Had Greater Expectations - Interior Designer Olson Kundig Employee Review

2.0
16 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

NY office team is amazing - very friendly, knowledgeable, talented and overall pleasant environment. Office projects/clients are superb!

Cons

The Interior Design department is a complete mess. Sadly, it is very secondary within the overall office and in the contributions made to projects. It is seriously disorganized, employees are stretched very thin, and there is a lack of true design leadership, they are horrible micromanagers. The Seattle interiors team has a toxic and dysfunctional dynamic among them. The vast majority live under significant stress and in toxic competition with each other, very gossipy and overall demoralizing. Several "retreats" had to be organized to bring the team together and fix the dynamic because it was so damaged. The retreats did not fix anything. As for the design, super limited and restrained to “Olson Kundig” DNA interiors which is quite limiting and honestly boring after a while. If you want to grow as a professional, this is NOT your place. If you want to be in secretive fights within your team and constantly have to claw your way to the top, then go ahead!

Explore other reviews about Olson Kundig

5.0
11 Sept 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very professional, friendly, and talented group of people to work with. Everyone in the office, at all levels, is very approachable and collaborative.

Cons

Nothing, aside from occasional late nights.

3.0
5 Aug 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Everyone is super kind and friendly, great Pioneer Square location, cool projects, company parties multiple times per year, strong DEI commitment, stand up desks. Summer bonus and winter bonus. Two personal holidays. 100% health premium coverage. Lots of opportunities for volunteering. Firm wins a lot of awards each year.

Cons

This is a prime example of a company that grew too fast and now has to pretend they aren't laying people off. There are a lot of disparate, non-existent, outdated, or unclear systems for how to effectively manage day to day processes which creates a lot of inefficiencies and over budget projects. Project Managers need more training and better tools & support for running projects. People are either sitting around or so overbooked they can't eat lunch. Career growth is super unclear or non-existent for any of the support staff. Architecture staff is clearly prioritized when it comes to decision making and advancement.

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