Terracotta Design Build

What Terracotta Design Build does

Terracotta Design Build is a privately held, women-founded integrated design-build firm headquartered in Decatur, Georgia (Atlanta metropolitan area), established in 2005 by architects Ili Hidalgo and Luly Melarti together with builder Maurie Hullender. The firm operates a unified studio model in which licensed architects, interior designers, and construction personnel work under one roof with a shared design vision, common budget, and single client point-of-contact, in contrast to traditional architect-then-contractor workflows. Its core services are three-fold and interlocking: Architectural Design (investment starting at $35,000), Interior Design + Installation (starting at $35,000 per room), and Construction Services (starting at $400,000), supported by a $500 consultation entry point and a four-stage documented process from vision through delivery.

The firm serves two principal segments: high-net-worth homeowners undertaking luxury custom builds, large-scale renovations, and historic home remodels in the Atlanta metro, and boutique commercial clients — primarily hospitality operators — pursuing design-led restaurant and hotel projects across the Southeastern US and select markets including Charleston, Miami, and Dorado. Revenue is generated entirely through project-based professional services fees (design, construction, and interior procurement), with no subscription, licensing, or recurring component. Go-to-market is consultative and waitlist-managed; due to limited concurrent client capacity, the firm qualifies and sequences engagements rather than pursuing volume. Marketing relies on its visual portfolio, named client testimonials, and an accumulated brand reputation of 75+ industry awards and 100+ press features rather than paid acquisition.

Operationally, Terracotta is a small, founder-controlled organization (approximately nine named senior staff across architecture, construction management, estimating, and finance) with no disclosed institutional investment, parent company, subsidiaries, or external funding events. Its operating geographies are the Southeastern United States for residential and select additional US/Caribbean markets for hospitality. There is no disclosed data on revenue, headcount trends, or backlog value, and the firm reports no formal certifications, patents, or regulatory actions.

Name

Terracotta Design Build

Legal name

Terracotta Design Build

Website

https://terracottadesignbuild.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Terracotta Design Build is a privately held, women-founded integrated design-build firm in Decatur, Georgia, combining licensed architecture, interior design, and construction under one roof to serve high-net-worth residential and boutique hospitality clients across the Southeastern United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Decatur

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Architectural Design Services: Licensed in-house architectural design services including site documentation, zoning research, conceptual drawings, material selections, and permit preparation. Revenue generated through project-based design fees.
2. Construction Services: In-house construction team providing site management, permitting, subcontractor coordination, quality checks, and turnkey execution. Revenue from construction project fees with investment starting at $400,000.
3. Interior Design Services: Room-by-room furniture planning, custom finish selections, procurement, delivery, styling, and installation services. Revenue from design fees starting at $35,000 per room.
4. Consultation Services: Initial consultation meeting on site to understand goals, style, priorities, budget, and timeline. Includes written project outline and estimate. Consultation fee of $500.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Terracotta Design Build delivers an integrated design-build service combining licensed architecture, interior design, and in-house construction under one unified team. It serves luxury residential homeowners and boutique commercial/hospitality clients in the Atlanta metro and select Southeastern U.S. markets through a staged engagement beginning with a $500 consultation.

Product overview

Terracotta Design Build operates as a single unified design-build studio offering three integrated core services: Architectural Design, Construction Services, and Interior Design + Installation. Unlike traditional firms that subcontract separate teams, their in-house architects, interior designers, and builders work under one roof with shared vision, budget, and single-point contact. The company maintains two distinct portfolio segments—Luxury Residential and Boutique Hospitality—showcasing completed projects across both sectors. Investment thresholds vary by service: architectural design starts at $35,000, interior design at $35,000 per room, and construction at $400,000.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architectural Design Licensed in-house architectural design services including site documentation, zoning research, conceptual drawings, material selections, and permit preparation. Investment starts at $35,000. Provided as part of an integrated architecture-interior-design-construction studio for residential and boutique commercial clients.
• Construction Services Full-service, in-house construction including site management, permitting, subcontractor coordination, scheduling, procurement, quality checks, and turnkey execution with a 1-year warranty. Investment starts at $400,000. Delivered by Terracotta's own construction team as part of the unified studio.
• Interior Design + Installation Room-by-room furniture planning, custom finish selections, procurement, delivery, styling, and installation with access to exclusive trade resources. Investment starts at $35,000 per room. Provided by Terracotta's in-house interior designers as part of the unified studio.

Quantifiable outcome

• 400+ completed projects
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Design-Build Institute of America member firms: Industry association of design-build firms. Relevant contextually as a peer set and ecosystem signal, but not a single comparable company; included to capture the broader design-build competitive universe.

Direct peers

• LDa Architecture & Interiors: Integrated architecture and interior design firm serving luxury residential clients with a full-service in-house model. Comparable integrated design-plus-build-adjacent offering and similar premium positioning, but East Coast geography.
• Harrison Design Associates: Luxury residential architecture and design firm with a strong footprint across the Southeastern US. Comparable in target market (HNW residential), service scope (architecture + interiors), and regional focus.
• Boxwood Avenue: Atlanta-area interior design and renovation firm for high-end residential clients. Comparable in regional luxury residential positioning, though smaller in scope and less architecturally integrated.
• Dwell Design Build: Atlanta-area design-build firm offering integrated architecture, interior design, and construction for custom residential projects. Closest direct comparable: same metro, same integrated model, same luxury residential target customer.
• KGA Studio Architects: Atlanta-based architecture firm working on luxury custom residential and boutique commercial projects. Comparable on architectural service line and Atlanta HNW customer base, though without the integrated builder component.
• Studio Bungalow: Atlanta-based architecture and interior design studio focused on high-end residential and boutique commercial work. Direct comparable on integrated architecture/interior offering and Atlanta luxury segment.

Broad incumbents

• Toll Brothers: National luxury homebuilder with a broad portfolio of premium single-family and boutique community projects. Overlaps with Terracotta on luxury residential end-customers, but operates at national scale and via production builder model.
• Robert A.M. Stern Architects: National luxury residential and mixed-use architecture firm. Comparable on HNW residential client base and premium design positioning, though at much larger scale and without in-house construction.

Regional players

• Boutique Design Build Atlanta (local competitors): Atlanta luxury residential design-build firms (e.g., PeachHaus, SH Architecture + Design, Pinemar) compete directly for the same HNW residential clients and integrated design-build service offering in the same metro.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/terracotta-design-build

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Terracotta Design Build