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
| Jul 15, 2013
Zaha Hadid unveils plan for boutique condo development in New York
Related Companies taps the London-based architect for the 11-story 520 West 28th Street residential development adjacent to the High Line in Chelsea.
| Jul 12, 2013
12 award-winning healthcare projects [slideshow]
AIA's Academy of Architecture for Health announced the recipients of the 2013 AIA National Healthcare Design Awards.
| Jul 11, 2013
Bill to borrow more for college spending in Michigan criticized due to ‘higher-ed bubble’
An amendment to a Michigan appropriations budget authorizes an increase in state debt to pay for state university construction projects. But some experts see a “higher education bubble” on the horizon, and said more taxpayer debt for more buildings is a bad idea.
| Jul 11, 2013
Skanska exits U.S. Chamber of Commerce over LEED controversy
Skanska USA resigned from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the Chamber’s decision to support the American High-Performance Buildings Coalition.
| Jul 11, 2013
DOE releases stricter energy efficiency standards for new federal buildings taking effect in 2014
The Energy Department released stricter energy efficiency standards this month for new federal buildings.
| Jul 11, 2013
Pennsylvania legislators work on bill to update demolition codes following fatal building collapse
Pennsylvania lawmakers are working on a bill to update demolition codes, in the wake of a fatal building collapse in Philadelphia in June.
| Jul 11, 2013
Lawsuit challenges modular apartment project in New York City
A plan to build pre-fab apartment buildings at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, N.Y., has been challenged by a lawsuit filed by the Plumbing Foundation in Manhattan Supreme Court.
| Jul 10, 2013
SmithGroupJJR hires Don Posson as Co-director of Sustainable Design
SmithGroupJJR has hired veteran mechanical engineer Don Posson, PE, CCP, CPD, LEED AP, as the firm’s co-director of sustainable design.
| Jul 10, 2013
World's best new skyscrapers [slideshow]
The Bow in Calgary and CCTV Headquarters in Beijing are among the world's best new high-rise projects, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.