Kamus + Keller

What Kamus + Keller does

Kamus + Keller is a privately held architecture and interior design firm founded in 2005 and headquartered in Long Beach, California, with a secondary office in Simi Valley. The firm operates across four vertical markets — Commercial, Retail, University + Civic, and Hospitality + Housing — delivering full-scope services from Programming & Visioning and Site/BOMA Analysis through Schematic Design, Space Design, Design Development, Renderings, Branding & Graphics, Consultant Coordination, Construction Documents, Specifications, Bids & Negotiations, Plan Check, and Construction Administration. The firm is led by co-founders John Kamus (Principal & CMO; AIA, LEED AP) and David Keller (Principal & CEO), alongside a CFO/COO, Executive Director, two Design Directors, a Retail Design Director, Senior Project Managers, Job Captains, and CAD/field-survey support staff.

Revenue is generated through professional services fees tied to project-based work. The go-to-market motion is direct, relationship-driven, and field-sales oriented: enterprise clients such as Sempra Energy, Herbalife, USC School of Pharmacy, the City of Avalon, Orange County Credit Union, and LOMCO are engaged directly, while franchise and SMB clients (e.g., Salon 18|8, Lovisa, Haven cannabis dispensaries) are supported through tailored rollout and tenant-improvement engagements. Distribution is enabled by architectural licensure in 42 states and Washington, DC, allowing multi-location retail rollouts and national commercial tenant-improvement programs rather than purely regional delivery. Differentiated capabilities include an in-house field survey team for BOMA surveys, leadership credentials in LEED/PHIUS/GPR sustainable design, and a "boutique with large-firm capability" positioning that pairs boutique-level client attention with a complete project-lifecycle offering.

Name

Kamus + Keller

Legal name

Kamus Keller

Website

https://kkaia.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kamus + Keller is a privately held, full-service architecture and interior design firm headquartered in Long Beach, California, serving commercial, retail, university, civic, and hospitality clients across 42 U.S. states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architecture & Interior Design Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131), Architectural Services (541310), Interior Design Services (54141), Interior Design Services (541410)

SIC

General Bldg Contractors - Nonresidential Bldgs (1540), Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Retail & Hospitality Fit-Out (Stores, Restaurants, Hotels) (IMAFANAB), Residential Interior Fit-Out (Multi-Family & High-End) (IMAFANAE)

Keywords

• Commercial architecture services
• Interior design services
• Tenant improvement design
• Retail store design
• Hospitality and housing design

Headquarters

HQ city

Long Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Architecture and Interior Design Services: Full-scope architectural design and interior design services for commercial, retail, university, and hospitality projects. Revenue generated through professional service fees for design, project management, and construction administration.
2. Tenant Improvement: Commercial tenant improvement services including site surveys, space planning, permitting, construction documents, and construction administration for client-direct projects.
3. Franchise/Retail Rollout Services: Multi-location retail design and build-out services for franchise operations, managing corporate standards compliance across multiple states.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Kamus + Keller is a boutique architecture and interior design firm that delivers full-scope design services across four sectors: Commercial (tenant improvement and landlord representation), Retail (single-store to multi-location franchise rollouts), University + Civic (education and civic facilities), and Hospitality + Housing (sustainable and senior housing developments). The firm manages projects end-to-end from programming, visioning, and site/BOMA analysis through schematic and space design, design development, renderings, branding, construction documents, permitting, bid negotiation, and on-site construction administration.

