NBBJ began the year with about 806 employees and is projecting a year-end head count of about 850 people. The firm has six offices nationally, including the home office in Seattle, and four international offices. The firm provides a large range of services including architecture, master planning, print graphics, identity programs and environmental graphic design. Markets include health care, commercial, mixed-use and corporate design, sports and entertainment, research and advanced technology, interior design, retail design and graphics, justice, higher education and assisted living.

Domestic business continues very strong, but with some signs of weakening in corporate and commercial markets, and with signs of concern about the affects of the Balanced Budget Act on healthcare.

Foreign business is picking up in Europe and the Middle East, with some renewed signs of life in the Pacific Rim.

NBBJ is building a practice in airports, with new work in Calgary, New York and Boston. The company has plans to add design disciplines including industrial design to existing offices in Europe, plans that are slowed by the busy pace of work in the firm's established markets.

Among the firm's largest projects presently are headquarters for Telenor, Norway's top telecommunications company, and corporate headquarters for Rebock. NBBJ is designing Staples Center, the Los Angeles arena, and the City of Hope, a replacement hospital in Duarte, Calif.