What Cullen Payne Architects does

Cullen Payne Architects is a Dublin-headquartered architectural practice established in 1994, providing professional design services across healthcare, residential, commercial, education, and infrastructure sectors. The firm's core specialism is healthcare architecture, with a credentialed track record of HSE hospital projects including the Beaumont Emergency Department (6,500m²), University Hospital Galway 25-year masterplan, Merlin Park, Letterkenny, Connolly, Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin, St. Michael's, South Infirmary, and community nursing unit programs totaling approximately 250 beds. Non-healthcare clients include Trinity College Dublin, Technological University Dublin, Iarnród Éireann, KKR, Medtronic, and local authorities (Wexford, Limerick). The firm operates on project-based fees structured as a percentage of construction cost, with go-to-market relying on public procurement frameworks (HSE), competitive tenders, and referral pipelines through partners such as Arup.

The firm's production stack is built on BIM Level 2 processes using Revit-based authoring, supported by ISO 9001 quality management. Completed and in-flight flagship healthcare projects demonstrate capacity at scale, while conservation-accredited architects in-house indicate a secondary heritage/conservation capability. The firm collaborates externally through a joint venture with Moloney O'Beirne for major HSE programs and a formal co-location/collaboration with UK-based Allies and Morrison, which together extend both delivery capacity and geographic reach.

The practice employs approximately 16 staff including directors, associates, and architectural technicians. Recent organizational expansion — two new director promotions (Gray, Blighe) and three new associate appointments across 2025-2026 — points to deliberate bench-building to absorb a growing project pipeline. Revenue mechanics remain anchored to the Irish public healthcare capital program, with diversification moves (residential appointment August 2025, UK partnership) still nascent.

Name

Cullen Payne Architects

Legal name

Cullen Payne Architects

Website

https://cullenpayne.ie

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Dublin-based architectural practice founded in 1994 specializing in healthcare design, with BIM Level 2 and Revit workflows, serving HSE hospitals, universities, and private clients across Ireland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural Design Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (541310)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Construction Engineering & Constructability Consulting (BPAHAIAN)

Keywords

• Architectural design services
• Healthcare architecture
• Building information modelling
• Project management consulting
• Master planning services

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Architectural and Design Services: Cullen Payne Architects generates revenue through the provision of professional architectural services, including design, project management, and client advisory services. Revenue is project-based, typically earned as fees tied to project milestones and delivery stages. The firm also offers Project Management and Client Advisory Services which are billed as part of the overall service offering.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cullen Payne Architects is a Dublin-based architectural practice providing integrated architectural design, project management, and client advisory services for public and private sector clients in Ireland. The firm delivers projects across healthcare, residential, commercial/workplace, education, transport, and master planning sectors using BIM Level 2 methodology and NSAI-accredited quality management. Revenue is generated through project-based professional services fees, typically negotiated as a percentage of construction cost or fixed fees for defined scopes of work.

Product overview

Cullen Payne Architects is a Dublin-based architectural practice providing integrated architectural, design, project management, and client advisory services. The practice operates a platform of service offerings organised by sector specialties (healthcare, residential, commercial/workplace, education, transport, master planning) delivered through core design and project management capabilities. The practice also offers specialised conservation architecture services and uses BIM-enabled design delivery methodology. Projects range from specialised healthcare facilities and large-scale residential schemes to commercial fit-outs and institutional master planning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architectural Design Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Delivered 250 high-quality beds through three community nursing units using fast-track modern methods of construction.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Allies and MorrisoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 October 2017Long-time collaborators Allies and Morrison and Cullen Payne Architects strengthened their relationship through the co-location of an Allies and Morrison presence at Cullen Payne's Dublin studio. The firms have worked together on major UK residential projects including Goodluck Hope in London (804 homes) and St Helen's Phase II in Adamstown, Dublin (343 units). This partnership enables Cullen Payne to participate in large UK projects while Allies and Morrison gains local Irish delivery capacity.
• Moloney O'Beirne ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCullen Payne Architects entered a joint venture with Moloney O'Beirne Architects for the new Emergency Department and Women's and Children's Block development at University Hospital Galway, and subsequently for the combined design team delivering the Emergency Department and Endoscopy Department at Beaumont Hospital. This joint venture combines local expertise with complementary design capabilities.
• Kevin Jackson ArchitectsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerKevin Jackson Architects joined the combined team led by Cullen Payne Architects and Moloney O'Beirne Architects for the first phase of the critical care block development at Beaumont Hospital, specifically the endoscopy department.
• Shay Cleary ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCullen Payne Architects and Shay Cleary Architects have a long-standing collaboration, working together as a single cohesive architectural team on residential sector projects. Notable joint projects include Killeens Housing in Wexford (approximately 60 homes) and a new residential scheme involving Low Rise Medium Density housing and adaptive re-use of a historic building.
• John Sisk & SonminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCullen Payne Architects acted as Technical Advisor to HSE Estates during the design and build development of the North Dublin Surgical Hub. John Sisk & Son was the main contractor undertaking construction with their design team.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• HOK: Global architecture and design firm with significant healthcare practice, often competing for or partnering on large international hospital projects. Broad incumbent in the same healthcare-architecture category.

Direct peers

• Bucholz McEvoy Architects: Award-winning Dublin architecture practice with comparable size, focused on public-interest projects across housing, education and cultural sectors. Comparable in approach and project type to CPA's residential and civic portfolio.
• Allies and Morrison: UK architectural practice with which CPA maintains a co-located Dublin studio partnership, jointly delivering large residential and mixed-use schemes. Strategic collaborator but also a peer in residential and masterplanning.
• O'Mahony Pike Architects: Irish architecture practice with a strong residential, urban regeneration and masterplanning portfolio. Comparable peer for CPA's residential sector (with Shay Cleary Architects) and masterplanning work.
• Henry J Lyons Architects: Dublin-headquartered architecture practice of comparable scale working across healthcare, residential, workplace and education, with a similar HSE and public-sector client base. Directly competes for the same Irish public-sector tenders.
• John McAslan + Partners: UK architecture practice with a strong healthcare and education specialisation, including major hospital projects. Closest UK peer for the kind of complex live-site hospital work CPA delivers for the HSE.
• McCauley Daye O'Connell Architects: Dublin architecture practice working across healthcare, residential and education with a similar HSE and public-sector client profile. Direct competitor for Irish healthcare and public-sector commissions.
• Scott Tallon Walker Architects: One of Ireland's largest and most established architecture practices, with a deep portfolio of Irish healthcare, education, and civic projects that directly overlaps with Cullen Payne's HSE-focused work. Closest Irish peer in scale and sector mix.
• Medical Architecture: UK-based specialist healthcare architecture firm focused exclusively on hospital and clinical facility design. Direct specialist peer for CPA's healthcare architecture practice.

Others

• Arup: Global multi-disciplinary design, engineering and project management firm that has engaged CPA as a client (Ringsend Rd refurbishment) and competes for integrated design mandates on major healthcare and infrastructure projects. Adjacent design ecosystem participant.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cullen-payne-architects

Compliance3 records

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 Cullen Payne Architects