Product overview

Kamus + Keller is an architecture and interior design firm offering comprehensive design services across four primary sectors: Commercial, Retail, University + Civic, and Hospitality + Housing. The company's full-scope service modules include Programming & Visioning, Site/BOMA Analysis, Schematic Design, Space Design, Design Development, Renderings, Branding & Graphics, Consultant Coordination, Construction Documents, Specifications, Bids & Negotiations, Plan Check, and Construction Administration. The portfolio operates as a unified service offering where specialized sector teams (Commercial, Retail, University/Civic, Hospitality/Housing) deliver end-to-end project solutions from concept through construction completion.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Commercial Architecture Services Provides consistent, efficient architectural services to real estate clients and commercial tenant improvement projects, specializing in client specs and building standards with a focus on leadership and relationship prioritization.
• Retail Design Services Manages the entire retail build-out process or partners with existing managers, covering site survey, site analysis, compliance review, space planning, permitting, construction documents, construction administration, project tracking, project management, and finish selection. Serves franchisees with one store as well as enterprise retail clients with thousands of locations.
• University + Civic Design Services Partners with university architectural design teams to provide efficient solutions for education spaces, student housing, technology, and student culture, including full-service architectural design, engineering coordination, retail design store production, building evaluations, site planning, code review, permitting, and ADA code compliance.
• Hospitality + Housing Development Services Provides hospitality and housing development services including sustainability-focused projects, senior housing (e.g., HUD-sponsored communities), community/workforce housing, and high-end retail and restaurant development, with dedicated focus on serving people and the environment.

Quantifiable outcome

• 447 parking stalls managed including removal of 11 spaces, relocation of 8, and addition of 3 new ADA spaces for SoCal Gas project
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Kilroy Realty (Landlord)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Kilroy Realty as landlord for tenant improvement projects. Worked collaboratively on BPM Supreme project where K+K represented tenant interests while working within Kilroy's building standards and requirements.
• LOMCO (HUD Housing Partner)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLOMCO has managed HUD-sponsored housing for nearly 50 years and partners with K+K to bring quality housing benefiting low-to-modest income senior citizens. Projects include Beverly Towers (Montebello), Community Garden Towers (Garden Grove), Plymouth West and Providence Garden (Long Beach).
• Elks Club (OCCU Project)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership between OCCU and Elks Club for corporate expansion project. K+K designed the second story tenant improvement ensuring seamless cooperation between two organizations and two contractors.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Ware Malcomb: Mid-size architecture and interior design firm focused on commercial real estate, retail, and corporate office projects. Closely comparable to K+K in size, multi-state operations, and emphasis on tenant improvement and franchise rollouts.
• IA Interior Architects: Specialty interior architecture firm serving large corporate, retail, and commercial clients with multi-location rollouts. Direct overlap with K+K's commercial and retail design verticals, particularly in tenant improvement.

Broad incumbents

• Gensler: Global architecture, design, and planning firm with massive commercial real estate, retail, and workplace practices. Significantly larger than K+K but directly competes for the same enterprise commercial tenant improvement, retail rollout, and corporate office clients.
• CallisonRTKL: Large architecture and design firm (now part of Arcadis) with strong retail, commercial, and hospitality practices. Competes for franchise rollout and large commercial interior projects at a different scale than K+K.
• HOK: Global architecture, design, and engineering firm with commercial, retail, and education practices. Competes with K+K for university, civic, and large commercial engagements but at significantly larger scale.
• Perkins&Will: Large architecture and design firm with strong healthcare, education, and civic practices. Overlaps with K+K's University + Civic vertical and competes for institutional clients.
• HKS Architects: Large architecture firm with commercial, education, and hospitality practices. Overlaps with K+K's University + Civic and Hospitality + Housing sectors, though operating at substantially greater scale.
• NBBJ: Large architecture and design firm with healthcare, commercial, and education practices. Comparable to K+K in providing full-lifecycle design services for institutional clients, though at much greater scale and geographic footprint.
• Stantec (Interior Architecture): Global design and engineering firm with interior architecture and commercial practices. Competes with K+K for commercial real estate, hospitality, and education projects, particularly in mixed-use and tenant improvement contexts.

Emerging players

• Rapt Studio: Boutique commercial interior design and branding firm specializing in experiential workplace, retail, and hospitality environments. Comparable in size and boutique positioning to K+K, with similar emphasis on branded environments and tenant improvement.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kamuskeller

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Kamus + Keller