What LCA Architects does

LCA Architects is a privately held, full-service architectural firm headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices in Walnut Creek (590 Ygnacio Valley Road) and Oakland (1970 Broadway). Founded over 40 years ago, the firm employs more than 30 staff including in-house specialists in Cal Green, LEED, commercial interiors, and entitlements. It serves public and private sector clients across nine primary practice areas: affordable housing, residential, education, public safety, municipal, hospitality, commercial and mixed-use, estate homes, and industrial facilities. Project examples range from the 237,250 sq ft Metroplex office tower in Concord and the 161,846 sq ft Oakland High School modernization to the historic Oriental Warehouse live-work loft conversion, PG&E's multi-laboratory consolidation, and senior care and auto dealership commissions.

The firm's underlying technology stack consists of standard architectural planning and design tools, principally AutoCAD, deployed against California-specific sustainability frameworks (Cal Green, LEED, CHPS). Differentiated capabilities are human-capital driven rather than software driven: in-house entitlement specialists who navigate state, regional, and local ordinances; sustainable-design experts supporting LEED Accreditation; and an internal training program (LCA University) that delivers AIA continuing education and ARE exam preparation. Notable technical outcomes include PG&E space consolidation saving over $300,000 per year in rent and lease costs and the 33 North Apartments project, at the time of construction the nation's largest housing development to use recycled water, saving an estimated 1.5 million gallons annually.

LCA Architects generates revenue on a fee-for-service professional services basis, with project-based pricing tied to individual scope and multi-year contract cadences. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales targeting government agencies, school districts, private developers, and individual estate clients across the western United States (including Alaska, Idaho, Virginia, and Hawaii) and internationally (Mexico, China, Japan, Bahrain). Marketing is conducted primarily through the firm's portfolio website and community engagement (Cal Poly Design Village, Habitat East Bay Executive Build, Diablo Valley College Architecture 298 sponsorship), while client acquisition leans on direct professional relationships and a repeat-customer base anchored by multiple public-sector and developer accounts. The firm is independently owned with leadership comprising Carl Campos (CEO), David Bogstad (President), and Ben Johanson (Vice President), and has no disclosed institutional investors, parent company, or M&A activity.

Name

LCA Architects

Legal name

LCA Architects Inc.

Website

https://lca-architects.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

LCA Architects is a privately held Bay Area architectural firm with 30+ staff providing planning and design services across affordable housing, education, public safety, municipal, hospitality, commercial, estate, and industrial projects for public and private clients in the U.S. and internationally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (541310), Architectural Services (54131), Engineering Services (541330)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Civil & Structural Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAA), Residential Design-Build & Renovation-Integrated Builders (IMAFABAE)

Keywords

• Architectural design services
• Sustainable building design
• Affordable housing design
• Public facility architecture
• LEED certified design

Headquarters

HQ city

Walnut Creek

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, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Professional Architecture Services: Fee-for-service architectural planning and design services for public and private clients across diverse project types including commercial, residential, industrial, municipal, education, hospitality, and public safety sectors

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

LCA Architects provides comprehensive architectural planning and design services for public and private sector clients across nine project categories: Affordable Housing, Residential, Education, Public Safety, Municipal, Hospitality, Commercial & Mixed Use, Estate Homes, and Industrial facilities. The firm maintains in-house specialists for LEED and Cal Green certifications, commercial interiors, and entitlements processing to streamline complex multi-disciplinary projects.

Product overview

LCA Architects is an established architectural firm providing comprehensive planning and design services across diverse project types. The firm operates as a service-based practice rather than a software product company, offering architectural design across nine primary service categories: Affordable Housing, Residential, Education, Public Safety, Municipal, Hospitality, Commercial & Mixed Use, Estate Homes, and Industrial facilities. The firm specializes in sustainable design with in-house expertise in Cal Green and LEED certifications, commercial interiors, and entitlement processing. With over 30 employees and over 40 years of experience, the firm serves clients from the San Francisco Bay Area across the western United States and internationally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Affordable Housing Design Architectural design services for affordable housing projects, including multi-family residential developments with subsidized or income-restricted units, targeted at affordable housing developers and public agencies.
• Residential Architecture Design services for residential projects including apartments, condominiums, lofts, student housing, senior living facilities, and multi-family residential developments.
• Education Facility Design Planning and design for schools including elementary, middle, high schools, colleges, adult education facilities, and specialized educational buildings, targeted at school districts and community college districts.
• Public Safety Facility Design Architectural services for fire stations and emergency response facilities, including new construction and modernization projects, targeted at municipal and public safety agencies.
• Municipal Services Design and planning services for government and public facilities including offices, community centers, and special municipal projects, targeted at government agencies and municipalities.
• Hospitality Design Architectural services for hotels, resorts, country clubs, wineries, golf facilities, and other hospitality venues, targeted at hospitality operators and private developers.
• Commercial & Mixed Use Development Design services for commercial buildings, retail centers, office buildings, and mixed-use developments combining multiple functions, targeted at private developers and corporate real estate buyers.
• Estate Homes Luxury custom residential design including large single-family homes, hacienda-style estates, and high-end residential properties, targeted at high-net-worth individuals.
• Industrial Facility Design Architectural services for industrial facilities including manufacturing plants, warehouses, recycling centers, and utility infrastructure, targeted at industrial operators and utilities.
• LEED Certification Services Specialized services for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, including sustainable design and green building consulting, supported by in-house LEED Accredited Professionals.
• Cal Green Compliance Expertise in California Green Building Standards Code compliance for projects in California jurisdictions, delivered by in-house specialists.
• Commercial Interiors Interior design services for commercial spaces including office tenant improvements and interior renovations, delivered by in-house specialists.
• Entitlements & Approvals Navigating state, regional, and local ordinances to obtain necessary approvals and entitlements for development projects, including yield studies and code interpretations.

Quantifiable outcome

• PG&E space consolidation saved over $300,000 per year in rent and lease costs through technical and ecological service employee office space reduction
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered notable.

• Standard CommunitiesnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint development partner for Aspen Wood affordable senior housing project - 123 units at 9000 Alcosta Boulevard in San Ramon, CA
• Housing On MeritnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint development partner for Aspen Wood affordable senior housing project - 123 units at 9000 Alcosta Boulevard in San Ramon, CA
• Greg Norman GolfnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating with Greg Norman Golf on design services and land planning of an 18 hole golf course, clubhouse, community center and new residential community for the City of Vallejo

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Gensler: Global design firm with a major San Francisco office competing for commercial, workplace, and mixed-use commissions that overlap with LCA's commercial segment.
• HKS: National architecture firm with significant public-sector, education, and civic practice that competes for similar institutional clients in California.
• SmithGroup: National integrated design firm with a strong California practice covering higher education, civic, and workplace projects — comparable services but at significantly larger scale.
• NBBJ: Large multi-discipline West Coast-rooted architecture firm active across healthcare, education, and commercial sectors — broader portfolio and headcount, but overlapping California clientele and project types.
• Perkins&Will: Global architecture practice with major California education and healthcare work; competes for the same institutional and public-sector RFPs but at much larger scale.
• Mithun: West Coast-rooted integrated design firm with strong sustainable-design credentials and comparable education, housing, and civic portfolio — overlapping practice areas at a larger scale.

Regional players

• WRNS Studio: West Coast-rooted architecture firm with similar emphasis on affordable housing, education, and civic projects; comparable size and design ethos though not headquartered in the Bay Area.

Direct peers

• LPA Design Studios: California-based integrated architecture firm with comparable emphasis on sustainable design, K-12/higher education, affordable housing, and public-sector work; closest direct competitor by service mix and regional footprint.
• EHDD: San Francisco/Bay Area architecture firm with deep California public-sector, education, and affordable housing portfolios — closely comparable project-type mix and geographic focus to LCA.
• Bohlin Cywinski Jackson: California-headquartered architecture firm with comparable mix of public, education, residential, and estate-home projects and a similarly regional California-centric delivery model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lca-architects-inc-

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 LCA Architects