The Research and Development (R&D) tax credit is often thought of as a credit created for research done by scientists with white lab coats in a laboratory. This is simply not true. In 2003, the IRS relaxed the rules for claiming the credit which opened it up to a wide range of industries, including architecture firms.
How does getting a significant tax credit for something that you already do sound?
Generally, architecture firms spend more than half of their time on activities that qualify as R&D expenses. These activities include: