What Kahler Slater does

Kahler Slater is a privately held, US-based professional services firm providing architecture, interior design, environmental branding, and strategic advisory services. Founded in 1908 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the firm operates from six offices across the United States (Milwaukee, Madison, Richmond, Chicago, Charlotte) and Singapore. It serves enterprise clients in healthcare systems, higher education institutions, sports and recreation, corporate workplaces, and hospitality — with healthcare and higher education as primary verticals per the firm's stated segmentation. Revenue is generated on a project basis through professional services fees, with pricing custom-quoted by scope and complexity and contracts typically won via competitive RFP and relationship-based business development.

The firm's core technical differentiators are its evidence-based design methodology and integration of Lean process improvement principles, particularly for healthcare facilities and complex institutional buildings. Its proprietary "Radically Flexible Design" concept supports rural and critical-access hospitals through universal rooms, hybrid functions, and unallocated capacity. Service delivery is multi-disciplinary, bundling architecture with interior design, environmental branding, and strategic advisory to capture more of a client's facility investment. Notability is evidenced through project-level certifications (LEED Silver, LEED Gold, LEED Healthcare Silver, BCA Green Mark Platinum, Green Globes) and a dense portfolio of industry awards (AIA, ASID, USGBC) across recent years.

Customer engagement is anchored by recurring relationships with university systems (notably University of Wisconsin institutions, University of Tennessee, Marquette, Miami Dade, Stetson) and multi-state health systems (HSHS, SSM Health, Bryan Health, Western Wisconsin Health). The firm co-delivers major projects through strategic partnerships with firms such as HOK, CannonDesign, Moody Nolan, Harvard Jolly, and Marmon Mok. Although privately held with no disclosed financials, the project portfolio (including the $118 million UW-Milwaukee Chemistry Building and the 875,000 sq ft HealthCity Novena Integrated Care Hub in Singapore) suggests involvement in sizable institutional commissions.

Name

Kahler Slater

Legal name

Kahler Slater, Inc.

Website

https://kahlerslater.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1908

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Kahler Slater is a Milwaukee-based architecture firm founded in 1908 providing architecture, interior design, environmental branding, and strategic advisory services to healthcare systems, universities, and corporate clients, operating across five US offices and an international Singapore location.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Milwaukee

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Architecture and Design Services: Professional services revenue generated through architecture, interior design, and environmental branding project fees. Services are billed on a project basis with fees structured around scope, complexity, and project duration.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Kahler Slater is a full-service architecture and design firm providing architecture, interior design, strategic advisory, and environmental branding services. The firm serves healthcare systems, higher education institutions, sports and recreation clients, corporations, and hospitality operators across six offices in the U.S. and Singapore, applying evidence-based design and Lean process improvement methodologies.

Product overview

Kahler Slater is a professional services firm offering integrated architecture, interior design, environmental branding, and strategic advisory services. The company operates as a unified service offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. Their core service portfolio includes four primary offerings: Architecture Services, Interior Design, Environmental Branding, and Strategic Advisory. These services are applied across twelve specialized sector practice areas covering Healthcare, Higher Education, Sports and Recreation, Office and Workplace, Community Recreation and Wellness, Cultural and Civic, Health Sciences Education, Hospitality and Restaurants, Residential, Medical Office Buildings, Workplace Interiors, and Environmental Branding. Projects range from individual building design to comprehensive campus master planning, delivered through collaborative partnerships with clients and allied firms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architecture Services Full architectural services including planning, building design, and project delivery for healthcare, higher education, sports and recreation, corporate, and hospitality clients across the U.S. and Singapore.
• Interior Design Interior design services for built environments serving healthcare, higher education, corporate, hospitality, and recreation clients, delivered alongside the firm's architecture practice.
• Environmental Branding Environmental branding services that translate corporate, institutional, and venue identities into signage, wayfinding, and experiential graphics within the built environment.
• Strategic Advisory

Quantifiable outcome

• 800,000 participants welcomed in first year at UW-Madison Bakke Recreation Center
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers15 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

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• HOKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with HOK to design and deliver the UW-Madison Bakke Recreation & Wellbeing Center project.
• Fleming Architects (now 4FDesign)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngaged with Kahler Slater to design an addition and renovation for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry.
• Marmon MokcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Marmon Mok and UT Health Science Center at San Antonio for the Center for Oral Health Care and Research project.
• CIAPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Singapore architect partnered with Kahler Slater for the HealthCity Novena Integrated Care Hub project.
• Moody NolancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned in partnership with Moody Nolan to design the UW-Green Bay Kress Events Center.
• Harvard JollycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerServed as health sciences education architect in partnership with Harvard Jolly for Miami Dade College Medical Campus project.
• Montgomery-SisamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Toronto-based Montgomery-Sisam for St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital Ministry of Health-approved Redevelopment Project.
• CannonDesigncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDelivered UW-Milwaukee Chemistry Building project in partnership with CannonDesign.
• LS3P Associates Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with LS3P Associates Ltd. and Rodgers Builders, Inc. to design and deliver the Novant Health Scotts Hill Medical Center project.
• Rodgers Builders, Inc.coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerGeneral contractor partnered for Novant Health Scotts Hill Medical Center project delivery.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• HDR Inc. Global architecture, engineering, and consulting firm with a substantial healthcare design practice; a broad incumbent that competes with Kahler Slater in healthcare facility design as part of a wider portfolio.
• Gensler: World's largest architecture and design firm with broad sector coverage including workplace, healthcare, and education; a broad incumbent whose scale and integrated services overlap with Kahler Slater's offering but at much greater size.

Direct peers

• DLR Group: Employee-owned architecture and design firm with integrated design services across healthcare, higher education, and workplace sectors; comparable in scale, ownership model, and integrated service offering.
• EwingCole: Architecture and engineering firm with deep healthcare, higher education, and science & technology practices; comparable in scale, sector focus, and integrated design services.
• HOK: Global architecture and design firm with deep healthcare, higher education, and sports practices; partnered directly with Kahler Slater on the UW-Madison Bakke Recreation & Wellbeing Center, making it a directly comparable peer in scale, sector mix, and project type.
• Perkins&Will: Major global architecture practice with leading healthcare and education sector expertise and a strong research-driven, evidence-based design culture, directly comparable to Kahler Slater's healthcare/higher-ed focus and design philosophy.
• CannonDesign: Large US architecture firm with strong healthcare, higher education, and science & technology practices; partnered with Kahler Slater on the UW-Milwaukee Chemistry Building, making it a close comparable in size, sector focus, and integrated design services.
• SmithGroup: US architecture and engineering firm with strong healthcare, higher education, and workplace practices; comparable in size, sector mix, and integrated design-engineering approach.
• HGA Architects and Engineers: Midwest-headquartered (Minneapolis) integrated architecture and engineering firm with comparable healthcare, higher education, and cultural sector practices; a direct regional and sector peer.

Regional players

• Eppstein Uhen Architects: Milwaukee-headquartered architecture firm with similar Midwest market focus, healthcare, and higher education sector practices; a strong regional peer with overlapping local client base.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/KAHLERSLATER

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Kahler Slater