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Giants 300 'Business Is Good'

Giants 300 'Business Is Good'


By Staff | August 11, 2010
This article first appeared in the 200507 issue of BD+C.

Hallelujah! Business was good in 2004 for many AEC firms in Building Design & Construction's Giants 300, and there's cautious optimism that business will stay strong throughout 2005.

That positive attitude has led many firms to expand geographically and to test new markets. They're also experimenting with new technology and new ways of doing business. For most AEC firms, the fun has returned to the $358 billion building design and construction industry.

BD&C's Giants 300 expanded globally in 2004, notably to China. Fourteen of BD&C's Giants set up shop there last year, among them HOK (A/E 1), Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (A/E 2), Gensler (A 1), NBBJ (A 2), Callison (A 5), and A. Epstein and Sons (A/E 10). Toledo-based SSOE (E/A 12) hung a shingle in Shanghai to focus on the automotive industry.

"It's the Wild West," said M. Arthur Gensler, Jr., FAIA, chair of the nation's largest architecture firm, which has about 40 people in Beijing and Shanghai. "It's 18 hours a day, every day. The cycles are two or three times, maybe five times, faster than in the U.S. You get a month to design something the size of Rockefeller Center."

Gensler believes the situation in China is changing quickly. "The design institutes are picking our brains," he told BD&C. "You've got to get paid, and you're giving up your intellectual property at the front end of the project."

NBBJ has an office in Beijing and plans to open one in Shanghai this fall, with Chinese nationals at the helm in both. "The gold rush is over," said chairman Friedrich K.M. Böhm, FAIA, whose firm recently completed a 100,000-sm headquarters building for China Electronics Corp. "The market is clearly overcrowded, but we're there for the long haul, and we want to develop a local presence as much as we can."

Böhm said he's limiting NBBJ's expansion to Shanghai, Dubai, and Moscow, which he admits are totally different cities, with totally different needs. "You need to be careful—it's not that easy to do business everywhere," he said. "We look to locate in countries with a good cultural history and education system. China and Russia have it, Dubai does not." Then why Dubai? "It's a boomtown economy," and the design opportunities are too tempting, he told BD&C.

Then there's Moscow. The firm just finished the 27,000-sm Moscow Medical Center and Krylatsky Hills, a 54,000-sm suburban office park. "We made money, and everyone is looking at us as a good business partner, but it's a risk," he admits. "Russia is scary."

In the U.S., AEC firms spun the roulette wheel and the ball landed on Las Vegas. With its 30 million tourists each year, America's fastest-growing city has become a hotbed of construction activity—with condos, casinos, resorts, and mixed-use developments.

Seven firms on BD&C's Giants 300 list opened offices in Sin City last year, including Fields Devereaux (A/E 44), GRG (E 25), KKE (A 45), and R.G. Vanderweil Engineers (E 10). Walter P. Moore's (E 17) new office—its ninth regional location—will serve as engineering HQ for The Palazzo, a 54-story casino/hotel under construction on The Strip, and a $30 million theater addition to the Venetian.

HKS (A/E 5) needed an office in Vegas, where it's working on three hospitals, an office building, an addition to the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and the Venetian. The firm is also architect of record on Project CityCenter, MGM Mirage's planned $4.7 billion mega-project, due for 2009 completion.

Gensler, which designed the city's new monorail stations and is serving as executive architect on CityCenter, is staffing its Las Vegas office with about 50 employees. "We're seeing Las Vegas expand as a major market," said Gensler, an editorial advisor to BD&C.

The desert was hot for AEC firms in 2004. Six firms expanded into Phoenix last year, among them Corgan Associates (A 8), Henderson Engineers (E 18), and M.A. Mortenson Co. (C 19), which was recently selected as CM/GC for a $13 million theme park in Chandler, Ariz.

Some firms chose to expand within their current markets. Shawmut Design & Construction (C 41), headquartered in Boston, recently enlarged an existing office in nearby Providence, R.I. The expansion took place after Shawmut completed a molecular medicine laboratory last August at Brown University. On the Left Coast, Rudolph & Sletten (C 29) will move from Foster City to Redwood City, Calif., shooting for LEED-CI Gold for its new corporate headquarters.

For many firms, expansion was just the logical way to do business. CJL Engineering (E 48) added to its Pittsburgh office with staff from Meucci Engineering and opened an office in Youngstown, Ohio, to serve that city's healthcare sector. Ware Malcolm (A 22) moved into Chicago and Sacramento, Calif., both relatively strong markets, while Westlake Reed Leskosky (new to the list, at A/E 47) couldn't resist taking the plunge into the Washington, D.C., pool.

