Waggonner & Ball

What Waggonner & Ball does

Waggonner & Ball is a New Orleans-based cross-disciplinary design practice founded in 1980 by David Waggonner, specializing in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and historic preservation. The firm operates as a studio within Moffatt & Nichol, a global engineering and infrastructure advisory firm, following its January 2023 integration. Its core intellectual property consists of two registered, trademarked methodologies — Living With Water® and Dutch Dialogues® — developed in the years following Hurricane Katrina to transform water from a threat into an asset through collaborative, science-based, and place-based planning. Service delivery spans institutional architecture (university campuses, museums, schools), civic and cultural preservation, and large-scale resilience planning products including the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan (the first such plan in the United States, 2013), LA SAFE regional adaptation strategy, and HUD-funded resilience projects such as Norfolk Ohio Creek, Resilient Hampton, Resilient Bridgeport, and the Gentilly Resilience District (Mirabeau Water Garden and Gretna City Park).

Waggonner & Ball generates revenue through professional services fees billed on a project-by-project basis, with multi-year contracts typical for major municipal resilience engagements. The firm serves three primary client verticals: government agencies (municipalities and state/federal entities seeking water resilience and flood mitigation), educational institutions (universities, schools, and education non-profits), and cultural/non-profit institutions (museums, foundations, and historic preservation clients). Its GTM motion is principally enterprise field sales conducted through direct relationships, RFQs/RFPs, and its distinctive workshop-based community engagement process that converts participatory engagements into planning and design commissions. Distribution is augmented through the Moffatt & Nichol global platform and the firm's partnerships with Dutch water sector experts, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Deltares, the American Planning Association, and Rebuild by Design.

The firm is recognized internationally for catalyzing over $400 million in federal resilience awards since 2016 through its Living With Water approach, with sustained award recognition from AIA, ASLA, USGBC, APA, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It operates from a single New Orleans headquarters (relocated in 2025) with approximately 25 listed professionals, and pursues international projects in Asia alongside its U.S. footprint spanning Louisiana, Virginia, South Carolina, Connecticut, Texas, and Florida.

Name

Waggonner & Ball

Legal name

Waggonner & Ball

Website

https://wbae.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Waggonner & Ball is a New Orleans-based architecture and environment firm specializing in water-resilient urban design, institutional architecture, and historic preservation, serving government agencies, educational institutions, and cultural clients through its proprietary Living With Water® and Dutch Dialogues® methodologies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architecture and Planning Services

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620), Landscape Architectural Services (54132)

akta.pro primary industry

Urban Flood Resilience & Adaptation Planning (Climate, Nature-Based Solutions) (EUANAEAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation & Resilience Programs (BPAIAMAD), Climate Change Mitigation/Adaptation & Natural Resource Management Technical Assistance (BPADAEAJ), Water Resources, WASH & Integrated Water Management (BPADALAH)

Keywords

• Architecture design services
• Urban water planning
• Climate resilience consulting
• Historic preservation services
• Landscape architecture design

Headquarters

HQ city

New Orleans

HQ country

United States

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

Revenue model

1. Architecture and Design Services: Professional architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design services for institutional, commercial, and government clients. Revenue generated through design fees, planning fees, and project-based professional service contracts.
2. Resilience Planning and Consulting: Urban water planning, climate resilience consulting, and community engagement services for municipal and regional government clients. Services include master planning, water management strategy development, and implementation guidance.
3. Workshop and Engagement Services: Collaborative workshop facilitation using the Dutch Dialogues and Living With Water methodologies to engage communities in resilience planning processes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Waggonner & Ball is an architecture and environment firm providing integrated architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, historic preservation, and climate resilience planning services for government, educational, cultural, and select international clients. Its work is anchored by the proprietary Living With Water® and Dutch Dialogues® methodologies, which translate collaborative, science-based water resilience principles into site-specific design solutions ranging from individual buildings to regional watersheds.

