What Rabun Architects does

Rabun Architects is a privately held, Atlanta-based architectural design firm founded in 1975 by Joe Rabun, specializing in hospitality architecture across hotels, conference centers, mixed-use developments, and university-affiliated facilities. Over 50 years the firm has delivered more than 200 commissions across 30+ U.S. states, with marquee projects including Atlanta's first five-star hotel (Four Seasons Atlanta, 1992), the St. Regis Buckhead Hotel & Residences, the Westin Buckhead, and the original Hilton Garden Inn prototype developed in 1996 with Hilton — a platform that has produced 40+ follow-on properties. The firm serves a concentrated roster of enterprise clients anchored by major hotel brands (Hilton, Marriott, IHG, Four Seasons) and select universities (Duke, Emory), with repeat commissions forming the bulk of revenue under a project-based professional services fee model.

The firm's core technology stack centers on 3D Building Information Modeling (BIM), fully integrated across all projects since 2015 with the Charlotte Hilton Garden Inn & Homewood Suites completed as the first end-to-end BIM project; Computer Aided Design (CAD) software has been in continuous use since 1992. Service lines are organized by project typology — hotel architecture, conference and meeting facilities, university hospitality, mixed-use development, and renovations/additions — and the firm maintains IACC official Architecture and Design consultant status since 1981, a long-tenured alliance that has produced several IACC-certified conference centers including The Chattanoogan, the world's first IACC-certified hotel.

The business model is B2B professional services, with revenue generated through design commissions on new construction, renovation, and mixed-use developments. Pricing is project-based and not publicly disclosed, varying with construction scope and complexity. The firm reaches customers through direct developer relationships, RFP responses, and brand-partner referrals rather than mass marketing, supported by a light digital presence (website, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook) and a strong portfolio of industry recognition including back-to-back Hilton Legacy Awards (2018, 2019), multiple AIA awards dating to 1980, LEED Gold and SITES Platinum certifications, and the 2010 Hospitality Design Awards finalist position for St. Regis Buckhead.

Name

Rabun Architects

Legal name

Rabun Architects

Website

https://rabunarchitects.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rabun Architects is a 50-year-old, Atlanta-based architectural firm specializing in hospitality design for hotels, conference centers, mixed-use developments, and university facilities. The firm serves major hotel brands — Hilton, Marriott, IHG, Four Seasons — and has delivered 200+ projects across 30+ U.S. states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality Architecture Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131), Architectural Services (541310)

akta.pro primary industry

Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Building Information Modeling (BIM) & Digital Design Services (BPAHAKAK)

Keywords

• Hospitality architecture
• Hotel design services
• Conference center design
• Residential mixed-use design
• University facility design

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

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, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Architectural Design Services: Professional services revenue generated through architectural design commissions for hospitality projects including hotels, conference centers, and residential developments. Projects include new construction, renovations, and mixed-use developments.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Rabun Architects provides professional architectural design services for the hospitality sector, including new construction, renovation, and addition projects for hotels, conference centers, mixed-use residential developments, and university-affiliated facilities. The firm delivers concept, design development, construction documentation, and construction administration services to enterprise hotel brand owners, hospitality developers, and educational institutions. Service delivery is supported by fully integrated 3D BIM technology that provides clients with a live project view from conception through construction.