McCarthy Building Cos. (C 16), with more than 70 completed projects in the Southeast over the last 20 years, bit the bullet and opened an office in Atlanta last April. The contractor is currently building the $160 million Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases facility at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

M&As on the run

Giants 300 firms are extending their reach into new locations through mergers and acquisitions. Montana-based CTA Inc. (A/E 40) strengthened its grip on the Seattle market by acquiring Moberg Epstein, and Austin AECOM was created to combine the McClier Corporation with the Chicago and Houston offices of the Austin Company.

Engineer/architect Stantec Inc. (E/A 9) relocated to larger facilities in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, last fall to enhance its presence in the island's pharmaceutical industry. Stantec experienced double-digit growth last year after purchasing engineer/architect Sear-Brown. The firm also acquired two Canadian architecture/interior design firms, GBR Architects Ltd., Winnipeg, and Dunlop Architects, Toronto.

Other M&A activity in the last year:

  • Perkins+Will (A 3) purchased Busby + Associates Architects, Vancouver, B.C., to gain the expertise of green-building guru Peter Busby, FRAIC. P+W recently scooped up the Washington, D.C., firm Ai, known for its strength in corporate and government workplace design. The deal has already yielded two hefty projects: the $96 million Gateway Community College in New Haven, Conn., and the 160,000-sf National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center at Fort Detrick, Md.

  • NTD Architects and The Stichler Group merged in early 2004 to form NTDStichler (A 18). The merger capitalizes on Stichler's expertise in healthcare and education and NTD's focus on educational, corporate, and commercial facilities.

  • Stanley Consultants (E/A 22) purchased Bolduc, Smiley & Associates, a traffic engineering consulting firm in Phoenix.

  • Heery International (A/E 3, CM 10) fattened its portfolio with three acquisitions: HLM Design, The JCM Group, and FPM.

  • Jacobs Engineering (E/A 2, C 13, CM 8) bought the Babtie Group Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland. The 3,500-employee firm adds to Jacobs' infrastructure, environmental, defense, and government outsourcing capability.

  • Dewberry (E/A 13) snapped up Phillips Swager Associates, Peoria, Ill. (the 47th largest A/E firm in our 2004 listings), while Perini Corp. (C 11) absorbed Cherry Hill Construction, Jessup, Md., on January 1.

  • Not strictly a merger, but CRB Consulting Engineers (E 15) signed an agreement with Ireland's Project Management Ltd., Dublin, to pursue biopharmaceutical facilities work in the Emerald Isle.

Playing in the big leagues

For the mega-Giants, bigness let's you throw your weight around—presumably for the benefit of the client. Turner (C 1, CM 17) has a separate division, called Turner Logistics, that uses the contractor's huge purchasing power to save clients money on everything from chillers to insurance. "We're the largest purchaser of certain kinds of medical equipment in the world," says chairman Thomas C. Leppert. "We pull our volume together and use that to negotiate with suppliers."

Size also keeps everyone busy at the nation's largest architecture firm. "We share work between offices much more than other firms do," says Art Gensler. "In a crunch, we can move pieces of the project to another office and keep them busy." Management at all 29 offices meet by phone every Monday at 8 a.m. Pacific time to divvy up the work.

Size allows HDR Architecture (A/E 4) to link an established office with a new outpost. The new eight-member Denver office, where HDR is doing work for the University of Colorado, is tied to the headquarters office in Omaha, Neb., while the new Charlotte, N.C., shop gets help as needed from the bigger Alexandria, Va., office. "Clients want our national expertise, but they want somebody to be local, too," said president Merle Bachman.

Gilbane Building Co. (C 14, CM 6), Providence, R.I., uses its size to concentrate technical expertise on specific client issues, such as infection control and preconstruction services for hospitals. Each of the firm's nine regional offices delegates its top expert in each category to these "centers of excellence," said president William J. Gilbane, Jr. "They understand the whole functionality of hospitals—adjacency of departments, patient care issues, ICUs, the right sizing of operating rooms," he said.

Gilbane says such a critical mass of knowledge benefits all the firm's clients. "When we go into a small hospital in rural New Hampshire, we want to bring that same expertise into the job," he said.

In similar fashion, super-Giant URS Corp. (E/A 1, CM 1) is looking to extend its solid reputation in federal work to the K-12, retail, and healthcare fields. The firm's facilities unit is teaming with Turner on the $1 billion UCLA Medical Center, managing construction of multiple facilities at Stanford University, and working on a 10-year, $500 million hospital consolidation in the unit's home base of Grand Rapids, Mich.

William ("Sandy") Stevenson, AIA, SVP of the firm's A/E design practice, sees a new type of healthcare facility emerging—the critical access hospital. These are small hospitals in states like California, Michigan, Texas, and Wyoming, where improved reimbursement for rural hospitals is making new construction feasible. "They're $5–10 million projects, but there's a lot of them," said Stevenson.

The Giants 300 are also spreading their wings into new client areas. Design firms are getting into full-scale real estate services. Detroit's HarleyEllis (A/E 28) has formed a separate business unit, Spectrum Strategies, to provide strategic planning, real estate services, project management, asset management, and facilities management to institutional clients and large corporations. Top client: Ford Land.

