What Fearon Hay does

Fearon Hay is a privately held architecture and design practice founded in 1998 by Tim Hay and Jeff Fearon, headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, with a second studio in Los Angeles, United States. The firm operates as a design-led studio undertaking commissioned projects across four primary typologies: private residential dwellings and holiday homes; commercial projects for office, workplace, and hospitality environments; complex heritage and public architecture; and detailed bespoke interior work. Project commissions span more than seven countries including New Zealand, the United States, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Croatia, Argentina, Australia, and South Korea, with completed work ranging from beachfront houses and mountain retreats to multi-storey commercial buildings and chapels. The studio is principal-led, with co-founders Tim Hay and Jeff Fearon serving as design architects on each project, supported by an international team of professionals; project teams are typically led by senior architects (e.g., Doug Weir on Kauri Timber Building, Piers Kay and Matt Roberts on The Camp).

The firm's revenue model is professional-services based, with project fees negotiated directly with private and commercial clients on a per-engagement basis; no public pricing, packaged products, or subscription offerings exist. Revenue is generated through commissioned architecture and interior design services, with an active collaboration with Penny Hay Design for custom interior furniture, fixtures, and finishes coordination. Distribution is direct-to-client through the Auckland and Los Angeles studios, with marketing conducted via a website portfolio, Instagram, and earned media in international architecture and design publications. The firm has accumulated an extensive award record — AD100 (2024), Architizer Best Australasian Firm and Best Medium Firm (2022), the 2013 New Zealand Architecture Medal (the country's highest architectural honor), and multiple World Architecture Festival finalist placements and DINZ Gold Awards — establishing a strong reputational position in the premium architecture segment despite an 11-50 employee headcount and no external institutional investment.

Name

Fearon Hay

Legal name

Fearon Hay

Website

https://fearonhay.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Fearon Hay is a privately held, design-led architecture practice founded in 1998 by Tim Hay and Jeff Fearon, operating studios in Auckland and Los Angeles. The firm delivers commissioned residential, commercial, public, and interior design projects for private and institutional clients across more than seven countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Auckland

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Architecture and Design Services: Fearon Hay generates revenue through commissioned architecture and design projects. The studio undertakes a broad range of projects including commercial projects for office and workplace, complex heritage environments, public work within the urban realm or wider landscape, private dwellings, and detailed bespoke work for hospitality and interior environments. Projects are commissioned directly with clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Fearon Hay is an architecture and design practice that delivers commissioned projects across residential, commercial, and public sectors. The studio designs private dwellings and holiday homes, commercial buildings including offices, warehouses, hotels and retail environments, and public/cultural structures such as chapels and civic spaces. It also collaborates with Penny Hay Design on interior design, furniture, fixtures, and finishes for its projects.

Product overview

Fearon Hay is a design-led architecture practice offering a comprehensive suite of architectural services across residential, commercial, and public sectors. The practice operates as a unified service offering rather than a modular product architecture. Their portfolio encompasses private dwellings and holiday homes, commercial buildings including offices, warehouses, and hospitality venues, as well as public and cultural structures. The practice frequently collaborates with Penny Hay Design for interior design services. Projects span New Zealand, Australia, and international locations including the United States, Taiwan, and Sri Lanka.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Residential Architecture Services Design of private dwellings, holiday homes, beach houses, and family retreats for individual homeowners and families, with projects located across New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and other international locations.
• Commercial Architecture Services Design of commercial buildings including offices, warehouses, hotels, restaurants, and retail environments for business and hospitality clients, with signature projects such as the Kauri Timber Building, Imperial Buildings, and Taichung Hotel.
• Public Architecture Services Design of public and cultural projects including the Bishop Selwyn Chapel, Wintergarden at the Northern Club, Te Kaitaka at Auckland Airport, and Waiheke Island Yacht Club for institutional and civic clients.
• Interior Design Collaboration Collaboration with Penny Hay Design on interior design for Fearon Hay projects, providing custom furniture, fixtures, and finishes coordination.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Patterson Architects: Auckland-based boutique architecture practice operating at similar scale with comparable typology mix (residential, commercial, public) and a design-led founder model — the closest geographic and size analog to Fearon Hay in New Zealand.
• Athfield Architects: One of New Zealand's most prominent architecture firms with comparable international recognition and a similar founder-led studio culture; historical rival and direct competitor for premium NZIA-recognized commissions.
• Stevens Lawson Architects: Auckland-based design-led boutique firm with similar headcount and a comparable emphasis on residential and small commercial commissions, sharing the same local premium-client pool as Fearon Hay.
• Cheshire Architects: New Zealand design-led architecture practice with similar boutique size and a residential/commercial portfolio that competes with Fearon Hay for design awards and premium commissions in the NZ market.
• Olson Kundig: US (Seattle)-based design-led boutique architecture firm internationally recognized for high-end residential and specialty hospitality projects — a near-perfect operating-model analog with comparable brand positioning.
• Studio MK27: Brazil-based design-led international boutique firm with comparable size, multi-country project reach, and publication pedigree (Architectural Record, Wallpaper*), often appearing on the same international award shortlists as Fearon Hay.
• Studio Mumbai: India-based design-led architecture practice with comparable boutique scale, craft-led delivery, and international project reach across residential, hospitality, and public commissions.
• Studio Gang: US (Chicago)-based design-led international architecture firm; overlapping with Fearon Hay in design-led positioning, award pedigree, and multi-typology portfolio, though at a meaningfully larger scale.

Regional players

• Architectus: Australian architecture practice with similar typology coverage (residential, commercial, public) serving the closely adjacent trans-Tasman market; comparable boutique professional-services model.

Broad incumbents

• SHoP Architects: US (New York)-based design-led architecture practice with international reach across luxury residential, commercial, and large-scale public commissions; broader and larger than Fearon Hay, but overlapping in design philosophy and high-end client segment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/fearonhay
• Xx.com/fearonhay
• Facebookfacebook.com/fearonhay
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fearon-hay-architects

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Fearon Hay