What Heller Manus Architects does

Heller Manus Architects is a privately held, full-service architecture and urban design firm founded in 1984 in San Francisco by Jeffrey Heller and Jim Leake, with Clark Manus joining as partner in 1994 to form the current partnership. The firm delivers architectural design, master planning, and specialized services including office-to-residential conversion, renovation/facade remediation, and sustainability/LEED consulting across residential, commercial, mixed-use, civic, academic, hotel, retail, arts, and transportation project types. Its client base spans real estate developers (Jay Paul Company), technology corporations (Fortinet, Meta as tenant), educational institutions (UC Merced), fashion/retail brands (Canudilo), municipal governments, and transportation authorities across the San Francisco Bay Area, broader U.S. markets, and Chinese cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuxi, Chengdu, Suzhou, and Tangshan.

Technically, the firm has pioneered several sustainable and resilient design approaches: performance-based seismic design for high-rise residential towers (collaborating with structural engineer MKA), the first LEED Gold office tower in San Francisco (555 Mission Street) and Shanghai, the first LEED Platinum neighborhood master plan in the U.S., and REDi Gold resilient design at 181 Fremont (with full-elevator evacuation capability). It also integrates technology-forward building systems such as the fully automated parking system with robotic EV charging arms deployed at Lume Menlo Park in 2024. The firm holds 20+ LEED Platinum and Gold certifications across its portfolio and has accumulated 27+ industry awards between 1990 and 2026, including recognition from AIA, CTBUH, NAIOP, and Engineering News-Record.

The firm operates on a project-based professional services revenue model, earning design fees structured as a percentage of construction cost or hourly rates for complex projects, with multi-year contract cadence typical of commercial architecture. Go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven, with principal-led project teams delivering services directly to enterprise clients; the firm does not disclose pricing publicly. Marketing relies on portfolio presentation, industry award participation, press coverage, and professional organization engagement (notably through former AIA 87th President Clark Manus) rather than digital channels. The firm has approximately 15 team members across principals, senior associates, associates, and support staff, and operates as a partnership with no external institutional investors, subsidiaries, or parent company.

Name

Heller Manus Architects

Legal name

Heller Manus Architects

Website

https://hellermanus.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Heller Manus Architects is a privately held San Francisco architecture and urban design firm founded in 1984, serving real estate developers, technology corporations, governments, and educational institutions across the Bay Area, broader U.S., and China with sustainable, high-performance building and master planning services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural Design Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131), Interior Design Services (541410), Landscape Architectural Services (541320)

akta.pro primary industry

Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Interior Design Services (BPAHAKAB), Building Information Modeling (BIM) & Digital Design Services (BPAHAKAK)

Keywords

• Architectural design services
• Urban design
• Sustainable architecture
• Master planning
• Mixed-use development

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Architectural Design Services: Professional architectural and urban design services for commercial, residential, mixed-use, civic, transportation, and hospitality projects. Revenue is generated through design fees, typically structured as percentage of construction cost or hourly rates for complex projects.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Heller Manus Architects is a full-service architecture and urban design firm providing comprehensive architectural design services across residential, commercial, mixed-use, civic, hospitality, academic, retail, and transportation facility types. The firm specializes in sustainable design with extensive LEED certification experience (Platinum, Gold, Silver), performance-based seismic design for high-rise towers, master planning, and historic renovation/adaptive reuse services.

Product overview

Heller Manus Architects is a full-service architecture and urban design firm offering a comprehensive portfolio of architectural services. The firm provides master planning, mixed-use development, commercial office, multi-family residential, civic, hospitality, academic, retail, and transportation facility design. The firm specializes in sustainable design with extensive LEED-certified project experience and historic renovation/adaptive reuse services. Projects range from high-rise towers to transit-oriented developments and urban planning at neighborhood scale.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architecture and Design Services Full-service architectural design covering residential, commercial, mixed-use, civic, and hospitality building types with emphasis on sustainable and resilient design.
• Master Planning Urban planning and master plan development for large-scale mixed-use districts, transit-oriented developments, and neighborhood revitalization projects.
• Office to Residential Conversion Conversion of obsolete office buildings to residential use, addressing urban revitalization and adaptive reuse of commercial real estate.
• Renovation / Facade Remediation Historic preservation, renovation, and facade remediation services for landmark and existing buildings including seismic upgrades.
• Sustainability and LEED Consulting

Quantifiable outcome

• Buildings with state-of-the-art systems reducing overall energy usage by 30% compared to standard office buildings (e.g., Fortinet HQ with rooftop solar offsetting 100% of annual energy use)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 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

Five partnerships are on record, tiered key partner and project partner.

