Living Designs Group Architects

What Living Designs Group Architects does

Living Designs Group Architects (LDG) is a privately held, boutique architecture and design firm founded in 1990 and headquartered in Taos, New Mexico, with a second office in Crested Butte, Colorado. The firm provides full-service architecture, engineering coordination, and planning services across six project categories: academic and educational facilities, athletic fields and recreation, civic and commercial, custom homes, multi-family residential, and resort and hospitality. Its core technical differentiator is sustainable design expertise, including structural insulated panel systems (SIPS), geothermal ground loop heat exchange, Living Machine wastewater reclamation, rainwater harvesting, Trombe wall passive solar systems, and LEED-certified building practices — applied across projects ranging from LEED Platinum affordable housing (Taos Haus + 6) to geothermal-powered resort developments (El Monte Sagrado).

The firm serves both public sector clients (school districts, municipalities, counties, universities, volunteer fire departments) and private sector clients (resort developers such as Angel Fire Resort and Mountain Capital Partners / Sipapu, housing developers, hospitality operators, and private homeowners) across the Four Corners region of New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. Project examples include 40,000 SF elementary school additions, 60,000 SF adaptive reuse hotel conversions, athletic complexes, mountain custom homes, and sustainable multi-family developments. Revenue is generated through project-based professional services fees billed on a per-project basis, acquired through qualifications-based selection for public contracts and direct engagement or referral for private commissions. The firm is led by President Douglas Jon Patterson, holds no external investment, and operates with approximately 10 local professionals.

Name

Living Designs Group Architects

Legal name

Living Designs Group Architects

Website

https://ldg-arch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Living Designs Group Architects is a privately held, 10-person architecture firm in Taos, New Mexico, providing sustainable architectural, engineering, and planning services for educational, civic, resort, multi-family, and custom residential clients across the Four Corners region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural Design Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131), Architectural Services (541310), Interior Design Services (54141), Landscape Architectural Services (541320)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAHAKAA

Architectural Design Services

Business & Public Services/Professional Services (Legal, Accounting, Consulting)/Architecture, Design & Planning Services

SECONDARYBPAHAKAB

Interior Design Services

Business & Public Services/Professional Services (Legal, Accounting, Consulting)/Architecture, Design & Planning Services

SECONDARYBPAHAKAC

Landscape Architecture & Site Design

Business & Public Services/Professional Services (Legal, Accounting, Consulting)/Architecture, Design & Planning Services

Keywords

• Architectural design services
• Sustainable building design
• LEED certified architecture
• Master planning services
• Construction administration

Headquarters

HQ city

Taos

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Architecture and Design Services: LDG generates revenue through professional architecture, engineering, and planning services billed on a project-by-project basis. Services span full project lifecycle from design through construction administration. Revenue is derived from both public contracts (school districts, municipalities) and private commissions (developers, resorts, homeowners).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Living Designs Group Architects delivers full-service architectural design, engineering coordination, planning, and construction administration for projects spanning educational facilities, athletic fields, civic and commercial buildings, custom homes, multi-family residential, and resort/hospitality developments across the Mountain West. The firm differentiates through deep sustainable design expertise spanning LEED certification, SIPS construction, geothermal, passive solar, and water reclamation systems.

