List of the 1,000 largest architects & architectural offices Germany [2024]

List of 10 leading architects in Germany

There are around 137,000 architects and urban planners working in the Federal Republic. Many work in architecture firms – these are service providers on a freelance or commercial basis that provide architectural services. In the following, we present the top 10 architecture firms in Germany.

1. Behnisch Architekten Partnerschaft mbB – architecture worldwide from Stuttgart

Behnisch Architekten was founded in 1989 by Stefan Behnisch, the son of Günter Behnisch, who designed the Munich Olympic site and the Olympic Stadium in the 1970s. In addition to its headquarters in Stuttgart, Behnisch Architekten has offices in Munich, Weimar, Los Angeles and Boston. The architectural firm employs around 100 people at its locations. The company is managed by Stefan Behnisch and his partners. Well-known Behnisch projects in Germany include the Marco Polo Tower and Unilever Haus in Hamburg’s HafenCity and the Ozeaneum in Stralsund.

Update 2023: The renowned architecture firm has recently been increasingly involved in projects in the education sector, designing the Ludwig Weber School (Frankfurt), the Franco-German School (Buc) and an elementary school in Munich’s Creative Quarter, among others.

2. Brückner & Brückner Architects in Tischenreuth (Upper Palatinate)

Brückner & Brückner Architekten is a real family business. In 1972 Klaus-Peter Brückner founded an engineering office in Tischenreuth. Today, the company is continued as an architectural office by his sons Peter and Christian. With more than 60 employees, Brückner & Brückner Architekten plans and designs construction projects, mainly in Bavaria with a regional focus on the Upper Palatinate and Franconia. In addition to the main office, Brückner & Brückner Architekten has another office in Würzburg. Conversions – partly with change of use – are a specialty of the office. Among others, the projects Kulturspeicher Würzburg, Heizkraftwerk Würzburg and Schloss Hohenkammer stand for this.

Update 2024: The dilapidated “Sinnflut” thermal spa in Bad Brückenau is to be closed; the red figures were too enormous. Now the renowned architectural firm Brückner & Brückner has presented the designs for the new thermal baths. The expected costs amount to around 30 million euros.

3. gmp International GmbH – architecture from Hamburg with a global focus

gmp is a German architectural heavyweight. With almost 600 employees, the architectural firm is also one of the major international players. gmp stands for the two founders Meinhard von Gerkan and Volkwin Marg and their partners. Founded in 1965, gmp can now look back on almost 60 years of architectural history. Apart from Hamburg, gmp is represented in Berlin, Aachen, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hanoi. Infrastructure projects and commercial buildings are the focus of gmp’s work. Well-known gmp buildings include the former Berlin-Tegel Airport, Berlin Central Station, the Tianjin Grand Theater and Munich’s Isar Philharmonic Hall.

4. ingenhoven architects gmbh – architecture from düsseldorf

In 1985, German architect Christoph Ingenhoven founded an architecture firm in Düsseldorf. He led the company’s fortunes as owner until 2019, when he sold the office to the Swiss energy company BKW Energie AG. However, he continues to play a significant role at ingenhoven architects as managing director, chairman and design principal. The architectural firm employs around 100 people and has presented and realized numerous award-winning building concepts over more than three decades. Its best-known projects include the RWE Tower in Essen, the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg and the Marina One high-rise complex in Singapore.

5. Sauerbruch Hutton Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH in Berlin

The architectural firm Sauerbruch Hutton was founded in 1989 in London by the British Louisa Hutton and the German Matthias Sauerbruch. Later they moved the headquarters to the German capital. The founding couple is still active as managing directors. In addition, the office is supported by a number of other partners and associates. Sauerbruch Hutton employs around 120 people. Prominent buildings under the direction of Sauerbruch Hutton include the Brandhorst Museum in Munich’s Maxvorstadt district, the GSW high-rise in Berlin, the KfW Westarkade in Frankfurt/Main, the Federal Environment Agency in Dessau and the experimenta Science Center in Heilbronn.

6. Staab Architekten GmbH – cultural buildings and more from Berlin

Behind Staab Architekten is the German architect Volker Staab, who thus gave his freelance work a legal and organizational framework in 1991. The architectural office employs about 100 people. Core competencies are cultural buildings, educational, research and university buildings, office buildings, commercial buildings, hotel and restaurant buildings, and residential buildings. The name Staab represents a whole series of distinctive museum projects, for example the Kunstmuseum Bonn, the Museum Georg Schäfer (Schweinfurt), the LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur (Münster) or the Neues Museum in Nuremberg. Other Staab buildings: the Science and Restoration Center (Potsdam) and the Jewish Community Center with Synagogue in Regensburg.

