Dills Architects

What Dills Architects does

Dills Architects is a Virginia Beach, Virginia-based architecture and urban design practice founded in 1983 by Dan Dills, a former U.S. Army construction unit servicemember, and now led by his son Clay Dills as Design Principal and Owner. The firm operates with a team of approximately 20 staff, organized around a Managing Principal, a Federal Principal/Technical Director, Design Director, Client Engagement Director, and a controller, supported by architects, designers, project coordinators, and specialists with credentials including NCARB, LEED, PMP, and Six Sigma. The practice is structured around five integrated service lines: architecture, urban design and planning, interior design, landscape design, and building performance and visualization.

The firm's revenue model is project-based professional services delivery, with pricing scoped per project and billed through multi-year contract structures. The customer base is diversified across four named verticals: federal government (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Department of War, NASA, U.S. Space Force, National Park Service); local and municipal government (City of Virginia Beach, Town of Kitty Hawk); K-12 and higher education (Chesapeake Public Schools, Norfolk State University); and cultural and civic institutions (Norfolk Botanical Garden, Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, Elizabeth River Project). Notable projects include the ~8-acre Rudee Park waterfront in Virginia Beach, the multi-component Garden of Tomorrow program at Norfolk Botanical Garden, the 5/31 Memorial, the Central Beach Small Area Plan, the ~940-student Crestwood Elementary School, the Fred W. Beazley River Academy, and the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts renovation.

Dills pursues its go-to-market through direct enterprise field sales and response to RFQs/RFPs, with event-driven community engagement as a key mechanism for civic projects (e.g., Rudee Park drew over 7,000 participants). Federal work is delivered via Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicles; the firm holds a $45M USACE Norfolk District IDIQ (Dills-Raymond JV) and a $24M USACE New England District IDIQ (Dills-CDM Smith Joint Venture), leveraging joint venture partnerships to access capacity beyond its small-business scale. Marketing channels include the firm website, LinkedIn, Instagram, regional industry awards, and thought leadership content, with a primary geographic footprint in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia and select federal reach into New England.

Name

Dills Architects

Legal name

Dills Architects

Website

https://dillsarchitects.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Dills Architects is a Virginia Beach-based architecture and urban design practice founded in 1983, serving federal, municipal, educational, and cultural clients. The ~20-person firm delivers architecture, urban design, interior design, landscape, and planning services across the mid-Atlantic coastal region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural Design Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131), Landscape Architectural Services (541320), Interior Design Services (54141)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Landscape Architecture & Site Design (BPAHAKAC), Commercial Landscape Design & Installation (HSAIABAJ)

Keywords

• Architecture services
• Urban design planning
• Landscape architecture
• Interior design services
• Federal architecture

Headquarters

HQ city

Virginia Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Architecture and Design Services: Project-based professional services revenue from architecture, urban design, landscape design, interior design, and design team leadership for civic, cultural, educational, and federal clients.
2. Federal Government Contracts: Revenue from IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity) contract vehicles with federal agencies including U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk District ($45M) and New England District ($24M), providing multidisciplinary A-E services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Dills Architects is an architecture and urban design practice providing comprehensive architecture, urban design and planning, interior design, landscape design, and building performance and visualization services for civic, cultural, educational, and federal clients. The firm delivers project-based professional services across coastal mid-Atlantic environments, with specialized expertise in federal mission support facilities including dormitories, child development centers, administrative and training facilities. It also operates as an established federal contractor via IDIQ contract vehicles with agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Product overview

Dills Architects is an architecture and urban design practice offering a comprehensive suite of services including architecture, urban design and planning, interior design, landscape design, building performance and visualization, and design team leadership. The firm operates across civic, cultural, educational, and federal market sectors, delivering projects ranging from public parks (Rudee Park, Central Beach Small Area Plan) and cultural facilities (Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, Fred W. Beazley River Academy) to educational institutions (Crestwood Elementary School) and memorials (5/31 Memorial). The firm also provides specialized federal architecture services for Department of Defense, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other federal agencies. At the Norfolk Botanical Garden, the firm is delivering the multi-component Garden of Tomorrow project encompassing the Brock Entry Pavilion, Brock Parking Garden, Perry Conservatory, and Brock Environmental Education Center.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Federal IDIQ contract wins totaling $69 million (USACE Norfolk $45M + USACE New England $24M)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Raymond JV, LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDills Architects-Raymond JV formed to pursue and deliver federal architecture/engineering IDIQ contracts. Awarded $45M USACE Norfolk District Multidiscipline A-E IDIQ Contract providing small-business-led A-E services for USACE Norfolk-managed projects across Virginia.
• CDM SmithcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDills Architects CDM Smith Joint Venture formed for federal contracting. Awarded $24M USACE New England District A-E IDIQ Contract to compete for task orders supporting general engineering and design services across USACE New England District.
• SCAPE Landscape ArchitectureminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator on Rudee Park project providing landscape architecture services for the Virginia Beach waterfront park development.
• Renaissance PlanningminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on Central Beach Small Area Plan for Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development, providing urban design expertise for the consensus-driven planning process.
• SWA GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLandscape architecture collaborator on 5/31 Memorial project providing specialized memorial landscape design services.
• EDSAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLandscape architecture collaborator on Rudee Park project providing landscape design services.
• Biederman Redevelopment VenturesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPark programming collaborator on Rudee Park project providing programming strategy for the waterfront park.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Clark Nexsen: Norfolk-headquartered architecture and engineering firm of similar scale with deep federal, civic, and higher education practices across the mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Most direct geographic and segment overlap with Dills Architects.
• Moseley Architects: Virginia-based architecture firm with comparable K-12, civic, and public-sector portfolio. Similar size band and client mix (public schools, municipalities, state agencies) to Dills.
• EwingCole: Philadelphia-based architecture, engineering, and interior design firm with federal, civic, and institutional work. Comparable in offering breadth across architecture, interiors, and engineering disciplines.
• Quinn Evans Architects: Mid-Atlantic architecture firm specializing in cultural, civic, and historic preservation projects, with a similar integrated design studio model serving nonprofits and government clients.
• Grimm + Parker Architects: Maryland-based architecture firm focused on K-12, higher education, and civic markets. Closely comparable in segment focus and mid-Atlantic geographic orientation.
• Hord Coplan Macht: Mid-Atlantic architecture, planning, and landscape architecture firm with federal, civic, higher education, and cultural practices. Comparable scale and integrated multidisciplinary model.
• Hanbury: Norfolk/Virginia Beach-based design firm offering architecture, planning, and interior design with strong civic and education portfolio. Same regional market and similar ethos around community-engaged design.

Broad incumbents

• HKS: Large national architecture firm with an active federal practice serving DoD, VA, and civilian agencies. Overlaps on federal mission support facilities and large civic/education projects.
• SmithGroup: National architecture, engineering, and planning firm with significant federal, civic, and higher education practices. Provides broader portfolio benchmark for federal A-E IDIQ competition.
• Page: National architecture and engineering firm with federal, healthcare, civic, and higher education practices. Competes with Dills on federal task orders and university work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/dillsarchitects
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dills-architects

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Dills Architects