Johnston Design Group

What Johnston Design Group does

Johnston Design Group is a privately held boutique architecture firm headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, that provides project-based architectural design services organized under a unified "Restorative Design" methodology. The practice was founded by Scott Johnston and serves clients across the Southeast United States, with a portfolio structured into six categories: Dwelling (custom residential), Workplace (commercial offices), Community (civic projects), Market (retail and mixed-use), Cultural (institutional venues), and Historic (preservation and adaptive reuse). Notable projects include the Furman Sustainability Center at Furman University and high-end residential work at The Reserve at Lake Keowee.

The firm's core intellectual property is its Restorative Design philosophy, codified in the Longleaf Pine Manifesto, which emphasizes occupant well-being, economy through conservation, and stewardship of natural site resources. LEED certification expertise — including LEED Platinum achievements on residential projects — functions as the firm's primary technical credential and differentiator in the regional market. The practice does not appear to employ proprietary technology platforms or AI-driven design tools; its differentiators are philosophical, credentialed (LEED), and portfolio-based.

Commercially, Johnston Design Group operates on a professional services revenue model, with custom-quoted project fees and no publicly disclosed pricing tiers. Go-to-market is sales-led and portfolio-driven: clients engage via website contact form, phone, email, and referrals, supported by an active multi-channel social media presence (Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram). The firm is founder-owned with no disclosed institutional investment, no parent company, no funding rounds, and no recorded M&A activity. Headcount is reported in the 11–50 range, consistent with a small regional boutique practice.

Name

Johnston Design Group

Legal name

Johnston Design Group

Website

https://johnstondesigngroup.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Johnston Design Group is a privately held boutique architecture firm in Greenville, SC, founded by Scott Johnston, that provides project-based Restorative Design services across residential, commercial, civic, cultural, and historic preservation projects in the Southeast United States, with LEED certification expertise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (541310)

akta.pro primary industry

Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sustainable/Green Building & LEED Consulting (BPAHAKAG)

Keywords

• Architectural design services
• Sustainable building design
• Historic preservation architecture
• LEED certified architecture
• Residential architecture design

Headquarters

HQ city

Greenville

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Architectural Design Services: Project-based architectural design services for residential (Dwelling), commercial (Workplace), community, market, cultural, and historic projects. Revenue generated through design fees, project management, and construction administration services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Johnston Design Group is an architecture firm providing project-based architectural design services built around a Restorative Design philosophy. Services span six portfolio categories—Dwelling (residential), Workplace (commercial), Community, Market, Cultural, and Historic (preservation and adaptive reuse)—with deep expertise in LEED-certified sustainable design and historic preservation, delivered primarily to clients in South Carolina and the broader Southeast U.S.

Product overview

Johnston Design Group is an architecture firm offering a unified Restorative Design service organized into six portfolio categories: Dwelling (residential projects), Workplace (commercial office design), Community (community-focused projects), Market (market sector projects), Cultural (cultural institutions), and Historic (historic preservation and renovation). The firm's approach emphasizes sustainability, LEED certification objectives, and designing environments that enhance occupant well-being while honoring natural resources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• LEED Platinum certification achieved for residential projects (Ron and Sandra White project)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Bohlin Cywinski Jackson: Design-focused architecture firm emphasizing craft, sustainability, and contextual design across residential, civic, and commercial typologies. Comparable to JDG in project-type breadth and design-philosophy orientation.
• Mithun: Design firm with integrated sustainability, landscape, and architectural practice — shares JDG's restorative/well-being-focused design ethos and similar scale, with comparable work in residential, community, and cultural sectors.
• BNIM: Architecture and design firm with deep expertise in LEED Platinum, high-performance, and restorative design. Shares JDG's positioning around sustainability-driven, well-being-focused built environments.
• Lake|Flato Architects: San Antonio-based architecture firm widely recognized for sustainable, regionally rooted design — directly comparable to JDG's restorative-design philosophy and LEED/sustainability credentials, though at a significantly larger scale and national reputation.
• David M. Schwarz Architects: Mid-sized architecture practice with comparable breadth across civic, cultural, residential, and adaptive-reuse projects. Similar in scale and design-philosophy orientation to JDG, providing a relevant independent-firm benchmark.
• KieranTimberlake: Research-driven architecture practice with strong sustainability and high-performance building credentials. Comparable to JDG in its philosophy-driven, sustainability-led approach to design, though with deeper institutional and academic project exposure.

Regional players

• McMillan Pazdan Smith: Southeast US-based architecture firm with comparable regional scope, mixed residential/commercial/institutional portfolio, and similar firm size band. A direct competitor in the Carolinas/Southeast regional market.
• LS3P Associates: Southeast-based architecture, interiors, and planning firm with offices across the Carolinas and beyond. Comparable in geographic footprint and project-type diversification (residential, workplace, civic, cultural).

Broad incumbents

• Perkins&Will: Global architecture practice with leading sustainability and LEED credentials (founding USGBC member). Operates in the same sustainability-architecture space as JDG but at vastly larger scale and across all major US markets.
• Gensler: Global design and architecture firm with deep workplace, retail, and cultural practice areas overlapping JDG's Workplace, Market, and Cultural categories. Represents scale and capability headroom JDG could pursue over time.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/JDGarch
• Facebookfacebook.com/johnstondesigngroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/johnston-design-group

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 Johnston Design Group