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We Celebrate 35 Years in Business!
We are proud to reflect on more than three decades of service to our clients through the design of built environments where individuals excel and organizations thrive.
Founded in Washington, DC, in 1990 by Anne O’Brien, our practice began as a modest operation with a handful of employees. In 1996, Will Travis and Lance Jaccard bought equal shares of the firm which then became OTJ (O’Brien, Travis, Jaccard, Inc.). Lance Jaccard acquired majority ownership in 2000.
In 2001, Lance Jaccard structured OTJ as distinct studios comprised of roughly 15 team members each and led hands-on by a Director. This studio model became the cornerstone of our culture and success, enabling the firm to scale across practice areas and a national footprint. Today, our team counts more than 200 members while our reach spans from our headquarters in the nation’s capital to offices in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York, and San Francisco.
The firm’s evolution has been marked not only by staff growth and geographic expansion but also by the impact of our Core Values of Agility, Integrity, Partnership, and Positivity. In 2022, OTJ transitioned from a privately held structure to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), signaling a bold move toward shared ownership and the long-term stability of our practice. That commitment was further underscored in 2024, when Chief Growth Officer Laura Kennington, LEED AP, was named President and Co-CEO. Laura now guides our strategic vision and cultivates relationships with key clients and partners.
So too has our portfolio continued to grow in scale, complexity, and design caliber. The value of our work is affirmed by post-occupancy surveys while a growing number of industry awards validate an increasingly national reputation. As we look to the future of our practice, we are focused on deepening our existing book of mixed-use ground-up projects as well fostering emerging practice areas such as hospitality, (outpatient) healthcare, industrial and higher education.
OTJ has climbed industry rankings, becoming the second-largest interior design firm in the DMV and rising from #89 to #43 on Interior Design Magazine’s Top 100 Giants list. The firm has earned accolades as a Top Workplace and a Most Loved Workplace by Newsweek, with Glassdoor ratings that consistently outpace competitors and a 93% retention rate that speaks to our vibrant culture. “We are proud to have expanded our design capabilities and grown our footprint by opening new studios, establishing offices across the country, and recruiting top talent,” says Laura. Lance adds, “Our cultural principles have been instrumental to our success: we are responsive; committed to our culture; deliver client-centric elevated design; and serve as a trusted advisor.”