Dallas healthcare design firm HKS (A/E 5) has created HKS Link, an alliance with Link Systems, New York, N.Y., that provides facility management services to clients upon completion of building projects. "Architects are being turned to by clients who are asking, What do I do now?" said H. Ralph Hawkins, FAIA, HKS president and CEO.

Hawkins said the program, which has been in place three years, has been "a little slower" to take off than projected. "We tried to sell it to some large clients and they backed off, but now they're coming back, because they see the need," he said. Will large hospital systems take up the service? "Ask me in a couple of years," said Hawkins.

The view down the road

Looking ahead, what are the major issues for the Giants 300?

Liability continues to be a huge concern for the mega-Giants. "Our insurance rates have gone up dramatically, and the amount of coverage we have at the firm will triple this year," said SmithGroup (A/E 8) president and CEO Carl Roehling, FAIA, who adds that only 3–4 companies in the world can insure a firm of SmithGroup's size. "Client demand for quality and speed have both increased, and the exposure is daunting. It's a real wet blanket on the ability to experiment and innovate."

HKS's Hawkins says litigation risk is putting a damper on condo construction. "If you put up 200 units and there's a problem, it could be $200,000 per claim," he said. "That's $40 million in liability, for a fee of maybe $4 million." He said insurers are limiting some firms to a cap of 10% of their practice in condo work.

"Value dilution" is another serious issue, especially among design firms. "We don't want to become a commodity," said HDR's Bachman. "We want to be at the forefront." A year ago, he established a Design Council to give his top designers (and the top engineers from HDR's M/E unit) a voice at the management table. HDR also has a program called "Clients for Life" to emphasize client retention. "In healthcare, our repeat business is about 80%," he said.

Bachman sees growth ahead for design-build. "We want to be able to say to the client, We can deliver in whatever delivery method you choose," he said. That may mean working as a subcontractor with Hensel Phelps Construction (C 7) on the Pentagon or in a joint venture with Turner on a prison in Walla Walla, Wash.

NBBJ's Böhm sees growing interest in creating denser environments. "We just can't keep spreading out," he told BD&C. "We need to take used properties and make something better of them, from brownfield to total development." The future, he said, is greater density, especially mixed use—housing, offices, retail, entertainment facilities, even small hospitals and clinics, all in one.

As for green building, if you're not doing it, you're way behind the curve. In education and government, "There's not a client that doesn't have sustainability at the top of the list," said Robert Frasca, FAIA, a founding partner of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca (A 11), Portland, Ore. ZGF recently completed a LEED Silver science building at Duke University and just broke ground on a new EPA building in Denver that will go for LEED Gold.

Frasca says the current green movement is nothing like the short-lived solar "flare" of the 1970s. "The institutional clients are really pushing it, but I think it's going to take off in the private sector, too," he told BD&C.

The next big challenge? "Keeping every person focused on quality," said ZGF's Frasca. "Clients are very sophisticated now. They visit buildings. They want to know who did the jobs. They have architects on their staffs. Client relations are more professional today. It's not a country club set anymore. They don't select an architect based on his golf score."

Merritt Watts, BD&C's Editorial Intern, contributed to this story.

Where the Giants opened offices in 2004: International

Country City Firm
Key
A = Architects A/E = Architect/Engineers E = Engineers E/A = Engineer/Architects C = Contractors CM = Construction Managers
Canada Calgary, Alta. Perkins+Will (A 3)
Montreal, Que. Marathon Engineers/Architects/Planners (E/A 45)
Ottawa, Ont. HDR (A/E 4)
Toronto, Ont. Cannon Design (A/E 11)
The Opus Group (C 23)
Vancouver, B.C. Cannon Design (A/E 11)
Marathon Engineers/Architects/Planners (E/A 45)
Perkins+Will (A 3)
Victoria, B.C. Perkins+Will (A 3)
Mexico Mexico City The Haskell Company (C 31)
HKS (A/E 5)
Puerto Rico Barceloneta SSOE (E/A 12)
Guaynabo Stantec (E/A 9)
San Juan Stanley Consultants (E/A 22)
Australia Melbourne M.A. Mortenson Co. (C 19)
Bahrain Manama Hill International (CM 5)
Brazil São Paulo Power Engineers (E/A 42)
China Beijing A. Epstein and Sons International (A/E 10)
Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners (A 38)
GBBN Architects (A 40)
HOK (A/E 1)
NBBJ (A 2)
Macao HKS (A/E 5)
Shanghai Callison (A 5)
GBBN Architects (A 40)
Gensler (A 1)
GRG Inc. (E 25)
Hillier Architecture (A 12)
The Jerde Partnership (A 24)
NBBJ (A 2)
Rolf Jensen & Associates (E 16)
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (A/E 2)
SSOE (E/A 12)
Shenzen A. Epstein and Sons International (A/E 10)
India New Delhi Stanley Consultants (E/A 22)
Iraq Baghdad Hill International (CM 5)
Korea Seoul Cuningham Group Architecture (A 47)
Hill International (CM 5)
The Netherlands Amsterdam The Jerde Partnership (A 24)
Russia Moscow NBBJ (A 2)
Swanke Hayden Connell Architects (A 27)
Scotland Lochgilphead Parsons Brinckerhoff (E 3, CM 9)
Spain Madrid Arquitectonica (A 30)
United Arab Emirates Dubai NBBJ (A 2)
Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates (A 20)
The Stellar Group (E/A 35, C 57)
United Kingdom Burgess Hill West Sussex Power Engineers (E/A 42)
London EYP Mission Critical Facilities (E/A 25)
HKS (A/E 5)
PageSoutherlandPage (A/E 26)


