Hiring Gensler: An Office Administrator's FAQ on Architecture, Design & Construction Services

If your company just told you to find an architecture firm, you're probably deep in a Google rabbit hole at 10pm. I know, because that was me in March 2024, when our CEO announced we were leaving our current office at lease-end and needed to figure out the next space. I'm the office administrator for a 220-person company — I manage workplace vendor relationships, roughly $500K annually across six vendors, and I report to both operations and finance. When we vetted Gensler, I found answers to questions I actually had, plus a few I didn't know to ask until we were in the middle of it. This FAQ covers both.

1. What does Gensler actually do?

Gensler is a global architecture and design firm — the kind whose portfolio page makes you wonder if you're too small to call them. They do workplace design, interiors, urban planning, and increasingly construction management, with offices around the world and something like 10,000+ people. For a corporate client, the practical thing to understand is that “Gensler architect” isn't one service. It's three service lines you can mix and match:

• Architecture — the building shell, structure, permits, code compliance.
• Interior design — layout, finishes, furniture, lighting, how the space actually feels.
• Construction management — overseeing the build itself: schedule, subcontractors, quality control, budget.

They're also one of the larger firms pushing office-to-residential conversions, which is a growing niche given how many downtown towers are sitting half-empty. The key decision is figuring out which of those lines you actually need. We went with architecture plus interiors and kept construction management separate — more on that below.

2. Is Gensler right for our company?

Honestly? It depends on scale, and I'll be straight with you: if you're doing a 5,000 sq ft refresh with a contractor you already trust, Gensler is probably overkill. The process overhead alone won't be worth it, and a good regional firm will serve you better. But if you're looking at 40,000+ sq ft, multiple locations, or a property with conversion potential, their global standards and project history start to matter a lot.

I don't have hard data on their minimum engagement size. What I can tell you from our experience is that our 40,000 sq ft renovation didn't raise eyebrows — and the firm's scale meant they'd solved our exact problem before. The rule of thumb I've landed on: global firm for complex or multi-site projects, regional firm for one-off local work. There's no universal best. Only the right fit for the scope in front of you.

3. How much does it cost to hire Gensler?

I wish I could give you a clean number, but I can't — and treat anyone who does with suspicion, because fees depend heavily on scope, building condition, and how much you delegate to subconsultants. Based on what we saw in our RFP process, architecture services generally land in the range of 5–15% of construction cost. Gensler's proposal came in mid-pack: not the highest, not the lowest. (The lowest one scared me more than the highest. Usually the low bid is low for a reason.)

What I can speak to with more certainty is invoicing. Before you commit to any large firm, verify they can produce clean, line-item invoices. In 2022, a vendor we'd hired for a smaller project couldn't provide a proper invoice — handwritten receipt only — and finance rejected the expense report. I ate $2,400 out of my department budget. That's exactly the kind of hidden cost nobody budgets for.

4. What's the difference between architecture, interior design, and construction management?

Think of it as the shell, the soul, and the supervision. Architecture is the building itself — structure, facade, permits, making sure the thing stands up and passes code. Interior design is the part your employees actually feel — layout, lighting, acoustics, materials, furniture, and whether the break room is in the right spot. Construction management is who runs the build — scheduling subcontractors, tracking budget, quality control, turning drawings into a building that exists.

What makes Gensler interesting is the integration: you can keep all three under one team, which eliminates a lot of finger-pointing when something goes sideways. But it also concentrates trust — one team owns the whole chain. We deliberately split it: Gensler for architecture and interiors, an independent construction manager we'd worked with before (which, honestly, is the part I'd redo). The coordination cost was real, but the check-and-balance felt worth it.

5. What does the engagement process actually look like?

The standard arc runs discovery workshops → concept design → design development → construction documents → construction. For us, the whole thing spanned about 14 months from kickoff to move-in, and Gensler ran their RFP process cleanly: clear deadlines, structured presentations, no invoice surprises. What I wasn't prepared for was the internal coordination required on our side. Decision points come at you quickly, and if your company lacks a formal approval chain, you become the bottleneck. We didn't have one — it cost us two weeks when a senior stakeholder reversed their sign-off during design development. Also: add 20–30% to whatever timeline the design team quotes, because permits and material lead times will eat the slack.

I'm not an architect, so I can't speak to design methodology in any depth. What I can tell you from a procurement perspective is that they were organized, responsive, and unusually good at documenting decisions. Create your approval chain before you kick off. You'll need it.

6. What's the thing nobody tells you before you pick a firm?

The budget trap. We nearly went with a regional firm whose proposal came in about 20% below Gensler's. Our CFO loved the number. But when I called references, two of their past clients mentioned scope gaps around permitting and code compliance — and those gaps had turned into significant change orders. I don't have exact figures for their projects, but I watched a neighbor company eat roughly $60,000 in change orders on a similarly sized renovation.

I'd always heard that cheaper isn't necessarily cheaper. I only truly believed it after seeing that neighbor project drag on five extra months. To be fair, the regional firm wasn't bad — for a simpler project, they'd probably have been perfectly fine. But we were buying complexity, and the low quote wasn't covering it. The reference call changed the conversation, and the firm we'd almost saved money with lost the bid. Sometimes the most expensive decision is the one that looks most responsible on paper.

7. What is office-to-residential conversion, and should I care?

Office-to-residential conversion means taking an empty office building and turning it into apartments or condos. It's one of the bigger ideas in commercial real estate right now, for two reasons: office vacancy in many downtowns is still high after the remote-work shift, and housing supply is short almost everywhere. Cities want conversions, and building owners who hold underperforming office assets need a way to make them productive again.

Gensler has done notable conversions, which is part of why they came up in our search. But the honest version is that not every office building can convert. Floor plate depth (how wide the building is), window placement, and where the plumbing risers run all determine whether apartments are physically viable. In my experience, a firm that's actually done conversions will tell you early which buildings qualify and which don't. If someone tells you “everything can convert,” treat that as a warning sign, not a promise.

8. So, how do I decide?

Signals that a firm like Gensler makes sense:

• Your project involves significant complexity — a big floor plate, tricky zoning, or conversion potential.
• You need design standards to work across multiple regions or locations.
• You want architecture and interiors under one team, with the accountability that comes with it.

Signals that it doesn't:

• A small, one-off scope where a regional firm's local relationships give you more value.
• A budget that can't absorb large-firm overhead and process.
• A project that's already designed and just needs execution.

And one final filter for any firm: if they claim to be the best at everything, ask for evidence.

Per FTC guidelines (ftc.gov), marketing claims must be truthful and substantiated.