flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Research finds continued growth of design-build throughout United States

Research finds continued growth of design-build throughout United States

RSMeans analyzed detailed data on nearly a million construction projects.


By Design-Build Institute of America | June 30, 2014
Photo credit: Rob Young, Wikimedia Commons
Photo credit: Rob Young, Wikimedia Commons

The Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), the only organization that defines, teaches and promotes best practices in design-build, has released new research findings indicating that for the first time more than half of projects above $10 million are being completed through design-build project delivery.

The newly released study confirms that the use of design-build has remained steady since its growth spurt at the end of the last decade, and also that Oregon and the Military sector are leading with the most dollars being spent on design-build projects.

“The growing use of design-build is not surprising,” says Lisa Washington, CAE, CEO/Executive Director of DBIA. “Throughout the last five years, and even through the recession, we’ve seen a large increase in demand for information and training on design-build best practices. Owners from all sectors have been turning to design-build delivery because they recognize the inherent value it brings to any project in any sector of any size.”

Shortly before the economic downturn a little over five years ago, the use of design-build spiked from 29% of the nonresidential market in 2005 to 36% in 2008. Throughout the recession period, design-build use continued to grow, and now with the economy stable and slowly recovering, the use of design-build has held steady at around 40% for the last three years.

RSMeans analyzed detailed data on nearly a million construction projects, state by state, and found that the West Coast is where design-build is the most prevalent. In fact, 70% of construction dollars being spent in Oregon are on design-build projects. California is the second highest at 59% and Washington the third highest state at 56%.

When looking at specific sectors, the military uses design-build on 81% of projects. However, even when military projects are taken out of the equation, Oregon is still the top state due to multifamily residential and industrial sectors’ preference for design-build. Those two industries also lift Michigan to the second place spot in the list of states doing the most non-military design-build.

“The Reed/RSMeans segmentation analysis now includes nine complete years of actual history, statistically supporting observation of trends at the state and industry sector segment levels,” says Tim Duggan, Director of Custom Solutions, Reed/RS Means, one of North America’s largest information providers to the design and construction industry.

RSMeans’ proprietary database of historical and planning construction projects data served as the basis for the study in addition to the incorporation of other publicly and privately available data sources. A copy of the full report, “Design-Build Project Delivery Market Share and Market Size Report,” is available on DBIA’s web site.

Related Stories

| Aug 11, 2010

Luxury Hotel required faceted design

Goettsch Partners, Chicago, designed a new five-star, 214-room hotel for the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The design-build project, with Saudi Oger Ltd. as contractor and Rayadah Investment Co. as developer, has a three-story podium supporting a 17-story glass tower with a nine-story opening that allows light to penetrate the mass of the building.

| Aug 11, 2010

Three Schools checking into L.A.'s Ambassador Hotel site

Pasadena-based Gonzalez Goodale Architects is designing three new schools for Los Angeles Unified School District's Central Wilshire District. The $400 million campus, located on the site of the former Ambassador Hotel, will house a K-5 elementary school, a middle school, a high school, a shared recreation facility (including soccer field, 25-meter swimming pool, two gymnasiums), and a new publ...

| Aug 11, 2010

New Jersey's high-tech landscaping facility

Designed to enhance the use of science and technology in Bergen County Special Services' landscaping programs, the new single-story facility at the technical school's Paramus campus will have 7,950 sf of classroom space, a 1,000-sf greenhouse (able to replicate different environments, such as rainforest, desert, forest, and tundra), and 5,000 sf of outside landscaping and gardening space.

| Aug 11, 2010

U.S. firm designing massive Taiwan project

MulvannyG2 Architecture is designing one of Taipei, Taiwan's largest urban redevelopment projects. The Bellevue, Wash., firm is working with developer The Global Team Group to create Aquapearl, a mixed-use complex that's part of the Taipei government's "Good Looking Taipei 2010" initiative to spur redevelopment of the city's Songjian District.

| Aug 11, 2010

Florida mixed-use complex includes retail, residential

The $325 million Atlantic Plaza II lifestyle center will be built on 8.5 acres in Delray Beach, Fla. Designed by Vander Ploeg & Associates, Boca Raton, the complex will include six buildings ranging from three to five stories and have 182,000 sf of restaurant and retail space. An additional 106,000 sf of Class A office space and a residential component including 197 apartments, townhouses, ...

| Aug 11, 2010

Restoration gives new life to New Formalism icon

The $30 million upgrade, restoration, and expansion of the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles was completed by the team of Rios Clementi Hale Studios (architect), Harley Ellis Devereaux (executive architect/MEP), KPFF (structural engineer), and Taisei Construction (GC). Work on the Welton Becket-designed 1967 complex included an overhaul of the auditorium, lighting, and acoustics.

| Aug 11, 2010

Best AEC Firms to Work For

2006 FreemanWhite Hnedak Bobo Group McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. Shawmut Design and Construction Walter P Moore 2007 Anshen+Allen Arup Bovis Lend Lease Cannon Design Jones Lang LaSalle Perkins+Will SmithGroup SSOE, Inc. Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc. 2008 Gilbane Building Co. HDR KJWW Engineering Consultants Lord, Aeck & Sargent Mark G.

| Aug 11, 2010

High-Performance Workplaces

Building Teams around the world are finding that the workplace is changing radically, leading owners and tenants to reinvent corporate office buildings to compete more effectively on a global scale. The good news is that this means more renovation and reconstruction work at a time when new construction has stalled to a dribble.

| Aug 11, 2010

Great Solutions: Business Management

22. Commercial Properties Repositioned for University USE Tocci Building Companies is finding success in repositioning commercial properties for university use, and it expects the trend to continue. The firm's Capital Cove project in Providence, R.I., for instance, was originally designed by Elkus Manfredi (with design continued by HDS Architects) to be a mixed-use complex with private, market-...

| Aug 11, 2010

Nurturing the Community

The best seat in the house at the new Seahawks Stadium in Seattle isn't on the 50-yard line. It's in the southeast corner, at the very top of the upper bowl. "From there you have a corner-to-corner view of the field and an inspiring grasp of the surrounding city," says Kelly Kerns, project leader with architect/engineer Ellerbe Becket, Kansas City, Mo.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category




halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021