Where the Giants opened offices in 2004: United States

State/City Firm
Arizona/Phoenix BSW International (E/A 36)
Corgan Associates (A 8)
GRG (E 25)
Henderson Engineers (E 18)
Kraus-Anderson Construction Co. (C 34, CM 20)
M.A. Mortenson Co. (C 19)
Scottsdale BBG-BBGM (A 28)
Tempe Barton Malow Company (C 65, CM 14)
Arkansas/Little Rock The Benham Cos. (E/A 8)
California/Anaheim Power Engineers (E/A 42)
Bakersfield Cuningham Group Architecture (A 47)
Long Beach Heery International (A/E 3, CM 10)
Los Angeles Heery International (A/E 3, CM 10)
Perkins Eastman (A 9)
Thornton-Tomasetti Group (E/A 10)
Walter P. Moore (E 17)
Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (E/A 14)
Oakland Baker and Associates (E/A 26)
Sacramento Ware Malcomb (A 22)
San Diego Gensler (A 1)
Heery International (A/E 3, CM 10)
The Opus Group (C 23)
PCL Construction Enterprises (C 8)
San Francisco Cannon Design (A/E 11)
CUH2A (A/E 18)
HKS (A/E 5)
Perkins+Will (A 3)
Ventura Austin Veum Robbins Partners (A/E 48)
Colorado/Castle Rock Wallace Engineering (E 43)
Denver Baker and Associates (E/A 26)
HDR (A/E 4)
KPFF Consulting Engineers (E 8)
Connecticut/Glastonbury Perkins+Will (A 3)
Florida/Clearwater Smith Seckman Reid (E 12)
Fort Pierce KAMM Consulting (E 49)
Jacksonville Bergmann Associates (E/A 40)
Harvard Jolly (A 39)
Naples Stanley Consultants (E/A 22)
Tallahassee Weidlinger Associates (E 13)
Georgia/Atlanta Baker and Associates (E/A 26)
Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon (E/A 31)
EYP Mission Critical Facilities (E/A 25)
McCarthy Building Cos. (C 16)
Reynolds, Smith and Hills (A/E 20)
Hawaii/Honolulu PCL Construction Enterprises (C 8)
Idaho/Boise Stanley Consultants (E/A 22)
McCall CTA Architects Engineers (A/E 40)
Pocatello Power Engineers (E/A 42)
Illinois/Chicago EYP Mission Critical Facilities (E/A 25)
Ghafari Associates (E/A 23)
Ware Malcomb (A 22)
Indiana/Indianapolis Moody Nolan Inc. (A/E 49)
Kansas/Kansas City Thornton-Tomasetti Group (E/A 10)
Kentucky/Louisville Baker and Associates (E/A 26)
Maryland/Landover Burns Engineering (E 42)
Silver Spring Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (E 14)
Massachusetts/Boston Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern (E/A 15)
Michigan/Detroit HDR (A/E 4)
Minnesota/Minneapolis SmithGroup (A/E 8)
Missouri/Springfield Reynolds, Smith and Hills (A/E 20)
St. Louis KJWW Engineering Consultants (E 20)
Nevada/Las Vegas Fields Devereaux Architects & Engineers (A/E 44)
Gensler (A 1)
GRG Inc. (E 25)
HKS (A/E 5)
KKE Architects (A 45)
R.G. Vanderweil Engineers (E 10)
Walter P. Moore (E 17)
Reno GRG Inc. (E 25)
Westlake Reed Leskosky (A/E 47)
New Jersey/Princeton GRG Inc. (E 25)
New Mexico/Albuquerque C.H. Guernsey & Co. (E/A 44)
Weidlinger Associates (E 13)
Rio Rancho M+W Zander U.S. Operations (E/A 34)
New York/Albany Cannon Design (A/E 11)
M+W Zander U.S. Operations (E/A 34)
New York City Shawmut Design and Construction (C 41)
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (E/A 20)
Syracuse Barr & Barr (CM 21)
North Carolina/Charlotte HDR (A/E 4)
Raleigh Linbeck Group (C 35)
Ohio/Columbus Barton Malow Company (C 65, CM 14)
Youngstown CJL Engineering (E 48)
Oklahoma/Oklahoma City Wallace Engineering (E 43)
Oregon/Portland Sparling (E 27)
Pennsylvania/Philadelphia Middough Consulting (E/A 19)
Tishman Construction Corp. (CM 7)
Rhode Island/Providence Shawmut Design and Construction (C 41)
South Carolina/Columbia Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern (E/A 15)
Greenville Rodgers Builders (C 70)
Spartanburg Linbeck Group (C 35)
Tennessee/Knoxville Smith Seckman Reid (E 12)
Nashville Hoar Construction (C 55)
Texas/Austin CTA Architects Engineers (A/E 40)
The Flintco Cos. (C 64)
Dallas BSW International (E/A 36)
Denton Baker and Associates (E/A 26)
Fort Worth The Facility Group (E/A 43, CM 19)
HKS (A/E 5)
Houston Alberici Corp. (C 49)
Austin AECOM (E/A 37)
Leo A Daly (A/E 6)
Power Engineers (E/A 42)
SEI Cos. (E 29)
San Antonio A. Epstein and Sons International (A/E 10)
Virginia/Annandale Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (E 14)
McLean Perkins Eastman (A 9)
MulvannyG2 Architecture (A 13)
Vienna Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (E 14)
Washington/Seattle CTA Architects Engineers (A/E 40)
Vancouver Power Engineers (E/A 42)
Wyoming/Cheyenne Martin Associates Group (E 7)
Washington, D.C. C.H. Guernsey Co. (E/A 44)
KTA Group (E 38)
Westlake Reed Leskosky (A/E 47)


