The Romanian market of architectural services is divided into hundreds of companies, which have now reached a stabilisation stage, mainly triggered by the past years’ constant growth of the constructions segment. Although there is no official information or market research about this sector, the estimates made by the market players point to an average annual value of 50 million euros for the architecture market. However, the engineering services and the structures subcontracted by the architects push the figures up to 80-100 million euros.
The architects’ fees can range between 7-10% for the construction of a villa or a project with a smaller value, going down to 2-3% in the case of a big project, such as an office building or a cash & carry store.
The big players are those architecture firms that post turnover ranging between $500,000 and two million dollars. This category encompasses Romanian-American company Westfourth Architecture and the local firms West Group Architecture, HAX SRL (owned by architects Viorel and Diana Hurduc), Dorin Stefan, Studio 3M and another 4-5 companies, some of them based in Timisoara, Cluj Napoca and Iasi. These companies employ between 8 and 25 architects. The Romanian Order of Architects records the names of some 5,000 architects, with almost half of them working in Bucharest, according to the latest available data.
Another market segment comprises those companies with turnover exceeding 100,000 USD, such as Vlad Simionescu & Asociatii.
The last segment includes most of the Romanian architectural companies – the firms made up of one or two architects.
“The architecture market has grown together with the constructions market, but at a slower pace,” says Adrian Cristescu, chairman and sole partner at West Group Architecture, one of the main market players.
West Group Architects has around 12 employees and last year posted 800,000 dollars in turnover. Adrian Cristescu is sole owner of the business, which has also sprung another two companies: West Group Design and West Group Engineering, which pushes the turnover up to more than one million dollars. Adrian Cristescu established West Group Architecture in 1996. His company has recorded uninterrupted growth on the market of architectural services, due to a diversified portfolio, according to Cristescu. West Group Architecture works with clients such as Piraeus Bank, Aegek Construct, Immoronm and residential clients, as it chiefly operates on the office space segment.
Another big company is held by architect Dorin Stefan, the man behind the Opera Business Center. The company logs some 600,000 dollars in annual turnover, with EuromBank and insurer Generali among its clients. “We are now working on an office building named Cascade Building and the headquarters for a bank that will enter the Romanian market,” said Anda Stefan, a consultant with the company run by her husband, architect Dorin Stefan.
“The architectural services market has three big segments – small residential buildings (houses, villas), which account for 80% of the market value, offices (with a 10% market share) and the industrial segment that also accounts for some 10% of the market,” says Raluca Buzdugan, an associate with architecture firm Vlad Simionescu & Asociatii.
adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro