More optimism means more architects: Why the big practices are getting bigger

By Thomas Lane2026-01-26T07:00:00

The latest survey of top architecture firms for Building’s sister title Building Design shows recruitment at the top 10 practices is increasing faster than elsewhere as they take advantage of growing markets in North Africa and the Middle East. Thomas Lane crunches the data

Despite volatile times, architects are the most optimistic they have been about prospects for the year ahead since the post-covid bounce of 2022. Although optimism on growth dropped sharply back in 2023, this has steadily increased each year to almost match that of 2019.

This is reflected in the number of architects employed by the world’s 100 biggest practices, which grew by 8.2% over the year. As in previous years, the expansion of the top 10 firms was proportionately greater than the rest as their numbers increased by 35% over 2025.

All the signs are that this trend will continue in the year ahead, as our recruitment survey shows 40% of firms expect to hire 11-30 architects this year and 20% to hire more than 50 architects.

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