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 17, 2013
Kahn appoints Alan Cobb President and CEO
Cobb is the tenth president in the firm’s 118-year history. As President, Cobb is responsible for ensuring that all of the firm’s client issues are effectively address and that overall project team performance meets or exceeds client expectations for each and job the firm undertakes.
| Dec 17, 2013
CBRE's Chris Bodnar and Lee Asher named Healthcare Real Estate Executives of the Year
CBRE Group, Inc. announced today that two of its senior executives, Chris Bodnar and Lee Asher, have been named Healthcare Real Estate Executives of the Year by Healthcare Real Estate Insights.
| Dec 16, 2013
Is the metal building industry in a technology shift?
Automation is the future you can’t avoid, though you may try. Even within the metal building industry—which is made up of skilled tradesmen—automation has revolutionized, and will continue revolutionizing, how we work.
| Dec 16, 2013
Why employees don’t trust their leaders
Trust, one of the key elements to productive business relationships, is in short supply these days. An Associated Press-GfK poll discovered that only one-third of Americans say most people can be trusted and nearly two-thirds says “you can’t be too careful” in dealing with people.
| Dec 16, 2013
Construction materials prices remain stable in November
Overall, construction materials prices fell 0.5 percent in November and are up only 1.1 percent year over year, according to the Department of Labor’s Dec. 13 Producer Price Index.
| Dec 16, 2013
Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, inaugurated 2014 AIA President
Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, executive director of the Virginia Center for Architecture, was inaugurated as the 90th president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) during ceremonies held on December 12th at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. She succeeds Mickey Jacob, FAIA, in representing nearly 83,000 AIA members.
| Dec 13, 2013
GRW acquires West Virginia design firm Chapman Technical Group
GRW is expanding its capabilities through the recent acquisition of Chapman Technical Group, a 36-person West Virginia-based firm.
| Dec 13, 2013
AIA, MIT issue joint report on impact of design on public health
The research looks at the health of eight U.S. cities and lays out a path for translating the research into meaningful findings for policy makers and urban planners.
| Dec 11, 2013
Wyndham unveils hotel prototype for its Hawthorn Suites chain
The extended-stay hotel prototype reduces development costs by 46% for franchisees and enhances the overall guest experience.
| Dec 10, 2013
16 great solutions for architects, engineers, and contractors
From a crowd-funded smart shovel to a why-didn’t-someone-do-this-sooner scheme for managing traffic in public restrooms, these ideas are noteworthy for creative problem-solving. Here are some of the most intriguing innovations the BD+C community has brought to our attention this year.