• Orton Developmentkey partnerStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 January 2026Orton Development partnered with Heller Manus as development partner for Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts restoration in Oakland, working with City of Oakland to revive the historic cultural landmark.
• Watry Designkey partnerTechnology or Integration · 13 February 2024Watry Design served as the parking consultant and executive architect for parking elements on Lume Menlo Park project, providing the innovative automated parking system solution that enables high-density parking with EV charging robotics in a flood-zone-constrained site.
• Shenzhen General Institute of Architectural Design and Research Co., Ltd.key partnerStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 July 2022Joint partner in winning team for Jinyi Lake Source of Science and Technology Innovation Conceptual Design International Competition, alongside Zaha Hadid Architects and other international firms.
• Hangzhou City Planning Design Research Institutekey partnerStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 July 2022Joint partner in winning team for Jinyi Lake competition in China, working with international firms including Zaha Hadid Architects and Tsinghua University.
• CannonDesignproject partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with CannonDesign on UC Merced Downtown Campus Center project, with Heller Manus providing architectural design services.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB): SCB is a Chicago-based architecture firm with strong overlap in high-rise residential and mixed-use towers, including large urban master plans. Compares directly to Heller Manus on luxury condo towers, mixed-use developments, and entitlement-heavy urban projects at a similar size.
• Handel Architects: Handel Architects is a New York-based firm specializing in luxury high-rise residential towers and mixed-use developments in dense urban contexts. Direct peer to Heller Manus's residential/mixed-use high-rise business, serving a similar developer client base.
• Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF): KPF is a global leader in high-rise tower design and urban master planning, with comparable work in Asian gateway cities (Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong). Highly relevant direct peer given Heller Manus's signature high-rises (181 Fremont) and master-planning portfolio in China.
• Pickard Chilton: Pickard Chilton is an architecture practice known for iconic office towers and large-scale mixed-use developments for institutional and corporate clients. Directly comparable to Heller Manus's 181 Fremont (Meta-occupied office tower) and Fortinet HQ work.
• EHDD Architecture: EHDD is a San Francisco-based architecture firm known for sustainable, civic, and educational projects including UC Merced's original campus. Comparable to Heller Manus on Bay Area sustainable design, civic/institutional commissions, and similar boutique scale.
• Bohlin Cywinski Jackson: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson is a similarly sized, design-driven architecture firm with comparable work in civic, academic, and residential projects on the West Coast. Comparable to Heller Manus as a boutique, award-winning practice with similar sustainability orientation.

Broad incumbents

• Gensler: Gensler is the world's largest architecture firm, with vast corporate workplace, hospitality, and mixed-use practices. Competes with Heller Manus for major corporate and developer clients in the Bay Area and globally, but offers broader, multi-disciplinary capabilities.
• Perkins&Will: Perkins&Will is a large global architecture firm with deep expertise in sustainable, LEED-certified, and healthcare/institutional design. Broader incumbent with overlapping sustainability credentials but a much larger scale across many verticals.
• Foster + Partners: Foster + Partners is a globally renowned sustainable architecture firm with high-profile towers, master plans, and mixed-use work. Comparable to Heller Manus on sustainability leadership and international master-planning competitions, but at a substantially larger scale.
• SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill): SOM is one of the largest and most established global architecture and engineering firms, with deep credentials in supertall towers and urban master planning worldwide. Comparable to Heller Manus on 181 Fremont-tier high-rises and large international master plans, but at vastly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heller-manus-architects
• Xx.com/hellermanus

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 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 Heller Manus Architects