Boston Architects

Whether in the high-rise towers and Victorian homes of Boston or the farmhouses and sprawling estates of the suburbs, remodeling a bathroom is a tried and true way to add value to a property. Bathroom design and construction is usually beyond the pale for home improvement DIYers.

Whether in penthouses along Boston Harbor or in shingle-style homes out on Cape Cod, one thing remains the same: the kitchen is the heart of the home. In collaboration with the city’s best architects, interior designers, and cabinet makers — some utilizing the talent on their in-house staff — the firms on our list are adept at refinishing and rearranging kitchens, from historic brownstones in Beacon Hill to building sprawling, gourmet kitchens befitting of 17th-century North Shore homes.

The greater Boston area is dense with enduring construction and avant-garde architecture. Look no further than the North End for buildings dating back more than a century; the oldest home in the city belonged to Paul Revere, and it’s still standing. Not far from there, Boston’s city-dwellers may prefer sky-high apartments, with penthouse listings near the Common topping $15M.

Historic architecture and an array of design resources draw some of the country’s best interior designers to Boston. At the Boston Design Center in South Boston, both those who are new to the industry and bona fide veterans can peruse fabrics, furniture, and finishes over more than 350k square feet of showroom floors. The college town is also replete with design programs, including degree offerings from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, New England School of Art & Design, and Boston Architectural College. The 10 interior design firms on this list have studied locally and abroad to become the most successful firms in the greater Boston area.

Boston is an incubator for young, innovative brands, as well as multinational organizations with century-old origins. Just look at the rapidly developing Financial District and Seaport District, or Cambridge, with its infusion of Harvard Business School scholars. Listed here are the most successful workplace architecture firms in the area: the design houses that have demonstrated facility in serving the needs of Boston’s deeply entrenched medical community, its burgeoning technology centers, and its service and product-oriented entrepreneurs. These 10 Boston architectural practices that excel at both adapting historic spaces and building new corporate campuses.

Boston is historically a college town, and college kids aren’t known for their refined palates. But the youth of the city do lend themselves to innovation and a “try-anything” attitude. In that milieu, Boston has emerged as a food destination, due in part to the host of accomplished chefs who call Beantown home. Eateries spanning a world of cuisine are opening — from Roxbury to Cambridge — without any regard for what is #trending. Here are the top architects designing forward-thinking restaurants to complement Boston’s progressive menus.

Design-Build custom homes offer an opportunity to engage just one team to take their dream home from planning to completion. The full-service option is popular with clients in some of Boston’s most expensive neighborhoods, where listing prices have topped $18M and homeowners are investing in big budgets, ground-up estate builds, and historic renovations. Out in Gloucester and on Cape Cod, both city slickers looking for a getaway and year-round residents are partnering with design-build firms to make their own mark on New England’s architecture. The firms listed below are ranked according to the scope of their work, the awards they’ve received, and their notable presence in the community.

Boston’s large development history is complicated. Once the site of “the Big Dig,” a public project notorious for being the most expensive in the country, the cityscape is now developing at a pace not seen before. Educational institutions such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are expanding at a clip, vying for predominance in science and medical research. The city’s world-renowned hospitals are channeling funds into expanding the facilities that draw physicians, patients, and researchers from all over the world. The 10 architecture firms on this list are turning around designs for corporate, public, and business clients that distinguish one mega-project from the next.

Boston and its surrounding areas offer homeowners a variety of lifestyles. Look no further than the North End for architecture dating back more than a century; the oldest home in the city belonged to Paul Revere, and it’s still standing. Not far from there Boston’s city-dwellers may prefer sky-high apartments. A penthouse near the Common just hit the market for $16M. For a summer retreat or a year-round oasis, one might look to Cape Cod and Cape Ann for a seaside abode. The architects on our list have mastered creating homes in any and all of those styles for Boston’s myriad clients.