesville Armory redevelopment. The project also received $15 million in public investment from state and federal sources.
- Pikesville Armory FoundationcoreThe Pikesville Armory Foundation is leading the $100 million redevelopment of the historic Pikesville Armory. Ziger|Snead Architects is providing architecture and design services for this landmark project that will transform a 14-acre historic campus into a vibrant civic hub for arts, recreation, education, and public gatherings.
- Somerset Development CompanycoreSomerset Development Company partnered with Memorial Apartments Corporation to transform the vacant Baltimore Unity Hall into a community center. Ziger|Snead Architects provided architecture services for this transformative 30,000 sf redevelopment.
- Cross Street PartnerscoreCross Street Partners engaged Ziger|Snead Architects to restore and repurpose the historic A. Hoen & Co Lithograph Complex as a mixed-use development for community nonprofits and social enterprises.
- AIA (American Institute of Architects)coreZiger|Snead Architects signed the AIA 2030 Commitment nine years ago, using it as a tool to measure, report, and reduce energy use. Projects now average more than 50% reduction in predicted energy use intensity (pEUI).
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Ziger|Snead Architects competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Olson Kundig: Mid-sized design-driven architecture firm with a similar craft-and-material ethos, recognized for award-winning cultural and residential work and a comparable boutique operating model.
- Hord Coplan Macht: Mid-Atlantic architecture practice of similar scale with strong cultural, educational, and civic portfolios, including museum and institutional commissions that overlap with Ziger|Snead's client base.
- Quinn Evans: Mid-Atlantic-headquartered architecture firm with a national practice heavily focused on historic preservation, adaptive reuse, cultural, and educational projects — directly comparable to Ziger|Snead's core specialty and client mix.
- Bohlin Cywinski Jackson: Boutique architecture firm of comparable size known for design excellence across cultural, civic, and residential typologies — a direct peer in the small-firm, design-led practice category.
- Lake|Flato Architects: San Antonio-based firm of similar scale with a strong reputation in sustainable design, adaptive reuse, and civic/cultural architecture — closely aligned with Ziger|Snead's stewardship and place-making values.
- Wheeler Kearns Architects: Small Chicago-based studio with comparable boutique operating model, design-led cultural and residential portfolio, and commitment to craft, materiality, and client intimacy.
- Design Collective: Baltimore-based architecture firm serving institutional, educational, and commercial clients in the Mid-Atlantic, with similar firm size and overlapping cultural and civic project work.
- Ayers Saint Gross: Baltimore-based architecture and planning firm serving higher-education, cultural, and civic clients with comparable scale and project typology, including extensive campus and adaptive reuse work.
Regional players
- Moser Plowden Architecture: Baltimore architecture firm with similar size and portfolio mix in the local Mid-Atlantic market, serving residential, institutional, and adaptive reuse clients — a directly comparable regional competitor.
Broad incumbents
- BNIM: Larger national practice with deep high-performance and sustainable-design expertise, often competing in the same civic and institutional sustainable-architecture space as Ziger|Snead at greater scale.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Ziger|Snead Architects social profiles
Digital presenceZiger|Snead Architects compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Ziger|Snead Architects financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ziger|Snead Architects leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Ziger|Snead Architects funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ziger|Snead Architects 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 Ziger|Snead Architects
What does Ziger|Snead Architects do?
Ziger|Snead Architects is a Baltimore-based architecture studio providing full-service architectural design, programming, and interior design services. The firm specializes in new construction, renovation, adaptive reuse, and historic preservation across residential, educational, cultural, civic, and commercial projects, with a stated commitment to sustainability and community-centered placemaking. Services span concept development through construction documentation and administration on a project-based fee model.
Is Ziger|Snead Architects a public or private company?
Ziger|Snead Architects is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was Ziger|Snead Architects founded?
Ziger|Snead Architects was founded in 1984. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Ziger|Snead Architects based?
Ziger|Snead Architects is headquartered in Baltimore, United States, in the North America region.
How does Ziger|Snead Architects make money?
One revenue line is on record: architecture and Design Services.
Who are Ziger|Snead Architects's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Olson Kundig, Hord Coplan Macht, Quinn Evans, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Lake|Flato Architects, Wheeler Kearns Architects, Design Collective and Ayers Saint Gross. Moser Plowden Architecture is listed as a regional player. BNIM is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Ziger|Snead Architects have an API?
No public API is recorded for Ziger|Snead Architects.
What industry is Ziger|Snead Architects in?
Ziger|Snead Architects's product category is Architectural 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 54131 and its SIC code is 8711.