7. wulf architekten – public buildings from Stuttgart

wulf architekten was founded in 1987 by architect Tobias Wulf, who, together with three other managing partners, still plays a key role in determining the company’s fortunes. wulf architekten primarily plans and designs public buildings (in the fields of culture, education, research and social services, among others), but also takes on private commissions. One of the largest projects realized to date is the New Trade Fair Center in Stuttgart. Other examples of typical projects by wulf architekten include the DZNE Center in Bonn, the Dialog School Center in Cologne and the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety in Erlangen.

8. ATP architekten ingenieure – ATP Berlin Planungs GmbH – ATP in Berlin

ATP architekten ingenieure is an international architecture and engineering firm headquartered in Innsbruck, Austria. ATP is active as an integral overall planner with a focus on life-cycle oriented and sustainable buildings. The company maintains 11 locations in Europe with independent location companies and employs about 1,000 people. In Germany there are 5 locations (Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Hamburg). The leading location is ATP Berlin Planungs GmbH. Significant projects of the Berlin ATP company include Terminal 2 of the BER airport, STILWERK Berlin – a furniture store with hotel – and the redesign of the Deutsche Bank representative office in Berlin-Mitte.

9. HPP Architekten GmbH – in Düsseldorf since 1933

The German architect Helmut Hentrich founded his own architectural office in Düsseldorf in 1933 – the nucleus of HPP Architekten. After adding further partners, this became the office ‘HPP – Hentrich-Petschnigg & Partner’ in 1969 and finally ‘HPP Architekten GmbH’ in 2017. The office became big in the post-war period with plans for the reconstruction of bomb-damaged Düsseldorf. Today, HPP Architekten operates internationally and employs around 450 people at 13 locations. Well-known HPP building projects include the Maritim Hotel Bonn, the Standard Bank Centre in Johannesburg and the Vodafone Campus in Düsseldorf.

10. Wenzel+Wenzel GmbH – over 60 years of construction expertise from Karlsruhe

In 1957, Sepp Wenzel opened an expert office for real estate valuation in Karlsruhe. Together with his son Matias Wenzel, he developed this into an internationally active architectural office from 1992 onwards. Today, Wenzel+Wenzel employs more than 350 people at 13 locations – two of them abroad (Wroclaw, Abu Dhabi). The architecture firm designs residential, commercial, office, educational, museum and infrastructure buildings – for example, in Berlin the Trion office and commercial building on Leipziger Platz and the James Simon Gallery on Museum Island, the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, the Mercedes Benz Museum in Untertürkheim or the Schumacher Tower in Abu Dhabi.

Picture source: Sam Moghadam Khamseh via Unsplash (28.08.2023) 

Directory of the largest architecture firms in Germany

With our list of the most important architects in Germany we offer the unique possibility to get access to the biggest architecture offices in Germany with just one click. You save yourself hours of research in the run-up to contacting them and can start directly with the approach. The overview includes industry giants such as Barkow Leibinger and Nickl & Partner and is regularly updated by our experienced research team. Our list is popular with both industry experts and newcomers alike, because we ensure transparency in the architectural scene, which is difficult to navigate. The database can be easily purchased via our online store and is available for download as an Excel list directly after payment. Within one year after purchase, you will receive updates and extensions to the list free of charge by e-mail. Lead generation has never been so easy.

What makes German architectural offices stand out?

Our list of the greatest architects in Germany was compiled in cooperation with an experienced architectural firm. Winning competitions, order volume, size of the office and other distinguishing features have been incorporated into the list.

What our list is suitable for

The list of top architects can be used in different ways. In general, the list is perfectly suited for gaining relevant contacts in Germany’s architectural industry. Whether it is for announcing a competition, selling services or offering special building materials: our list of architects is the optimal starting point. The list is also a source of relevant contacts for service providers in the construction industry – such as PV installers or wallbox installers – as architects are usually in close contact with clients and contracting authorities. Architectural software can also be perfectly offered through our directory of major architects.

Included information in the list

• Name of the office
• Classification in Top 100 / Top 1.000
• Employee cluster (10+, 10-50, 51-100, 100+)
• Address (state, city, zip code, address)
• General email & phone number
• Management
• URL

Picture source: Zhouxing Lu via Unsplash (28.08.2023)