What RELM does

RELM is a landscape architecture and urban design firm headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, founded in 1985 by Scott Baker. The firm provides professional design services focused on public realm design, transit-oriented development, corporate and university campuses, urban parks, and district-scale master planning. Its practice spans four service categories: Public Life projects (parks, plazas, and transit-oriented developments), Campus Culture projects (corporate, university, and healthcare landscapes), Urban Dwelling projects (mixed-use residential and neighborhood design), and Visioning projects (aspirational master plans and feasibility studies). RELM's underlying capability is human-led design talent, augmented by standard visualization and documentation tools; the firm has no proprietary technology platform and does not disclose use of AI or automation in its design process.

RELM generates revenue through project-based professional services fees, engaging clients via design competitions, RFP responses, and direct enterprise sales to public agencies and private developers. Its client base is diversified across government (LA Metro, California Department of General Services, MARTA, FBI), corporate enterprise (PayPal, Kaiser Permanente, The Peebles Corporation, Lowe Enterprises), and higher education (UC Davis, UC San Diego). The firm operates nationally across the United States from a single Los Angeles studio, with 11-50 employees. Its go-to-market emphasizes thought leadership through the Interplay ezine, a curated portfolio of landmark commissions, and competitive entry into design competitions for major public and private developments.

Name

RELM

Legal name

RELM

Website

https://relmstudio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

RELM is a Los Angeles-based landscape architecture and urban design firm founded in 1985 that provides public realm, transit-oriented, campus, and master planning design services to government agencies, corporations, universities, and developers across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

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, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Design Services: RELM generates revenue through professional landscape architecture and urban design services, charging fees for design, planning, and project management across public and private sector commissions. Revenue is project-based with fees determined by project scope, complexity, and scale.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

RELM is a landscape architecture and urban design firm that designs outdoor public spaces, plazas, parks, transit-oriented developments, corporate and university campuses, and district-level master plans for public and private sector clients across the United States. Services span four project categories (Public Life, Campus Culture, Urban Dwelling, and Visioning) and are delivered on a project-fee basis through direct client engagements, design competitions, and public-private partnership teams. The firm also publishes Interplay, an ezine that documents its thought leadership in landscape architecture and city making.

Product overview

RELM is a landscape architecture and urban design firm offering comprehensive design services across multiple categories: Public Life projects (parks, plazas, transit-oriented developments), Campus Culture projects (corporate campuses, university landscapes, healthcare facilities), Urban Dwelling projects (mixed-use residential developments), and Visioning projects (master planning and conceptual studies). The firm also produces Interplay, an ezine publication exploring landscape architecture theory and practice. Projects span transit-oriented developments, corporate campuses, public parks, and urban mixed-use developments across the United States. The firm operates a summer internship program for emerging landscape architecture professionals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Landscape Architecture Services Design of outdoor spaces including parks, plazas, public realms, and urban landscapes that enhance community life and urban environments, delivered for government agencies, corporations, developers, universities, and healthcare organizations.
• Urban Design Comprehensive urban design solutions that address mobility, urban form, and community building at various scales from city blocks to districts, for public and private sector clients.
• Public Life Projects Catalytic infill landscapes providing accessible social spaces for communities, elevating districts and urban amenities.
• Campus Culture Projects Distinguished landscapes designed to foster institutional culture and mission through immersive environments for universities, corporations, and healthcare facilities.
• Urban Dwelling Projects Inventive landscapes for greater density and connectivity within neighborhoods that cultivate shared sense of place and community.
• Visioning Projects Aspirational, performative, and rigorous studies championing landscape architecture's role in addressing issues of mobility, urban design, and community building.
• Summer Internship Program Annual hands-on summer internship program offering penultimate-year graduate or undergraduate landscape architecture and urban design students experience in design iteration, client meetings, site visits, and working directly alongside principals and designers at the downtown Los Angeles studio.

Quantifiable outcome

• May Lee State Office Complex: largest all-electric, zero carbon workplace campus in the US, serving 5,000 government employees
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 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

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Atlas LabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRELM collaborated with Atlas Lab on the design of the UC Merced Medical Education Building landscape, creating a design response that embraces the Valley's unique natural traits while responding to pressing climate challenges.
• Studio SerretteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRELM worked with Studio Serrette on the Liberation Park project in East Oakland, designing a landscape that supports the project's two-building program including Market Hall and 119 affordable residences.
• HR&A AdvisorsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRELM collaborated with HR&A Advisors on the MARTA Dunwoody Station Master Plan, investigating the feasibility of transforming the transit hub into a civic-centered, mixed-use development.
• AC MartinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRELM partnered with AC Martin on the California Natural Resources Headquarters project, achieving transparency to the public and maximizing the ground plane with community programming.
• Millwood FurnishingsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerRELM worked with Millwood Furnishings to reclaim and repurpose timber salvaged from barns and Redwood trees from the Paradise fire to create signature climbing structures for the Natural Resources Daycare Facility.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• LandDesign: LandDesign is a larger, multi-disciplinary design firm spanning landscape architecture, civil engineering, and urban planning. It is a broader incumbent offering integrated delivery that RELM competes against for campus, TOD, and mixed-use development commissions.
• Sasaki: Sasaki is a large integrated design practice covering landscape architecture, urban planning, architecture, and civil engineering. It competes for the same university, civic, and waterfront commissions but operates at a broader scale and can absorb larger integrated contracts.

Direct peers

• OLIN: OLIN is a Philadelphia-based landscape architecture, urban design, and planning studio of comparable boutique scale with a similar mix of civic, campus, and waterfront work. It is a direct competitor for the same institutional and public-realm commissions.
• MIG: MIG (formerly Moore Iacofano Goltsman) is a planning, design, and communications firm with a significant landscape architecture practice serving public agencies and campuses. It competes for the same public-sector and university planning commissions that anchor RELM's pipeline.
• James Corner Field Operations: James Corner Field Operations is a leading landscape architecture and urban design studio behind the High Line, Tongva Park, and Fresh Kills. It is a direct peer in the same boutique-to-mid-scale segment competing for transformative public-realm commissions; RELM's design principal is an alumnus.
• Hood Design Studio: Hood Design Studio is a landscape architecture and urban design practice based in Oakland with a focus on cultural landscapes, public realms, and community-centered design. It overlaps with RELM's community-engagement work, including projects like Liberation Park in East Oakland.
• SWA Group: SWA is one of the largest US landscape architecture, planning, and urban design firms with offices nationwide. Several RELM senior staff (including Design Principal David Christensen) previously worked at SWA, and SWA competes directly for the same TOD, campus, and waterfront commissions.
• Stoss Landscape Urbanism: Stoss is a Boston-based landscape architecture and urban design firm focused on public-realm, campus, and waterfront projects. It competes for the same category of civic and institutional commissions that RELM pursues, and senior RELM staff (e.g., Jarrad Newman) previously worked at Stoss.
• Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates: MVVA is a Brooklyn-based landscape architecture firm known for Brooklyn Bridge Park and Waterloo Greenway — directly comparable public-realm and waterfront commissions. RELM landscape architect Hana Georg previously worked there, evidencing talent overlap and competition for similar work.
• OJB Landscape Architecture: OJB is a nationally recognized landscape architecture firm known for civic plazas, campuses, and healthcare landscapes. It is comparable to RELM in typology mix (campus, healthcare, civic) and competes for the same corporate and public-sector client base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/relmstudio
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/relm

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 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 RELM