Bastien & Associates

What Bastien & Associates does

Bastien & Associates, Inc. is a privately held architecture and planning firm founded in 1982 by Gary L. Bastien, NCARB, headquartered in Irvine, California with an additional office in Tustin. The firm provides architectural design, masterplanning, and consulting services across six core verticals: film/TV studios, live venues, education facilities, office, industrial, and healthcare/high-tech projects. Its core technical innovation is the pioneering use of tilt-up concrete technology in sound stage construction, which reduces construction costs by approximately half compared to traditional methods. The firm serves enterprise clients primarily through direct sales engagement and RFQ/RFP processes, with notable customers including NBC Universal, Warner Bros., DreamWorks SKG, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, CBS Studio Center, Dubai Studio City, and various educational institutions including Chapman University.

The firm's go-to-market is relationship-driven enterprise field sales, leveraging founder Gary Bastien's position on Chapman University's School of Film and Television advisory board and NCARB certification licensing the firm to practice in 14 states. Revenue is generated through project-based professional services fees on episodic large-scale engagements such as the $88 million Ciudad de la Luz studio in Spain, the 144,000+ sq ft NBC Universal Barham Stages expansion, and Manhattan Beach Studios (1998) — the first new studio campus built in Southern California in 60 years. The firm operates with 11-50 employees and has executed projects across at least 12 US states plus international markets including Spain, Philippines, Peru, Hungary, and the UAE.

The business model is that of a traditional boutique professional services firm: project-based fees, no disclosed recurring revenue or product subscriptions, and no technology platform or API offering. Marketing relies on industry awards (AIA Orange County Citation 2020, NAIOP Eagle Award 2012), earned media coverage in publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times, and direct relationship leverage. Competitive positioning rests on the proprietary tilt-up concrete methodology, deep Hollywood relationships, and multi-state licensure that collectively create barriers to entry in the specialized entertainment architecture niche.

Name

Bastien & Associates

Legal name

Bastien and Associates, Inc.

Website

https://bastienarchitects.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bastien & Associates is a privately held architecture and planning firm founded in 1982, specializing in film/TV studios, live venues, education, office, and industrial facility design for enterprise clients, with a proprietary tilt-up concrete sound stage technology that halves construction costs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Tustin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Architectural Design Services: Project-based fees for architectural design, masterplanning, and consulting services across entertainment, industrial, office, and educational sectors

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Bastien & Associates is a full-service architecture and planning firm providing architectural design, masterplanning, and consulting services. Its core offerings span six service areas: Film/TV Studios (sound stages, production support, commissaries, backlots), Live Venues (theaters, amphitheaters, performing arts centers), Office (corporate facilities, office parks, high-rises), Industrial (warehouses, distribution centers, R&D buildings), Education Facilities (schools, universities, performing arts centers), and Masterplanning/Programming services. The firm is differentiated by its pioneering use of tilt-up concrete technology in sound stage construction, enabling roughly half the construction cost of traditional methods.

Product overview

Bastien and Associates is a full-service architecture and planning firm founded in 1982 by Gary L. Bastien, NCARB. The firm operates as a single unified service offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. Their core portfolio spans six integrated service areas: Film/TV Studios Design (including sound stages, production support, and backlots), Live Venues Design (theaters, amphitheaters, performing arts centers), Office Design (corporate facilities and office parks), Industrial Design (warehouses, distribution centers, R&D buildings), Education Facilities Design (schools, universities, performing arts centers), and Masterplanning/Programming Services. The firm is particularly known for pioneering tilt-up concrete technology in sound stage construction, enabling half the cost of traditional construction. Notable projects include NBC Universal Area 51, Ciudad de la Luz in Spain, Manhattan Beach Studios, and various Chapman University film school facilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Film/TV Studios Design Comprehensive architectural design services for film, TV and broadcast studios, including sound stages, production support facilities, commissaries, and backlots. The firm applies its pioneering tilt-up concrete construction expertise to deliver sound stages at approximately half the cost of traditional methods.
• Live Venues Design Architectural design services for amphitheaters, theaters, performing arts centers, and clubs designed for live performances. These venues require specialized acoustic and operational expertise.
• Office Design Architectural design services for office environments ranging from complex improvements for major corporations to office park developments and high-rise buildings. Designed for organizations from Fortune 500 to non-profit.
• Industrial Design Architectural design services for industrial buildings including warehouse/distribution centers and R&D buildings, applying tilt-up construction expertise to deliver financially and aesthetically effective industrial facilities.
• Education Facilities Design Architectural services for public and private educational organizations, including feasibility studies, capital assessments, programming, masterplanning, phasing, design development, and permitting. Past projects include film school studios, performing arts centers, classrooms, and dormitories.
• Masterplanning Services Comprehensive masterplanning services encompassing architecture, planning, and consulting for campus and facility development projects, including layout strategy for sound stages and production support facilities.
• Programming Services Programming services as part of architecture, planning, and consulting offerings, helping organizations define their spatial and facility requirements prior to design.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tilt-up concrete sound stages built at half the cost of traditional construction
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 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

One partnership is on record.

• Miyamoto InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorld-renowned earthquake engineering specialist partnered with Bastien on the Santa Clarita City Hall seismic retrofit project. Miyamoto's design analysis identified alternate seismic rehabilitation strategy using seismic dampers.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Gensler: Global architecture and design firm with a large entertainment and media practice, regularly designing studios, broadcast facilities, and live venues for major Hollywood and corporate clients - directly competitive with Bastien for studio commissions.
• HKS: Large architecture practice with significant sports, entertainment, and convention-center work, overlapping with Bastien's live-venues and sound-stage portfolio.
• CannonDesign: National architecture and engineering firm with deep higher-education and healthcare practices that compete with Bastien for institutional capital-project commissions.
• DLR Group: Integrated design firm covering education, workplace, hospitality, and civic markets with comparable horizontal service breadth and a similar institutional-client orientation.
• SmithGroup: Large integrated design firm with practices across higher education, science/tech, and workplace, comparable to Bastien's horizontal service mix and education sector presence.
• WATG: Architecture and planning firm specializing in hospitality, entertainment, and resort design including mixed-use and live venues, mirroring Bastien's entertainment-tilt and live-venue practice.
• Steinberg Hart: California-based architecture firm active in housing, education, civic, and entertainment projects, sharing Southern California market overlap and studio-design experience with Bastien.
• Perkins Eastman: Multi-disciplinary architecture firm with strong education, civic, and cultural practice that parallels Bastien's education and live-venues work.
• Page (formerly Page Southerland Page): Architecture and engineering firm with strong civic, education, and cultural portfolio, similar in mix to Bastien's education and live-venues verticals.

Broad incumbents

• AECOM: Global infrastructure and design consultancy with integrated architecture, engineering, and project management that competes with Bastien on large entertainment and civic-facility commissions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bastien-and-associates-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Bastien & Associates