ENR Intermountain Design Firm of the Year, CSHQA: Historic Firm Plots Growth Trajectory
The design of Boise’s Hotel Renegade draws on architectural history shaped by the city’s oldest design firm.
Image courtesy CSHQA
Among the host of new buildings rising in downtown Boise, the Hotel Renegade could be mistaken for another of the city’s historic structures. Its seven-story, stratified stone and red brick facade and rounded, turret-like corner entrance shares design elements with Boise’s other historic structures, particularly the nearby 1901-era Idanha hotel building. The new boutique hotel and the Idanha also share the same design firm, 136-year-old, Boise-based CSHQA.
The company was founded in 1889 by Scottish immigrant W.S. Campbell, who was the Idanha hotel’s designer. As the firm grew and added partners, they designed many other landmark buildings in the Gem state and throughout the region.
The firm’s name changed with successive partnerships and was known as Cline, Smull, Hamill, Quintieri Associates in 1985 when the change was made to CSHQA. Today, CSHQA is a diversified, full-service design firm offering architectural design, engineering, interior design, historic preservation and landscape architecture with 117 employees in its Boise, Sacramento, Dallas and Denver offices.
CSHQA is one of a handful of firms that have been in the Boise Chamber of Commerce for more than 100 years. Its handiwork, which is on display across the capital, includes Boise Airport projects, the renovation of the Grove Plaza, the pedestrianization of two central city commercial blocks and the new Treefort Music Hall.
In 2018 CSHQA transitioned to a 100% employee-owned company. The design firm reported $24 million in revenue in 2024, with just over $18 million from projects in the larger seven-state region. Reported revenue in 2023 was $17 million, with $10 million from projects in the Intermountain area of Idaho, Utah and Montana.
ENR asked CSHQA architect and principal Mark Gier about the design firm’s evolution in Boise, and beyond. A 30-year veteran of the firm, Gier is currently serving as interim CEO. The following is an edited and condensed transcript of the Q&A.
CSHQA Projects at a Glance
The Sparrow Hotel
CSHQA renovated a 1960s motor lodge in downtown Boise, turning it into a new hotel. The hotel was designed to capture the charm of downtown Boise while highlighting the Treasure Valley’s unique qualities. The exterior was fully refreshed with paint and finishes and features an outdoor wood-burning fireplace situated on an open-air patio.
Fresno Yosemite International Airport
For this terminal expansion, the design team focused on incorporating materials and a color palette inspired by the striking landscape of Yosemite National Park and the surrounding rivers and fields. The design-build project with Q&D Construction broke ground in the spring of 2023, and the project is expected to be complete this fall.
University of Colorado Old Main
This historic renovation project on CU’s Boulder, Colo., campus will restore the exterior brick and masonry and the original wood windows and reinstate four original two-story windows in the auditorium (The Chapel) that were filled with brick in the early 1900s.
CSHQA holds a unique position in the development of Boise. How does the firm continue to be involved with the growth of the city?
Staff members at all levels are involved with the community and have a great understanding of Boise’s past and future trajectory. We have a strong relationship with Boise’s planning department, and our employees regularly discuss upcoming projects and trends with them. We see the value in younger staff getting involved and meeting with city staff, and we encourage staff to engage with the city during the rewriting of the city code/permitting process. One of our principals is the chair of the city’s design review committee and shares updates to the processes with the rest of the teams.
In addition to the ESOP, how is CSHQA continuing to evolve as it grows?
We have a renewed focus on finding efficiencies in our processes and procedures. If team members are available, we are having them work on retooling our detail library, revisiting our graphic standards manual and streamlining our Revit/BIM practices. Firms that can find those efficiencies and enable their teams to be fully productive during the week will see more satisfied employees as well as solid construction documents.
We want to look at our sustainability efforts and elevate an internal champion to communicate the importance of this to our clients. Also, earlier this year, we created a new role for director of design to leverage our existing talent and raise the bar for thoughtful design.
What are some of the opportunities on the horizon for design firms of your size in the Mountain States?
The biggest impact right now is uncertainty, so clients may be pressing pause to wait and see what might happen with tariffs or interest rates. This creates an opportunity to educate potential clients on the process and inform them that construction costs will likely not come down in the [near] future.
Firms that are diverse with both public and private sector works will have an advantage. Additionally, our in-house engineering capabilities enable us to offer assistance on deferred maintenance projects, which allows us to continue serving our clients even if no new projects are in the near future.
In the near term, public work remains strong. But firms may see federal money become more limited, and projects that depend on federal grants will see a reduction for at least the next few years. There is still a major shortage of affordable multifamily housing in the U.S., and this is true in this region. We will see strong funding for housing projects, and, regardless of policy and tariffs, we expect projects to move forward to fill the need. Meanwhile, market rate projects may continue to be flat because so much volume has been built in the last few years.
