What larger firms do well
National and global firms bring deep benches of specialists, the capacity to run very large programs in parallel, and established procurement and project-management infrastructure. For a many-site rollout with hard simultaneous deadlines, that scale can be the right tool.
What a boutique studio does well
A principal-led studio typically puts senior people directly on your project, makes decisions quickly, and keeps fewer layers between you and the person drawing your space. For single-site headquarters, office expansions, and tenant improvements, that access often matters more than headcount.
Questions to ask either type of firm
Who will staff this project day to day? How much work does the team have right now, and how does that affect my schedule? Which engineering and specialty consultants do you work with regularly? How do you coordinate drawings across disciplines? Match the size of the firm to the size and pace of the project, and be skeptical of any firm that says it is right for everything.