Design firms doing the most international work
(2004 billings in $ millions)

Firm Billings
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. Fluor Corp. $1,310.80
2. Jacobs Engineering Group $364.14
3. Parsons Brinckerhoff $268.32
4. URS Corp. $198.10
5. HOK $93.88
6. Stantec $86.58
7. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill $56.80
8. Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates $49.30
9. Lockwood Greene $40.66
10. Stanley Consultants $33.36
11. Gensler $29.25
12. NBBJ $25.78
13. Anshen+Allen $22.78
14. Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo $20.65
15. RTKL Associates $17.00
16. MulvannyG2 Architecture $16.98
17. Callison $14.85
18. Burns & McDonnell $14.00
19. Flack + Kurtz $13.21
20. The Jerde Partnership $11.50


Top 20 healthcare design firms
(2004 billings in $ millions)

Firm Billings
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. URS Corp. $74.29
2. HDR $72.04
3. Anshen+Allen $56.94
4. HKS Inc. $47.47
5. Perkins+Will $46.48
6. Cannon Design $38.09
7. NBBJ $37.60
8. Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz $32.40
9. HOK $31.29
10. Hammel, Green and Abrahamson $27.69
11. RTKL Associates $27.00
12. Gresham, Smith and Partners $25.96
13. Smith Seckman Reid $24.80
14. BSA LifeStructures $24.65
15. Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership $23.44
16. SmithGroup $21.82
17. Ellerbe Becket $20.33
18. PageSoutherlandPage $19.56
19. Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor $17.69
20. Syska Hennessy Group $15.68


Top 20 healthcare contractors
(2004 revenue in $ millions)

Firm Revenue
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. The Turner Corp. $986.19
2. Bovis Lend Lease $813.32
3. J.E. Dunn Group $489.90
4. McCarthy Building Cos. $484.88
5. M.A. Mortenson Co. $417.88
6. Swinerton $365.00
7. Centex $320.10
8. Rudolph and Sletten $292.74
9. DPR Construction $263.40
10. PCL Construction Enterprises $255.30
11. Skanska USA Inc. $254.87
12. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. $215.13
13. Hunt Construction Group $203.94
14. The Walsh Group $199.50
15. Manhattan Construction Co. $197.89
16. Hensel Phelps Construction $142.87
17. HBE Corp. $136.37
18. The Boldt Co. $125.70
19. Hoffman Construction $120.50
20. William A. Berry & Son $105.31


Top 20 university design firms
(2004 billings in $ millions)

Firm Billings
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. Jacobs Engineering Group $85.68
2. URS Corp. $49.53
3. Cannon Design $33.86
4. Sasaki Associates $20.25
5. Affiliated Engineers $20.13
6. SmithGroup $19.74
7. Anshen+Allen $18.98
8. Burt Hill $17.44
9. Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor $16.33
10. HNTB Architecture $15.52
11. Perkins+Will $14.84
12. Einhorn Yaffee Prescott $14.62
13. Burns & McDonnell $14.00
14. STV Group $13.22
15. Ballinger $13.16
16. CUH2A $12.90
17. Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership $12.17
18. Gould Evans $11.57
19. DMJM H&N $11.55
20. Fluor Corp. $11.30


Top 20 university contractors
(2004 revenue in $ millions)

Firm Revenue
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. The Turner Corp. $657.46
2. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. $372.54
3. Swinerton $365.00
4. Hunt Construction Group $283.25
5. Gilbane Building Co. $255.94
6. Skanska USA Inc. $233.63
7. Centex $213.40
8. PCL Construction Enterprises $208.88
9. Hensel Phelps Construction $204.10
10. The Walsh Group $199.50
11. Bovis Lend Lease $182.04
12. McCarthy Building Cos. $175.09
13. The Weitz Co. $171.36
14. Clark $145.50
15. Jacobs Engineering Group $126.48
16. Holder Construction Co. $106.54
17. William A. Berry & Son $105.31
18. M.A. Mortenson Co. $99.86
19. Manhattan Construction Co. $94.64
20. Shawmut Design and Construction $92.55


Firms that made the biggest gain and decline in Giants ranking

BULLS
2005 rank 2004 rank Firm (category)
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
14 50 Gilbane Building Co. (C)
21 40 Solomon Cordwell Buenz & Associates (A)
8 25 Corgan Associates (A)
29 41 OZ Architecture (A)
16 27 Sasaki Associates (A/E)
23 34 Ghafari Associates (E/A)
3 13 Skanska USA Inc. (CM)
22 32 Ware Malcomb (A)
24 34 Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott (A)
26 36 Baker and Associates (E/A)
BEARS
2005 rank 2004 rank Firm (category)
64 33 The Flintco Cos. (C)
60 44 Brice Building Co. (C)
43 28 The Facility Group (E/A)
40 28 Murphy/Jahn (A)
57 45 The Stellar Group (C)
66 54 JPI (C)
28 17 HarleyEllis (A/E)
30 19 Arquitectonica (A)
65 55 Barton Malow Co. (C)
75 65 Dimeo Construction Co. (C)


Top 20 multifamily design firms
(2004 billings in $ millions)

Firm Billings
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. URS Corp. $47.05
2. Stantec Inc. $17.72
3. Arquitectonica $11.83
4. Solomon Cordwell Buenz & Associates $11.15
5. Perkins Eastman $10.41
6. RTKL Associates $10.00
7. Dewberry $9.42
8. The Benham Cos. $8.78
9. Niles Bolton Associates $8.27
10. Thornton Tomasetti Group $7.56
11. Skidmore Owings & Merrill $7.10
12. Martin Associates Group $6.91
13. Nadel Architects $6.20
14. DeStefano and Partners $5.70
15. NBBJ $5.37
16. TLC Engineering For Architecture $4.75
17. Davis Bowen Friedel $4.50
18. Murphy/Jahn $4.00
19. CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares $3.94
20. The Durrant Group $3.81


Key

A = Architects A/E = Architect/Engineers
E = Engineers E/A = Engineer/Architects
C = Contractors CM = Construction Managers


Top 20 multifamily contractors
(2004 revenue in $ millions)

Firm Revenue
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. Bovis Lend Lease $763.40
2. Webcor Builders $552.16
3. Clark $476.93
4. Suffolk Construction $417.49
5. Swinerton $365.00
6. The Turner Corp. $328.73
7. The Walsh Group $299.25
8. JPI $248.00
9. Weis Builders $212.93
10. J.E. Dunn Group $212.29
11. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. $202.01
12. PCL Construction Enterprises $185.67
13. Kajima Construction Services $181.19
14. The Opus Group $165.82
15. Hardin Construction Co. $165.28
16. James McHugh Construction Co. $162.60
17. Adolfson & Peterson Construction $121.50
18. Hoffman Construction $120.50
19. Centex $117.37
20. The Weitz Company $114.24


Top 20 commercial design firms
(2004 billings in $ millions)

Firm Billings
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. Gensler $191.25
2. HOK $133.00
3. URS Corp. $106.48
4. Day & Zimmermann $92.00
5. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill $85.20
6. BE&K Inc. $80.85
7. Callison $70.13
8. Parsons Brinckerhoff $58.14
9. Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates $54.40
10. Carter & Burgess $53.59
11. SmithGroup $47.79
12. WD Partners $47.70
13. DMJM H&N $46.20
14. Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo $45.79
15. RTKL Associates $45.00
16. Walker Parking Consultants $43.58
17. HKS Inc. $43.06
18. NBBJ $40.82
19. Syska Hennessy Group $40.40
20. Fanning/Howey Associates $40.36


Top 20 U.S. design-builders
(2004 revenue in $ millions)

Firm Revenue
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. Jacobs Engineering Group $1,043.46
2. The Opus Group $822.40
3. Hensel Phelps Construction $816.00
4. Clark $774.41
5. The Haskell Co. $450.37
6. Clayco $388.50
7. Ryan Companies U.S. Inc. $363.00
8. The Stellar Group $357.03
9. Perini Corp. $344.97
10. Webcor Builders $282.96
11. McGough Construction $257.00
12. James N. Gray Co. $255.29
13. The Turner Corp. $248.10
14. Hunt Construction Group $236.00
15. HBE Corp. $227.29
16. M.A. Mortenson Co. $224.82
17. BE&K Inc. $220.15
18. The Beck Group $204.85
19. The Austin Co. $198.20
20. The Walsh Group $185.50


Top 20 commercial contractors
(2004 revenue in $ millions)

Firm Revenue
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. The Turner Corp. $2,498.34
2. Perini Corp. $1,142.24
3. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. $1,075.64
4. Swinerton $912.50
5. PCL Construction Enterprises $812.30
6. Bovis Lend Lease $763.40
7. Hunt Construction Group $611.82
8. Day & Zimmermann $579.24
9. Webcor Builders $539.89
10. DPR Construction $491.68
11. J.E. Dunn Group $489.90
12. Dick Corp. $481.20
13. Clark $454.99
14. Hensel Phelps Construction $449.02
15. Holder Construction Co. $414.33
16. Sundt Construction $379.02
17. EMJ Corp. $370.18
18. The Weitz Co. $352.25
19. The Beck Group $345.48
20. The Opus Group $339.93


Top 20 reconstruction design firms
(2004 billings in $ millions)

Firm Billings
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. URS Corp. $1,733.41
2. Jacobs Engineering Group $428.40
3. Parsons Brinckerhoff $241.49
4. Dewberry $125.60
5. Edwards and Kelcey $97.49
6. Carter & Burgess $89.31
7. STV Group $79.31
8. Lockwood Greene $74.90
9. Burns & McDonnell $70.00
10. DMJM H&N $69.30
11. BE&K Inc. $61.25
12. Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates $56.25
13. Gensler $56.25
14. Leo A Daly $51.30
15. HOK $44.71
16. Syska Hennessy Group $42.21
17. Perkins+Will $39.56
18. Cannon Design $33.86
19. Stanley Consultants $33.81
20. Callison $33.00


Top 20 industrial design firms
(2004 billings in $ millions)

Firm Billings
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. Fluor Corp. $492.68
2. Jacobs Engineering Group $353.43
3. URS Corp. $297.16
4. Lockwood Greene $181.90
5. BE&K Inc. $124.95
6. Burns McDonnell $56.00
7. DMJM H&N $46.20
8. SSOE $33.68
9. A. Epstein and Sons International $33.60
10. The Benham Cos. $33.18
11. CRB Consulting Engineers $31.20
12. Ghafari Associates $23.70
13. The Austin Co. $22.40
14. Affiliated Engineers $18.50
15. Flad & Associates $18.00
16. Teng & Associates $17.94
17. Middough Consulting $16.60
18. The Stellar Group $15.94
19. Kling $13.60
20. Parsons Brinckerhoff $13.42


Top 20 reconstruction contractors
(2004 revenue in $ millions)

Firm Revenue
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. The Turner Corp. $1,380.66
2. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. $813.29
3. Bovis Lend Lease $734.04
4. J.E. Dunn Group $636.87
5. Jacobs Engineering Group $632.40
6. Rudolph and Sletten $620.33
7. PCL Construction Enterprises $580.22
8. Gilbane Building Co. $563.07
9. Skanska USA Inc. $424.78
10. Shawmut Design and Construction $396.66
11. The Weitz Co. $352.25
12. DPR Construction $351.20
13. McCarthy Building Cos. $350.19
14. Hunt Construction Group $283.25
15. Swinerton $273.75
16. Perini Corp. $257.92
17. Torcon $250.80
18. Clark $230.96
19. Pepper Construction Co. $207.05
20. Hensel Phelps Construction $204.10


Top 20 industrial contractors
(2004 revenue in $ millions)

Firm Revenue
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. Fluor Corp. $1,505.73
2. Walbridge Aldinger $601.80
3. The Turner Corp. $591.71
4. Jacobs Engineering Group $521.73
5. BE&K Inc. $387.09
6. PCL Construction Enterprises $324.92
7. The Stellar Group $318.64
8. The Opus Group $273.60
9. DPR Construction $263.40
10. Kajima Construction Services $255.73
11. Torcon $250.80
12. Alberici Corp. $238.86
13. James N. Gray Co. $218.82
14. The Haskell Co. $216.20
15. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. $204.63
16. The Austin Co. $196.78
17. Bovis Lend Lease $176.17
18. Clayco $174.83
19. Graycor $165.00
20. Rudolph and Sletten $153.34


Top 20 K-12 design firms
(2004 billings in $ millions)

