STO DESIGN GROUP INC

What STO DESIGN GROUP INC does

STO Design Group, Inc. is a privately held professional engineering and design consultancy founded in 1990 and headquartered in Irvine, California, specializing in aquatic features and water systems. The firm provides end-to-end services spanning conceptual planning, schematic and design development, bidding and permit documents, construction documents, technical reports, hydraulic modeling and testing, construction review, show control programming, system commissioning, and hands-on owner training. Its core technical scope covers waterproofing methods, mechanical, hydraulic and water quality systems, basin shell structures using concrete and stainless steel, water effects components, feature lighting, electrical distribution, and controls — including the technically demanding niche of water features raised on structure and water theaters.

The firm's client roster spans luxury hospitality and casino resorts (Wynn Las Vegas, Caesars Palace, Cosmopolitan, Mandalay Bay, Fontainebleau, Four Seasons Wailea, Ritz Carlton Palm Beach), theme parks and entertainment venues (Disneyland, MCA Islands of Adventure), corporate headquarters (Dreamworks, Boeing), educational institutions (UC Irvine), and public-sector projects (Port of Los Angeles, Golden Gate Park). Projects have been delivered across the United States and internationally in markets including China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Ecuador, and Brunei.

Revenue is generated through project-based professional consulting fees for design services, technical reports, and construction-phase services, with pricing negotiated on a project-by-project basis. Distribution is direct enterprise field sales to project owners, architects, developers, and landscape architects, leveraging 30+ years of specialized reputation and a portfolio of marquee completed projects rather than active digital marketing. The firm reports 1–10 employees and has no disclosed funding rounds, ownership structure, partnerships, acquisitions, or leadership changes in the available record.

Name

STO DESIGN GROUP INC

Legal name

STO Design Group, Inc.

Website

https://stodesign.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

STO Design Group is a 30+ year Irvine-based consultancy that provides engineering and design services for aquatic features — pools, fountains, water theaters, and manmade lakes — to hospitality, casino, theme park, corporate, and public-sector clients globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Aquatic Engineering Consultancy

NAICS

Landscape Architectural Services (54132), Architectural Services (54131)

akta.pro primary industry

Landscape Architecture & Site Design (BPAHAKAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Water Park Design, Engineering & Construction (Master Planning, Build) (THAAABAJ), Resort & Hotel Water Parks (On-Property Guest-Access Parks) (THAAABAC)

Keywords

• Aquatic feature engineering
• Water feature design
• Pool design services
• Fountain engineering consultancy
• Aquatic facility planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Irvine

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

Revenue model

1. Engineering and Design Consulting Services: STO Design Group provides comprehensive planning and design services for aquatic features including pools, spas, lagoons, manmade lakes, architectural fountains, animated water displays, and water theaters. Revenue is generated through professional consulting fees for design services, design criteria reports, construction document preparation, and construction phase services including shop drawing review, site visits, and system commissioning.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

STO Design Group Inc is a professional engineering and design consultancy specializing in aquatic features for high-profile built environments. The firm delivers planning, design documentation, and construction-phase services for pools, spas, lagoons, fountains, water theaters, and manmade lakes. It sources and integrates global standard systems and products to deliver finished aquatic installations for hospitality, casino, corporate, theme park, education, government, and select residential clients worldwide.

Product overview

STO Design Group is a professional consultancy firm providing complete planning and design services for aquatic features. The company offers a unified service portfolio comprising three interconnected service lines: Plan Documents (comprehensive engineering plans including waterproofing, mechanical, hydraulic, and water quality systems), Reports (technical studies and documentation including design criteria and operational manuals), and Special Services (hydraulic modeling, construction oversight, show control programming, and commissioning). Together, these services deliver fully operational aquatic feature systems for resort hotels, casinos, water theaters, corporate headquarters, universities, schools, residential communities, theme parks, and urban landscapes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Plan Documents
• Reports
• Special Services

Named customers14 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Crystal Fountains: Crystal Fountains designs, engineers, and supplies architectural and interactive water features, fountains, and water shows for civic, commercial, and hospitality projects worldwide. Its service scope (design through commissioning of decorative and architectural water features) directly overlaps with STO's Plan Documents, Reports, and Special Services product lines.
• WET Design: WET Design is a California-based design firm specializing in choreographed water features, fountains, and aquatic environments for hotels, casinos, and theme parks — directly comparable to STO's specialty niche (the Bellagio Fountains, Disney resort work). Both firms compete for similar enterprise-level hospitality and entertainment aquatic-feature commissions.
• Aquatic Development Group: Aquatic Development Group is a design-build firm focused on commercial pools, water features, and aquatic facilities for hospitality, recreation, and institutional clients — a parallel business model of aquatic design and engineering with overlapping resort and theme-park customers.

Broad incumbents

• SWA Group: SWA Group is one of the largest landscape architecture firms in the US, designing parks, resorts, and urban landscapes that frequently include water features, lagoons, and fountains. It competes for the larger-scale landscape scopes within which STO is often sub-specified.
• WATG (Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo): WATG is a large global architecture and design firm with a very strong hospitality and resort practice that frequently specifies signature pools, lagoons, and aquatic amenities for the same marquee hotel brands (Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, Wynn) that STO serves. It competes indirectly as a broader prime consultant whose projects often bundle aquatic feature scope.
• HOK: HOK is a global architecture firm with large hospitality, entertainment, and resort practices (including integrated-resort work for clients overlapping STO's roster). It competes for the broader resort master-plan commissions where aquatic features are a sub-scope.
• Arup: Arup is a multinational engineering consultancy with established aquatic, hydraulic, and water-quality engineering capabilities serving hospitality, leisure, and entertainment infrastructure. It offers broader services but intersects with STO on complex water-feature engineering commissions.

Others

• WhiteWater West Industries: WhiteWater West is a leading designer and manufacturer of water park attractions, slides, and aquatic ride equipment rather than a design consultancy. It is thematically adjacent because STO designs theme-park water features and water theaters that sit alongside WhiteWater's manufactured rides.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sto-design-group-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 STO DESIGN GROUP INC