Does sustainable / LEED design count?

Frequently, yes. Modeling and testing systems to hit energy or sustainability targets involves the kind of technical experimentation the credit rewards.

What if the project never gets built?

The credit follows the work, not the outcome. Qualified design and engineering effort can count even on projects that stall or are abandoned.

What expenses qualify?

Wages of architects, designers, and engineers performing qualified work are the primary category.

How far back can we claim?

Generally the three most recent open tax years, plus the current year going forward.

R&D TAX CREDITS · ARCHITECTURE

Your design work is qualified research. Claim it.

Schematic design, energy modeling, sustainable systems, and solving site-specific constraints are core R&D activities for architecture firms. Free study, zero cost unless we recover.

Check if you qualify — free →

$18.7B

unclaimed every year

$67K

typical recovery in architecture

3 yrs

back on open returns

cost unless we recover

What qualifies in Architecture

If any of this sounds like your day-to-day, you're likely sitting on a credit.

Schematic and design-development of new building concepts

Energy modeling and sustainable/LEED design

Developing structural, lighting, or HVAC design alternatives

Solving site, code, or environmental constraints through iteration

BIM/CAD modeling to evaluate design options

Designing innovative facades, materials, or assemblies

FREE ESTIMATE · 30 SECONDS

Estimate your R&D tax credit in Architecture.

Plug in your rough numbers. We'll show the federal credit range a business like yours typically lands in — then send a detailed breakdown to your inbox.

Annual payroll for technical / engineering staff

Salaries for the people who build, design, test, or engineer.

Contractor & outside dev costs / yr

Counted at 65% per IRS rules for contract research.

Supplies, cloud & software used in development / yr

Materials, prototyping supplies, compute, and dev tooling.

# of technical employees (optional)

Estimated federal R&D credit

$46,500 – $72,000

per year, based on $718,000 in qualified research expenses

Estimate only — not a guarantee. Your actual credit depends on a formal study of your activities, payroll, and tax position. This is a simplified federal estimate and excludes state credits. Bridge works on contingency: $0 unless we recover.

REAL RECOVERY

“We iterate through dozens of design alternatives on every project — that iteration is exactly what the credit rewards.”

Architecture firm, 25 licensed staff

Recovered $189K across three years

Illustrative of outcomes for businesses like yours. Recoveries vary by activity, payroll, and tax position; nothing here is a guaranteed amount.

Questions architecture businesses ask

Yes. Design development, energy and structural modeling, and iterating through alternatives to meet performance, code, or site constraints are commonly qualifying activities.

Find out in 5 minutes.

Free qualifier · no cost unless we recover · zero impact on your taxes. Bridge the gap.

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