Over-Under Digital

What Over-Under Digital does

OverUnder is an architecture and urban design studio headquartered at 46 Waltham Street, Boston, MA, founded in 2008 by Rami el Samahy, Mark Pasnik, and Marcus Springer. The firm operates across four practice areas—Architectural Design, Urban Planning and Design, Experiential Design (exhibitions, installations, signage/wayfinding), and Graphic Design (brand identity, publication design, maps)—delivering them under a single multidisciplinary studio rather than as separate service lines. The integrated model enables the firm to take on complex civic and institutional mandates that require coordination across master planning, building design, environmental graphics, and publication, such as the Boston City Hall Conservation Management Plan, Cambridge Urban Design Guidelines (2022–2025), and Imagine Boston 2030.

The firm's customer base is concentrated in three segments: US municipal governments and public agencies (City of Boston, City of Cambridge, City of Somerville, MassDevelopment, MAPC, DCAMM), educational and cultural institutions (Harvard University, MIT, UMass Boston, MASS MoCA, Peabody Essex Museum, deCordova), and real estate developers (Al Musbah Group, Mubadala, Dimension Development, Gerding Edlen). Projects have also been delivered internationally in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, Finland, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. The firm has approximately 10 named team members and operates as a privately held partnership with no external institutional investors, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no disclosed funding rounds.

Revenue is generated through project-based professional services fees negotiated individually per engagement, with no public pricing or productized SaaS offering. The firm acquires work through RFPs, design competitions, and direct commissions, supported by a marketing strategy built around a portfolio website (overunder.co), Instagram (@overunder.co), earned media in design publications (Dwell, Wallpaper*, Dezeen), industry awards (AIA, SEGD, BSA, Docomomo US), and Monacelli Press publications co-authored by the principals. The firm does not disclose financials; revenue, funding, and valuation data are not publicly available.

Name

Over-Under Digital

Legal name

OverUnder

Website

https://overunder.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

OverUnder is a Boston-based multidisciplinary architecture and urban design studio (founded 2008, ~10 staff) delivering architectural, urban planning, wayfinding, and graphic design services to municipal governments, universities, museums, and developers across the US and internationally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Burnaby

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

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: Full-service architectural design for residential, commercial, institutional, cultural, and hospitality projects, ranging from single-family residences to large-scale buildings. Revenue is project-based and fee-for-service.
2. Urban Planning and Design Services: Urban design guidelines, master plans, visioning studies, and planning documents for municipalities, developers, and public agencies. Projects include citywide guidelines (Cambridge Urban Design Guidelines), district plans, and waterfront developments.
3. Wayfinding and Signage Design: Comprehensive wayfinding systems, signage programs, and environmental graphics for campuses, institutions, and urban environments. Deliverables include sign families, maps, identity systems, and digital wayfinding interfaces.
4. Exhibition and Experiential Design: Design and installation of exhibitions, installations, and public engagement installations for museums, cultural institutions, and public agencies. Includes physical installations, digital interfaces, and publications.
5. Graphic Design and Brand Identity: Brand identity, publication design, report design, and communications for institutional and civic clients. Deliverables include logos, signage systems, books, brochures, and digital collateral.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

OverUnder is a multidisciplinary design studio offering architectural design, urban planning, experiential/exhibition design, signage and wayfinding systems, and graphic design and brand identity services. The firm delivers integrated design solutions across four interconnected disciplines for municipalities, educational and cultural institutions, real estate developers, and private clients. Projects range from individual building commissions to large-scale municipal planning initiatives and often involve cross-disciplinary collaboration between these service areas.

Product overview

OverUnder is an architecture and design firm offering a multidisciplinary portfolio of services across four interconnected practice areas: Architectural Design, Urban Planning, Experiential Design, and Graphic Design. The firm's services are not modular software products but rather integrated design disciplines that often overlap in client engagements—for example, a single urban planning project may include graphic design for guidelines documents and experiential design for public engagement exhibitions. The core offering consists of architectural design services, urban planning and design guidelines, exhibition and installation design, signage and wayfinding systems, and brand identity and publication design. Projects range from individual building commissions to large-scale municipal planning initiatives and often involve cross-disciplinary collaboration between these service areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architectural Design Services Comprehensive architectural design services spanning residential, commercial, cultural, hospitality, academic, and municipal building projects, including new construction, renovation, preservation, and adaptive reuse. Targeted at institutional, municipal, developer, and private clients.
• Urban Planning and Design Urban planning services including citywide design guidelines, visioning plans, competition entries, research studies, and public space design for municipalities, public agencies, and developers. Examples include Cambridge Urban Design Guidelines and Imagine Boston 2030.
• Experiential Design and Exhibition Exhibition design, installation art, and experiential environments including museum installations, gallery exhibitions, and public art installations for cultural institutions, universities, and civic clients.
• Signage and Wayfinding Systems Comprehensive signage and wayfinding programs for campuses, cities, institutions, and commercial developments. Includes donor recognition, interpretive signage, pedestrian wayfinding, sign families, maps, and identity systems for clients such as Harvard University, MASS MoCA, and UMass Boston.
• Graphic Design and Brand Identity Graphic design services including brand identity development, publication design, report design, map design, and visual communications for civic and institutional clients. Deliverables include logos, signage systems, books, brochures, and digital collateral.

