By Tony Lawson
Architecture sits at the front end of infrastructure. Decisions made during the design stage shape how institutions operate, how public investment is deployed, and whether projects translate into durable built assets.
Firms working at this scale navigate government procurement, institutional clients, and complex financing structures while delivering projects that must perform for decades.
Black-owned architecture firms have long competed for and delivered major civic, educational, healthcare, and mixed-use projects across the country.
The firms listed here are established operators with track records in sectors where performance requirements are exacting and client relationships are long-term.
This is part of an ongoing Shoppe Black series documenting Black-owned architecture firms operating nationally.
Moody Nolan | Columbus, OH
Founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1982 by the late Curtis Moody and engineer Howard Nolan, Moody Nolan has grown into the largest Black-owned and managed architecture firm in the United States.
The firm employs more than 350 professionals across 12 offices nationwide, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, New York, and Washington, D.C., and designs more than $750 million in building construction annually.
The firm’s work spans higher education, healthcare, housing, civic facilities, and cultural institutions. Notable projects include the International African American Museum in Charleston (as executive architect alongside Pei Cobb Freed & Partners), Malcolm X College and the School of Health Sciences in Chicago, and the Center for Fine Arts and Communications at Howard University.
McKissack & McKissack | Washington, D.C.
McKissack & McKissack traces its lineage to 1905, making it the oldest Black-owned architecture and construction firm in the United States.
The current firm was established in Washington, D.C. in 1990 by Deryl McKissack, who is the fifth generation of her family to work in architecture and construction.
The firm operates as a program management and construction services company, currently overseeing more than $15 billion in projects nationwide. Work spans federal agencies, transit authorities, universities, and cultural institutions.
Major projects include the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall, where the firm played key roles in program and construction management. In 2023, the firm secured one of its largest engagements: a multi-year contract to rebuild and modernize 23 schools across the U.S. Virgin Islands.
KAI Enterprises | St. Louis, MO
KAI Enterprises was founded in 1980 by Michael Kennedy Sr., who became the first Black licensed architect in the state of Missouri.
Today the firm is one of the largest minority-owned design and build firms in the country, with more than 160 employees across offices in St. Louis, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Atlanta.
KAI operates through four subsidiaries covering design, engineering, general contracting, and construction management. The firm’s portfolio includes healthcare facilities, transit infrastructure, aviation projects, K-12 and higher education buildings, and civic spaces. More than 60 percent of KAI’s work is located in underserved communities. Current projects include the National Juneteenth Museum and an ongoing airport expansion program at St. Louis Lambert International.
Self + Tucker Architects | Memphis, TN
Self + Tucker Architects was founded in 1995 by Juan Self and Jimmie Tucker in Memphis, where both principals remain active today. The firm operates across Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Alabama, and Louisiana, with a practice focused on civic, educational, healthcare, religious, and affordable housing projects.
The firm has a 30-year record of downtown and neighborhood revitalization work in the Memphis region, including the renovation of the historic Universal Life Insurance Company building and ongoing work at the National Civil Rights Museum. The Historic Melrose School project, a revitalization of the first Black high school in Memphis, represents the firm’s ongoing investment in community-anchored institutional design.
WDI Architecture | Indianapolis, IN
WDI Architecture was founded in 1995 by Daryl Williams-Dotson, who became the first Black woman in Indianapolis to own and operate an active architecture firm.
The firm is a certified minority woman-owned practice offering architecture, interior design, planning, and project management services.
The firm’s portfolio includes commercial, institutional, aviation, and educational projects across Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Maryland, and Virginia. Notable work includes the Indianapolis International Airport Emergency Operations Center and design and construction documents for building improvements across five Indianapolis Public Schools sites totaling more than $18 million.
Rhodes + Brito Architects | Orlando, FL
Rhodes + Brito Architects was founded in 1996 by Ruffin Rhodes and Maximiano Brito in Orlando. The firm is one of the largest Black-owned architectural practices in Florida and employs one of the largest groups of licensed Black architects in the state.
The firm’s practice covers K–12 and higher education, government, aviation, and commercial projects. With a staff of approximately 30 professionals, Rhodes + Brito has been involved in projects valued at an estimated $700 million, encompassing more than 1.3 million square feet of new construction, renovations, and remodels across Florida.
Firms operating at this level exist across every major market. Most have little or no editorial record.
Shoppe Black documents how these firms operate and compete in sectors where scale and institutional access determine long-term viability.
Professional firms interested in a dedicated editorial feature can submit an inquiry here.
