The nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction companies are on the BIM bandwagon in a big way, according to Building Design+Construction's premier Top 50 BIM Adopters ranking, published as part of the 2009 Giants 300 survey.
Of the 320 AEC firms that participated in Giants survey, 83% report having at least one BIM seat license in house, half have more than 30 seats, and nearly a quarter (23%) have 100-plus seats. In total, the Giants hold 28,174 BIM seats, with the average firm having 106 seats.
As expected, design firms are the biggest adopters of BIM, representing 48 of the top 50. AECOM Technology Corp. and HDR Architecture hold the most BIM seats, each with 2,000, followed by Parsons Brinckerhoff (1,800), Gensler (1,320), and HOK (840). Turner (#8 with 530 seats) and Mortensen Construction (#38 with 163 seats) are the only pure contractors to make the Top 50 BIM Adopters list.
![]() |
Project: Yankee StadiumArchitect: HOK Sport + Venue + EventStructural engineer: Thornton Tomasetti (EA 10)MEP engineer: M-E Engineers (E 15)General contractor: Turner (C 1, CM 17)Construction manager: Tishman Speyer PropertiesRendering: Courtesy Turner Construction Co. |
BIM adoption seems to be slowing among the Giants, which is expected given the rough economic environment. Slightly more than half (51%) of the respondents have added or plan on adding BIM seat licenses in 2009, down from 63% in 2008. And the number of seats being purchased is expected to drop by 56% this year, from a total of 6,465 in 2008 to 2,837 in 2009.
Stantec and Gensler are adding the most seats this year (250 and 199) and are two of only four firms adding more than 100 seats in 2009—compared to eight firms in 2008.
Expanded Top BIM Adopter rankings are available at www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants.
Company* | # of BIM seat licenses | # seats added in '08 | # seats adding in '09 | |
*Several firms, including Fluor Corp., report having an enterprise license for BIM-related software, and, therefore, cannot provide adoption numbers. Source: 2009 Giants 300 survey. Expanded BIM rankings at: www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants. | ||||
1 | AECOM Technology Corp. | 2,000 | — | — |
1 | HDR Architecture | 2,000 | 2,000 | — |
3 | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 1,800 | 40 | 50 |
4 | Gensler | 1,320 | 300 | 199 |
5 | HOK | 840 | — | — |
6 | Perkins+Will | 800 | 80 | — |
7 | HKS | 650 | 200 | — |
8 | Turner | 530 | 200 | 100 |
9 | SSOE | 500 | 150 | 50 |
10 | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill | 450 | 75 | 25 |
11 | Arup | 407 | — | — |
12 | RTKL Associates | 373 | 43 | — |
13 | Cannon Design | 320 | — | — |
14 | SmithGroup | 312 | 80 | — |
15 | Merrick & Co. | 302 | 15 | 25 |
16 | CH2M HILL | 300 | 40 | — |
17 | Jacobs | 280 | 280 | 15 |
18 | Middough | 270 | 10 | 20 |
18 | TLC Engineering for Architecture | 270 | 25 | — |
20 | Day & Zimmermann International | 265 | — | — |
21 | Stantec | 250 | 100 | 250 |
22 | Dewberry | 233 | 30 | 65 |
23 | Perkowitz+Ruth Architects | 225 | — | — |
23 | Smith Seckman Reid | 225 | 45 | 20 |
25 | KJWW Engineering Consultants | 209 | 35 | — |
26 | HNTB | 208 | — | — |
27 | Burt Hill | 205 | 25 | — |
28 | Gresham, Smith and Partners | 203 | 30 | — |
29 | Bergmann Associates, Architects Engineers Planners | 200 | 30 | 20 |
29 | Syska Hennessy Group | 200 | — | — |
31 | X-nth | 199 | 10 | — |
32 | PageSoutherlandPage | 181 | 36 | 50 |
33 | Albert Kahn Associates | 180 | 35 | 10 |
33 | Goodwyn Mills and Cawood | 180 | 20 | — |
35 | Affiliated Engineers | 175 | 13 | — |
36 | Heery International | 173 | 10 | 10 |
37 | Fanning/Howey Associates | 169 | 12 | 26 |
38 | Mortenson Construction | 163 | 25 | — |
39 | Morris Architects | 162 | 20 | — |
40 | KMD Architects | 155 | 20 | 10 |
41 | Clark Nexsen | 153 | 10 | — |
42 | KlingStubbins | 150 | 50 | 75 |
42 | RNL Design | 150 | — | — |
44 | GRAEF | 145 | 15 | 5 |
44 | Leo A Daly | 145 | 22 | 30 |
44 | NTD Architecture | 145 | — | — |
47 | Arquitectonica | 140 | — | — |
47 | Corgan Associates | 140 | 25 | — |
47 | CTA Architects Engineers | 140 | 115 | — |
47 | Little | 140 | — | — |
2009 | 2008 | Company | 2008 Billings ($) |
Rank | |||
Source: 2009 Giants 300 survey. For expanded Architecture Firm rankings, visit: www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants | |||
1 | 1 | Gensler | 744,300,000 |
2 | 2 | Perkins+Will | 400,000,000 |
3 | 3 | Callison | 185,000,000 |
4 | — | Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates | 146,000,000 |
5 | 4 | NBBJ | 135,735,000 |
6 | 5 | RMJM | 129,989,567 |
7 | 9 | WATG | 110,889,000 |
8 | 6 | Perkins Eastman | 107,000,000 |
9 | 7 | Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects | 81,070,000 |