Quantifiable outcome

• Wentworth Institute of Technology admissions materials redesign: submitted applications rose 50% in the first campaign year, with admissions rising an additional 19% in the subsequent year.
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SWAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOverUnder collaborated with SWA (master planner and landscape architect) on the el Gouna Residences project in Egypt, designing the key architectural components for a seaside development of 800+ housing units and a 100-room hotel. OverUnder worked closely with SWA to ensure buildings responded to the master plan goals for visual water access, circulation clarity, and housing diversity.
• UtilecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOverUnder has an established collaborative relationship with Utile (architecture and planning firm) across multiple projects: Al Maryah Island (master plan by Broadway Malyan, OverUnder and Utile as the design team), District 2020 Design Guidelines in Dubai (collaboration with Utile and KMDG), Aqaba North framework plan (in partnership with Utile), and Boston City Hall Conservation Management Plan (a five-year collaboration with Utile and Building Conservation Associates).
• Harry Gugger StudiosminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOverUnder collaborated with Harry Gugger Studios on the Museo Maya de América project in Guatemala City. Harry Gugger Studios contributed design expertise for the museum building, while Seis Arquitectos served as architect of record. The museum received the BSA's 2013 Unbuilt Architecture Award.
• Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism (LCAU) at MITcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOverUnder collaborated with the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism at MIT on the 'Unboxed City' exhibition (completed March 2024), which explores how AI can be integrated with human intelligence to create inclusive urban spaces. OverUnder designed the exhibition's box, interior, and graphic identity.
• SasakiminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOverUnder served as historical advisor to Sasaki on the Boston City Hall Plaza renovations (Sasaki was the landscape architect). OverUnder also collaborated with Sasaki on the Waterfront Development project (master plan by Sasaki), where OverUnder developed urban and architectural guidelines for a mixed-use residential waterfront area.
• GroundViewminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOverUnder acted as consultant to GroundView (landscape architects) on the Chuckie Harris Park project in Somerville, MA. OverUnder designed custom benches, tables, and furnishings based on a reconfigurable module that responds to each piece's specific siting within the park.
• Studio FKIAminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOverUnder collaborated with Studio FKIA on the 'Think Swiss, Think Swim' exhibition along the Charles River, developed for the Swiss Consulate/swissnex Boston and the Charles River Conservancy. Studio FKIA contributed to the exhibition design alongside OverUnder's graphic and spatial design work.
• Squint/OperaminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSquint/Opera produced streetscape and overall island renderings for the Al Maryah Island project, on which OverUnder collaborated with Utile (with master plan by Broadway Malyan).
• Broadway MalyanminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerBroadway Malyan served as master planner for the Al Maryah Island project in Abu Dhabi. OverUnder collaborated with Utile on the urban design and architectural guidelines team, working within Broadway Malyan's master plan framework.
• Building Conservation AssociatescoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOverUnder collaborated with Building Conservation Associates (BCA) alongside Utile on the five-year Boston City Hall Conservation Management Plan (published 2021), which involved more than a decade of research, advocacy, oral histories, master planning, material testing, and public engagement. The CMP was supported by a 2017 Getty Foundation Keeping It Modern grant.
• Boston Society of ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOverUnder maintains a close, recurring collaborative relationship with the Boston Society of Architects (BSA), having designed multiple exhibitions for BSA Space (In Form, Let's Talk About Bikes, Critical Exchange, Info Space), contributed to BSA publications and awards programs, and participated in Young Architects Boston Group initiatives. The BSA is also listed as a client for DURABLE exhibition.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Utile: Boston-based architecture and planning firm of comparable scale, working across housing, urban planning, and adaptive reuse with civic and institutional clients. Closest functional peer given overlapping portfolio (Boston City Hall CMP co-author, Al Maryah Island, Aqaba North).
• Sasaki Associates: International architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning firm headquartered in Watertown, MA. Direct peer on civic master planning, campus design, and waterfront development—also an explicit collaborator with OverUnder on Boston City Hall Plaza and waterfront studies.
• Arrowstreet: Architecture, urban design, and planning firm based in Boston, working on civic, cultural, higher-education, and mixed-use projects regionally and internationally. Closely comparable in size, Boston base, and civic/cultural client mix.
• MASS Design Group: Nonprofit architecture and design firm focused on civic, cultural, and social-impact built work, with offices in Boston. Overlapping practice areas in cultural and institutional architecture with similar civic-minded client profile.
• Goody Clancy: Boston-based architecture, preservation, and planning firm operating across civic, educational, and cultural sectors. Similar studio scale, regional base, and mix of historic preservation with contemporary design.
• SWA Group: Landscape architecture and urban design studio with project work spanning planning, plazas, waterfronts, and resort developments. Overlapping practice on master plans (el Gouna), urban design guidelines, and international developer commissions.

Broad incumbents

• CBT Architects: Larger Boston-based architecture firm serving higher education, healthcare, science, and civic clients with a deeper bench. Comparable in Boston geographic base and institutional client mix but meaningfully larger in scale.
• Payette: Architecture firm in Boston specializing in science, healthcare, higher education, and civic buildings. Same Boston geography and institutional client pool but several times OverUnder's size and focused on technical/clinical building types.
• Snøhetta: Multidisciplinary design practice operating across architecture, landscape, interior, and graphic design globally. The most established scale-model of OverUnder's stated four-discipline integration, but with a much larger international footprint and headcount.
• Stantec: Global professional services firm with large architecture, urban design, and planning practices serving municipalities and institutions. Represents the consolidated-incumbent end of the market OverUnder competes against for civic RFPs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/overunder.co

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about Over-Under Digital