Product overview

Living Designs Group Architects is a multi-disciplinary architecture firm providing comprehensive design services in the Mountain West region. The firm operates as a unified practice offering architectural design, engineering coordination, and planning services across six project categories: Academic/Educational Facilities, Athletic Fields & Recreation, Civic & Commercial, Custom Homes, Multi-Family Residential, and Resort & Hotel projects. The firm specializes in sustainable design with LEED certification expertise and serves clients throughout New Mexico and Colorado from offices in Taos, NM and Crested Butte, CO.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architectural Design Services Full-service architectural design covering educational environments, resort communities, commercial and civic projects, multifamily residential, and custom homes throughout the Mountain West region, delivered through direct engagement with public and private clients.
• Engineering Services Integrated engineering services provided alongside architectural design for projects including structural, civil, MEP, and environmental engineering coordination.
• Planning Services Land use planning, campus master planning, and development planning services for both public and private sector clients.
• Construction Administration Construction administration services including document preparation, contractor selection assistance, budget and scheduling management, and project completion oversight.
• Sustainable Design & LEED Certification Sustainable building design with LEED certification expertise, including passive solar design, rainwater harvesting, energy-efficient building envelopes (SIPS), and eco-structure systems such as geothermal and Living Machine wastewater reclamation.
• Academic/Educational Facilities Design Design services for K-12 schools, universities, charter schools, and educational facilities including classrooms, libraries, labs, athletic facilities, and campus infrastructure delivered through qualifications-based selection.
• Athletic Fields & Recreation Design Design services for athletic fields, sports complexes, playgrounds, and recreational facilities including football, track, baseball, softball, and soccer venues with Title 9 regulatory navigation.
• Civic & Commercial Project Design Design services for civic buildings, fire stations, churches, mixed-use commercial, and community facilities for municipal and nonprofit clients.
• Custom Residential Design Custom residential architecture services including mountain homes, corporate residences, and vacation properties in New Mexico and Colorado with expertise in steep sites and energy-efficient envelope design.
• Multi-Family Residential Design Affordable housing, condominiums, apartments, and multi-unit residential developments including LEED for Homes Platinum certified sustainable projects for developers and housing organizations.
• Resort & Hotel Design Design services for resorts, hotels, country clubs, RV parks, and hospitality venues including guest lodges, spa facilities, and adaptive reuse of existing structures.

Quantifiable outcome

• Energy consumption reduced by more than 70% in LEED Platinum certified Taos Haus + 6 development
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• BNIM Architects: Mid-sized, Kansas City-headquartered firm widely recognized for high-performance, sustainable, integrated design across civic, educational, and residential typologies. Comparable to LDG in its multi-vertical structure, deep sustainability and LEED credentials, and integrated architecture-plus-planning service model.
• Design Workshop: Aspen-headquartered landscape architecture and planning firm working across the Mountain West. Directly comparable to LDG's site planning, athletic fields, and civic landscape work (e.g., the 7-acre Alexander Gusdorf Eco Park), and shares the same regional resort-community client base and high-altitude expertise.
• Andersson-Wise Architects: Telluride, Colorado-based architecture firm with a comparable Mountain West focus on custom residential, resort, and civic projects. Overlaps with LDG on remote-mountain construction expertise, sustainable building systems, and a similarly small, principal-led practice structure.
• Lake|Flato Architects: San Antonio-based architecture firm of comparable size with a national reputation for sustainable, regionally-responsive design. Highly comparable in business model (full-service architecture with planning and engineering coordination), sustainability expertise (LEED, passive systems, regional materials), and cross-vertical portfolio (resort, civic, residential, educational). LDG operates as a Mountain West analog at smaller scale.
• Carney Logan Burke Architects: Jackson, Wyoming-based firm of similar size specializing in mountain-region architecture for resort, custom residential, civic, and cultural clients. Highly comparable to LDG in geographic positioning (small mountain town), service breadth, sustainability orientation, and the same resort and custom-home client base.
• Studio B Architects: Aspen, Colorado-based architecture firm of similar scale serving mountain resort communities, custom homes, and civic clients. Directly comparable to LDG in client mix (resort developers, private homeowners, municipalities), Mountain West geographic focus, and emphasis on contextual, sustainability-driven design.
• Olson Kundig: Seattle-based, mid-sized architecture firm renowned for custom residential, hospitality, and cultural projects with deep regional and craft-driven identity. Comparable to LDG in full-service architecture-plus-planning model, strong principal-led creative brand, and emphasis on integrated design that responds to place — though operating at significantly larger scale.
• CCY Architects: Telluride, Colorado-based architecture firm practicing in the same Mountain West region with a comparable focus on mountain-resort, residential, and civic work. Overlaps directly with LDG on resort communities, custom homes, and integrated sustainability in high-altitude environments.

Broad incumbents

• ZGF Architects: Large, Pacific Northwest- and nationally-based architecture firm with deep sustainability credentials and broad portfolio across civic, educational, healthcare, and commercial work. Represents the kind of larger, broader-practice incumbent that could expand into LDG's Mountain West niche as a competitor, or that could be a natural acquirer of a small, sustainability-leading regional practice.
• Perkins&Will: Global architecture firm with industry-leading sustainability practice and broad civic, educational, healthcare, and commercial portfolio. Functions as a broader incumbent peer — same core architectural services plus sustainability leadership, but at a scale and geographic reach that dwarfs LDG.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Living Designs Group Architects