10 | 15 | tvsdesign | 71,000,000 |
11 | 13 | HMC Architects | 65,446,823 |
12 | 8 | Arquitectonica | 62,400,000 |
13 | 10 | MulvannyG2 Architecture | 60,000,000 |
14 | 34 | VOA Associates | 51,000,000 |
15 | 12 | NTD Architecture | 49,200,000 |
16 | 24 | Corgan Associates | 48,929,118 |
17 | 17 | Anshen+Allen | 47,394,883 |
18 | 18 | OZ Architecture | 44,300,000 |
19 | 14 | Perkowitz+Ruth Architects | 44,000,000 |
20 | 21 | FXFOWLE Architects | 43,700,000 |
21 | 19 | Cooper Carry | 42,715,000 |
22 | 11 | Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates | 42,470,000 |
23 | 23 | Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott | 42,081,801 |
24 | 26 | Ware Malcomb | 41,896,419 |
25 | 35 | BBG-BBGM | 41,000,000 |
26 | 27 | RSP Architects | 40,091,508 |
27 | — | BLT Architects | 39,500,000 |
28 | 29 | FRCH Design Worldwide | 39,000,000 |
29 | — | SchenkelShultz | 34,880,000 |
30 | 29 | KKE Architects | 33,200,000 |
31 | 37 | WWCOT | 32,400,000 |
32 | 33 | FKP Architects | 31,939,000 |
33 | 48 | Fentress Architects | 31,679,680 |
34 | — | NAC Architecture | 31,551,000 |
35 | 35 | Jerde Partnership, The | 28,700,000 |
36 | — | SHW Group | 28,000,000 |
37 | 43 | Morris Architects | 27,109,737 |
38 | — | RBB Architects | 27,000,000 |
39 | 28 | WHR Architects | 26,400,000 |
40 | 38 | MBH Architects | 26,294,628 |
41 | — | Goodwyn Mills and Cawood | 26,240,000 |
42 | 20 | Nadel Architects | 26,000,000 |
43 | — | Polshek Partnership Architects | 25,397,128 |
44 | 32 | Niles Bolton Associates | 25,300,000 |
45 | 22 | Mithun | 24,000,000 |
46 | 44 | Cuningham Group Architecture | 23,892,676 |
47 | 41 | Harvard Jolly | 23,828,636 |
48 | 45 | Solomon Cordwell Buenz | 23,500,000 |
49 | 42 | Carrier Johnson + Culture | 22,000,000 |
50 | — | Gould Evans Associates | 21,402,000 |
51 | — | Cambridge Seven Associates | 21,400,000 |
52 | 50 | Kirksey | 20,821,686 |
Related Stories
| Dec 22, 2014
What Building Teams can learn from home builders' travails
Commercial and residential construction can be as different as night and day. But as one who covered the housing industry for nearly a decade, I firmly believe AEC firms can learn some valuable lessons from the trials and tribulations that home builders experienced during the Great Recession, writes BD+C's John Caulfield.
| Dec 22, 2014
Skanska to build Miami’s Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science
Designed by Grimshaw Architects, the 250,000-sf museum will serve as an economic engine and cultural anchor for Miami’s fast-growing urban core.
| Dec 22, 2014
Studio Gang to design Chicago’s third-tallest skyscraper
The first U.S. real-estate investment by The Wanda Group, owned by China’s richest man, will be an 88-story, 1,148-ft-tall mixed-use tower designed by Jeanne Gang.
| Dec 19, 2014
Zaha Hadid unveils dune-shaped HQ for Emirati environmental management company
Zaha Hadid Architects released designs for the new headquarters of Emirati environmental management company Bee’ah, revealing a structure that references the shape and motion of a sand dune.
| Dec 19, 2014
Chicago Architecture Biennial to hold 'Lakefront Kiosk Competition'
The first Chicago Architecture Biennial will take place from October 2015-January 2016, with a theme of "The State of the Art of Architecture."
| Dec 18, 2014
Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West to be recreated—with LEGO
Containing more than 180,000 LEGO bricks in 11 colors and 120 different shapes, the model measures eight by four feet and is made entirely of standard LEGO parts.
| Dec 18, 2014
11 new highs for tall buildings: CTBUH recaps the year's top moments in skyscraper construction
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat cherrypicked the top moments from 2014, including a record concrete pour, a cautionary note about high-rise development, and two men's daring feat.
| Dec 18, 2014
International Parking Institute and Green Parking Council collaborate with GBCI
The new collaboration recognizes importance of sustainable parking facility design and management to the built environment.
| Dec 18, 2014
Top 10 sports facilities of 2014: Designboom ranks the year's best projects
The list includes some of the year's epic stadiums, such as World Cup Stadium Arena de Amazonia in Manaus, Brazil, and smaller projects, like the Spordtgebouw Sports Centerin the Netherlands.
| Dec 18, 2014
In response to ultra-open and uber-collaborative office environments
Susan Cain’s bestselling 2012 book, "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking" has made an impact on how we understand our current workforce, recognizing that at least one-third of the people we work with are introverts, writes SRG Partnership's Susan Gust.