Architects
Niles Bolton Associates
Niles Bolton Associates (NBA) is an Atlanta design firm offering architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and planning and urban design. Architecture leads its projects, with exterior and interior spaces integrated by the same team, and the planning group handles site and building analysis and the route through the regulatory process.
The portfolio is weighted toward multifamily housing, student housing and mixed-use, and also includes hotels, interiors, transit and intermodal facilities, aviation hangars, corporate headquarters, churches, and university and institutional housing. The firm designed the Olympic Village that opened on time for the 1996 Summer Olympics, work it credits with opening up university, military and other institutional housing.
Niles Bolton established the firm in 1975 as a sole proprietorship; it incorporated in 1979, added a landscape architecture group in 1985, added an interior design studio and an Alexandria, Virginia office in 1987, and moved to its current Buckhead offices in 1988 after a period of roughly 25 percent growth. Today it runs two studios, in Atlanta and in Arlington, Virginia, with a staff of more than 100, and ranks among the top 50 US architectural firms. It was ranked #1 for student housing in the 2025 Building Design + Construction rankings, its fourth year in a row.
Fees are set per project and are not published. Recent work includes the first phase of a University of Tennessee, Knoxville public-private partnership that delivers nearly 2,000 beds of student housing.
Best for
Developers of multifamily, student housing and mixed-use projects who want architecture, interiors, landscape and planning from one firm with two East Coast studios. Owners of a single small asset may find the firm's scale a poor match.
What they do
- Architecture
- Interior design
- Landscape architecture
- Planning and urban design
- Multifamily housing design
- Student housing design
- Mixed-use development design
- Site and building analysis and regulatory approvals
Details
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1975 |
| Team size | 51-200 employees |
| Other offices | Arlington, VA |
What stands out
- Established in 1975 as a sole proprietorship and incorporated in 1979.
- Runs two studios, in Atlanta and in Arlington, Virginia, with a staff of more than 100.
- Ranked among the top 50 US architectural firms and #1 for student housing in the 2025 BD+C rankings, a fourth consecutive year.
- Designed the Olympic Village that opened on time for the 1996 Summer Olympics.
- The first phase of a University of Tennessee, Knoxville P3 delivers nearly 2,000 beds of student housing.