Firm Billings
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. URS Corp. $123.82
2. Fanning/Howey Associates $39.94
3. STV Group $33.04
4. DLR Group $26.80
5. HMC Architects $24.89
6. DMJM H&N $23.10
7. Fluor Corp. $22.60
8. The Thomas Group $21.19
9. Moseley Architects $12.00
10. Wight & Company $10.05
11. Fletcher-Thompson Inc. $10.03
12. Parsons Brinckerhoff $8.94
13. Perkins+Will $8.90
14. Hillier Architecture $8.60
15. Corgan Associates $8.51
16. Fields Devereaux Architects & Engineers $8.50
17. TMAD Taylor & Gaines $8.14
18. Perkins Eastman $7.81
19. Heery International $7.50
20. BRPH Companies $7.17


Top 20 K-12 contractors
(2004 revenue in $ millions)

Firm Revenue
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. The Turner Corp. $723.20
2. Gilbane Building Co. $281.54
3. Centex $213.40
4. The Walsh Group $199.50
5. J.E. Dunn Group $163.30
6. Hunt Construction Group $158.62
7. Skanska USA Inc. $148.67
8. CORE Construction Group $131.58
9. Manhattan Construction Co. $111.85
10. McCarthy Building Cos. $107.75
11. Bovis Lend Lease $93.96
12. Kraus-Anderson Construction Co. $90.78
13. Miron Construction Co. $89.96
14. Barton Malow Co. $88.73
15. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. $65.59
16. Torcon $62.70
17. Clark $57.74
18. Perini Corp. $55.27
19. The Haskell Co. $47.57
20. S.M. Wilson & Co. $41.51


Top 20 institutional design firms
(2004 billings in $ millions)

Firm Billings
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. URS Corp. $1,260.44
2. Jacobs Engineering Group $332.01
3. Fluor Corp. $293.80
4. HNTB Architecture $96.69
5. HDR $88.66
6. HOK $87.62
7. Perkins+Will $85.05
8. Leo A Daly $84.36
9. Anshen+Allen $75.92
10. Cannon Design $71.95
11. DMJM H&N $69.30
12. HKS Inc. $62.93
13. SmithGroup $56.11
14. Burns & McDonnell $56.00
15. NBBJ $50.49
16. DLR Group $50.25
17. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill $49.70
18. RTKL Associates $45.00
19. Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz $40.50
20. Parsons Brinckerhoff $40.25


Top 20 institutional contractors
(2004 revenue in $ millions)

Firm Revenue
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. The Turner Corp. $3,155.79
2. Hensel Phelps Construction $1,571.57
3. Clark $1,496.33
4. Centex $1,269.73
5. Bovis Lend Lease $1,233.19
6. Gilbane Building Co. $1,023.77
7. McCarthy Building Cos. $983.22
8. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. $936.59
9. Fluor Corp. $897.91
10. J.E. Dunn Group $783.84
11. M.A. Mortenson Co. $727.22
12. Austin Industries $611.35
13. PCL Construction Enterprises $557.01
14. Manhattan Construction Co. $533.44
15. Hunt Construction Group $498.52
16. Jacobs Engineering Group $490.11
17. Perini Corp. $479.00
18. Rudolph and Sletten $404.26
19. Swinerton $365.00
20. The Boldt Co. $284.92


Top 20 government design firms
(2004 billings for federal, state, and local government work, in $ millions)

Firm Billings
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. URS Corp. $1,535.31
2. Parsons Brinckerhoff $646.65
3. Fluor Corp. $305.10
4. Jacobs Engineering Group $289.17
5. Edwards and Kelcey $134.17
6. Carter & Burgess $117.38
7. DMJM H&N $115.50
8. Dewberry $94.20
9. HNTB Architecture $93.10
10. Burns & McDonnell $84.00
11. HOK $81.36
12. Stantec $74.99
13. Reynolds, Smith and Hills $62.25
14. Stanley Consultants $47.33
15. STV Group $44.94
16. The Benham Cos. $43.92
17. Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern $41.80
18. Vanasse Hangen Brustlin $41.15
19. Corgan Associates $40.03
20. Leo A Daly $39.90


Top 20 government contractors
(2004 revenue for federal, state, and local government work, in $ millions)

Firm Revenue
Source: 2005 Giants 300 survey
1. Clark $1,713.15
2. Hensel Phelps Construction $1,040.91
3. The Walsh Group $997.50
4. Fluor Corp. $932.45
5. PCL Construction Enterprises $835.51
6. The Turner Corp. $788.95
7. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. $708.35
8. Skanska USA Inc. $637.17
9. Dick Corp. $633.10
10. Perini Corp. $607.96
11. Jacobs Engineering Group $426.87
12. Centex $426.80
13. Gilbane Building Co. $383.91
14. M.A. Mortenson Co. $290.89
15. McCarthy Building Cos. $282.84
16. The Weitz Co. $238.00
17. Sundt Construction Inc. $215.75
18. Adolfson & Peterson Construction $194.40
19. Swinerton $182.50
20. Bovis Lend Lease $179.11

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