Product overview

Waggonner & Ball is an internationally active cross-disciplinary design practice specializing in adaptation planning, resilient landscapes, institutional architecture, and historic preservation. The firm operates as a studio within Moffatt & Nichol, offering integrated design services centered around its proprietary Living with Water® and Dutch Dialogues® approaches. The portfolio includes urban water planning products (Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, LA SAFE regional adaptation program), resilience projects (Norfolk Ohio Creek, Resilient Hampton, Resilient Bridgeport, Mirabeau Water Garden), and architectural services (institutional, historic preservation). The firm leads collaborative workshop-based design processes that synthesize knowledge from diverse stakeholders to deliver actionable solutions from buildings to regional watersheds.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Living With Water® A proprietary design approach and service offering that transforms water from threat to asset through collaborative, science-based, place-based, and adaptable planning and community engagement, applied from building details to regional watersheds. Sold to government, institutional, and community clients seeking water resilience.
• Dutch Dialogues® A registered trademark workshop process that brings together local, national, and Dutch water sector experts to address water challenges holistically, examining history, soils, biodiversity, infrastructure networks, urban space, and habitation. Offered to municipal and regional clients seeking catalyzed resilience planning.
• Architecture and Building Design Services Professional architecture services for institutional, educational, cultural, and civic buildings, including new construction, renovation, and LEED-certified design. Offered to universities, museums, foundations, schools, and government clients.
• Landscape Architecture and Urban Design Services Integrated landscape architecture and urban design services for campuses, public spaces, stormwater parks, and neighborhood-scale projects. Offered to municipal, educational, and institutional clients.
• Resilience Planning and Consulting Urban water planning, climate resilience consulting, master planning, water management strategy development, and implementation guidance for municipal, regional, and federal government clients.
• Historic Preservation Services Historic building preservation plans and adaptive reuse services for cultural institutions, foundations, and government clients, including work with the General Services Administration and Louisiana Landmarks Society.

Quantifiable outcome

• $400 million+ in federal resilience awards catalyzed since 2016
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Moffatt & NicholcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 January 2023Waggonner & Ball joined Moffatt & Nichol in January 2023, becoming a distinct design innovation studio within the global infrastructure advisory firm. This integration advances capability to offer integrated resilience solutions from project visioning through implementation. Moffatt & Nichol provides engineering and consulting services in maritime, transportation, water, energy, environmental, federal, and urban development markets with offices in Europe, North America, Latin America, and Pacific Rim.
• The Water Institute of the GulfcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Water Institute is a leader in coastal science and a key partner for Waggonner & Ball's resilience work in the Gulf region and beyond. Collaboration on water science and coastal resilience projects.
• Royal Netherlands EmbassycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong collaboration with Dutch water sector experts, facilitated by the Embassy in Washington, DC. This partnership grounds Waggonner & Ball's work in international best practices and innovative thinking from the Netherlands.
• 100 Resilient CitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWaggonner & Ball has been deeply involved in the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities program and has served as a strategic partner for cities around the globe. The program helped pioneer urban resilience planning approaches.
• Water CollaborativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans was formed after the release of the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan to implement projects that advance urban water resilience in New Orleans.
• DeltarescoreTechnology or IntegrationGeohydrologists from Deltares, the premier global institute for applied research on water and subsurface cycles, continue to share and develop new knowledge on a range of projects. Deltares led the Water As Leverage team for Chennai, India project.
• Ripple EffectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWaggonner & Ball designers helped establish Ripple Effect, a community of teachers, water experts, and design educators working toward water literacy in New Orleans' schools. Andy Sternad serves on the board of Ripple Effect.
• Greater New Orleans FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWaggonner & Ball designed the Greater New Orleans Foundation headquarters (LEED Gold, first 10 inches of stormwater held on-site). Works with the foundation to promote resilience and sustainability in local communities.
• Resilient NolacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey partner of the Mayor's Office of Resilience and Sustainability since the launch of Resilient Nola plan in 2015, including on HUD's $141 million Gentilly Resilience District award.
• American Planning AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe APA has provided long term support for urban resilience work and was a key organizing partner for Dutch Dialogues New Orleans. Co-sponsored workshops with the Dutch Embassy.
• Rebuild by DesigncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAfter Superstorm Sandy, Waggonner & Ball participated in Rebuild by Design in coastal Connecticut and continues work toward implementation of Resilient Bridgeport proposals. Received $10M through RBD.
• Groundwork New OrleansminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWaggonner & Ball staff serves as President of the Board for Groundworks New Orleans, part of a national network dedicated to improving the natural and built environment in underserved communities.
• GNO, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreater New Orleans, Inc. oversaw funding for the Urban Water Plan and continues to champion the new water economy in southeast Louisiana.
• Gutter to GulfminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWater-focused interdisciplinary design studio at the University of Toronto Daniels School and the Sam Fox School at Washington University in St. Louis. Waggonner & Ball supported this academic initiative.
• LSU Coastal Sustainability StudiominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic collaboration on coastal sustainability research and projects in Louisiana.
• Tulane Small Center for Collaborative DesignminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic design collaboration with Tulane University's design center for community-engaged projects.
• Water As Leverage - Rising Waters, Raising Futures TeamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTeam selected for Water As Leverage for Resilient Cities Asia, focusing on Chennai, India. Led by Deltares with partners including IGCS, ITT Madras, Care Earth Trust, Center for Urban Design Innovation, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology, Benthem Crouwel Architects, Arcadis, and VanderSat.
• MithuncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitecture, landscape architecture, and interior design firm that collaborated with Waggonner & Ball as associate architect on the Louisiana Children's Museum project.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sasaki Associates: Sasaki is a cross-disciplinary design practice spanning architecture, landscape architecture, planning, and urban design, with a strong climate resilience and water-focused portfolio. Highly comparable to Waggonner & Ball's integrated architecture-environment practice and similar scale and client base.
• James Corner Field Operations: Field Operations is a leading landscape architecture and urban design practice known for large-scale public realm and waterfront projects. Comparable in scale and ambition to Waggonner & Ball's landscape-architecture-led resilience and park projects.
• OLIN: OLIN is a landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm with deep expertise in water-centric and ecologically-driven public space design. Its Philadelphia studio's waterfront work parallels Waggonner & Ball's stormwater and urban water portfolio.
• SWA Group: SWA is a landscape architecture, planning, and urban design firm working on resilient parks, waterfronts, and urban infrastructure. Closely comparable to Waggonner & Ball's landscape architecture and resilience planning services.
• SCAPE Landscape Architecture: SCAPE is a landscape architecture and urban design firm specializing in climate adaptation, coastal resilience, and waterfront regeneration. Its Living Infrastructure methodology and coastal resilience work directly parallel Waggonner & Ball's Living With Water approach.

Broad incumbents

• WSP Global: WSP is a global engineering and professional services firm with climate adaptation and water practices. Represents broader incumbent competition for municipal and federal resilience engagements.
• AECOM: AECOM is a global infrastructure consulting firm with significant climate resilience, water, and urban planning capabilities. Represents the broad incumbent peer set offering end-to-end planning-design-engineering services that overlap with Waggonner & Ball's niche.
• Arcadis: Arcadis is a global design and consulting firm with a substantial water and climate resilience practice. Represents the broader competitive set that increasingly competes for municipal resilience RFPs at a larger scale than boutique firms like Waggonner & Ball.
• HDR Inc. HDR is a large employee-owned AEC firm with water resources, coastal, and resilience practices serving municipal and federal clients. Comparable to Waggonner & Ball's federal resilience consulting work but at significantly larger scale.
• Jacobs Solutions: Jacobs is a global professional services firm with major water, climate adaptation, and federal infrastructure practices. Competes with Waggonner & Ball on larger integrated resilience and water projects, particularly federal clients.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/waggonnerball
• Facebookfacebook.com/WaggonnerBall
• Instagraminstagram.com/waggonnerball

Compliance4 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 Waggonner & Ball