Product overview

Rabun Architects is a hospitality-driven architectural design firm offering professional services across hotel architecture, conference center design, mixed-use development, university/academic facility design, and renovation projects. The firm's portfolio includes over 200 successful commissions spanning luxury hotels (St. Regis, Four Seasons, Westin), branded properties (Hilton, Marriott, IHG brands), IACC-certified conference centers, and convention/cultural facilities. Their design services are organized around project typologies including hotel design, conference and meeting facilities, university hospitality design, and mixed-use developments, serving clients across over 30 states in the United States.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hospitality Architectural Design Services Full-service architectural design for hospitality projects delivered to enterprise hotel owners, developers, and institutions, spanning concept, design development, construction documentation, and construction administration.
• Branded Hotel Design Architectural design services for branded hotels spanning luxury (St. Regis, Four Seasons), full-service (Hilton, Westin, Marriott), and limited-service (Hilton Garden Inn, Embassy Suites, Hotel Indigo) properties.
• Conference Center Design Architectural design for IACC-certified conference centers and meeting facilities delivered to hospitality developers, universities, and municipalities.
• Sustainable and LEED-Certified Design LEED, SITES, and FORTIFIED-certified architectural design services integrated into hospitality and institutional projects for owners with sustainability mandates.
• University and Academic Hospitality Design Architectural design for university-affiliated conference center hotels and campus hospitality facilities delivered to higher education clients.
• Mixed-Use and Residential Development Design Architectural design for mixed-use towers and luxury residential developments integrated with hotel and conference programming.
• Hotel Brand Prototype Design Prototype architectural design services for hotel brands seeking standardized but adaptable property templates for multi-property rollouts.
• Renovation and Addition Design Architectural design services for the renovation, expansion, and adaptive reuse of existing hotel, conference, and university hospitality facilities while maintaining operational continuity.
• Convention and Cultural Facility Design Architectural design for convention centers, performing arts halls, and cultural facilities, often in heritage-sensitive urban contexts and integrated with hospitality programming.

Quantifiable outcome

• 200+ successful hospitality commissions completed
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• International Association of Conference Centers (IACC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1981Official Architecture and Design consultant of IACC since 1981, providing members with insight and guidance on evaluation of meeting space and conference hotels. Rabun designed The Chattanoogan, the first IACC-Certified hotel in the world.
• Lake FlatominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLake Flato served as design architects for The Lodge at Gulf State Park project, with Rabun Architects leading the overall project execution and construction administration.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves16 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Cooper Carry: Atlanta-based architecture firm with hospitality, mixed-use, and commercial practices. Directly comparable as a Southeast US peer that competes for the same regional hotel and conference center commissions as Rabun.
• Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio: Atlanta-headquartered architecture firm with hospitality and mixed-use expertise. Comparable as a regional Southeast competitor pursuing similar hotel and conference center clients.

Broad incumbents

• HOK (now part of Populous/Hellmuth Obata Kassabaum legacy): Major global architecture firm with significant hospitality and convention center practice. Competes with Rabun on large convention center and university hospitality projects like those in Rabun's portfolio.
• HKS Architects: Large national architecture firm with a dedicated hospitality practice designing major hotel, convention, and mixed-use projects. Directly competes with Rabun for branded hotel commissions from Hilton, Marriott, and IHG but at materially larger scale.
• Gensler: Global architecture and design firm with significant hospitality and hotel design practice. Competes with Rabun for premium branded hotel commissions but operates across all major real estate verticals at much larger scale.

Emerging players

• BLUR Workshop: Hospitality-focused architecture and interior design firm based in Texas serving branded and boutique hotel developers. Comparable niche specialization in hotel design and renovation work for major brands.
• Looney & Associates: Architecture and interior design firm specializing in luxury hotel, resort, and residential projects. Comparable to Rabun in target client base (Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, boutique luxury brands) and project scale.

Direct peers

• Stonehill & Taylor: Architecture and interior design firm specializing in hospitality, hotel, and resort projects. Comparable to Rabun in boutique scale and luxury hotel brand focus (Hilton, Marriott, IHG).
• Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA): Global hospitality interior design firm with strong architectural capabilities, serving luxury and luxury-collection hotel brands. Closely comparable in target clients (Four Seasons, St. Regis, Hilton Luxury Collection) and project typologies to Rabun.
• Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG): Hospitality-focused architecture and design firm specializing in luxury hotels, resorts, and mixed-use developments. Highly comparable to Rabun's hospitality-only focus and luxury brand portfolio (Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, etc.).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCpMRGuzdkkEiW0I6EGB5DKg
• Facebookfacebook.com/rabunarch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rabun-architects
• Instagraminstagram.com/rabunarch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Rabun Architects