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
Higher Education | Jun 14, 2023
Designing higher education facilities without knowing the end users
A team of architects with Page offers five important factors to consider when designing spaces for multiple—and potentially changing—stakeholders.
Resiliency | Jun 14, 2023
HUD offers $4.8 billion in funding for green and resilient building retrofit projects
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently released guidelines for its Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP) that has $4.8 billion for funding green projects.
Arenas | Jun 14, 2023
A multipurpose arena helps revitalize a historic African American community in Georgia
In Savannah, Ga., Enmarket Arena, a multipurpose arena that opened last year, has helped revitalize the city’s historic Canal District—home to a largely African American community that has been historically separated from the rest of downtown.
Building Materials | Jun 14, 2023
Construction input prices fall 0.6% in May 2023
Construction input prices fell 0.6% in May compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices declined 0.5% for the month.
Mass Timber | Jun 13, 2023
Mass timber construction featured in two-story mixed-use art gallery and wine bar in Silicon Valley
The Edes Building, a two-story art gallery and wine bar in the Silicon Valley community of Morgan Hill, will prominently feature mass timber. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glulam posts and beams were specified for aesthetics, biophilic properties, and a reduced carbon footprint compared to concrete and steel alternatives.
Mixed-Use | Jun 12, 2023
Goettsch Partners completes its largest China project to date: a mixed-used, five-tower complex
Chicago-based global architecture firm Goettsch Partners (GP) recently announced the completion of its largest project in China to date: the China Resources Qianhai Center, a mixed-use complex in the Qianhai district of Shenzhen. Developed by CR Land, the project includes five towers totaling almost 472,000 square meters (4.6 million sf).
Engineers | Jun 12, 2023
Stantec to acquire Environmental Systems Design
Stantec, a global leader in sustainable design and engineering, has signed an agreement to acquire Environmental Systems Design, Inc. (ESD), a 270-person engineering firm headquartered in Chicago. Founded in 1967, ESD has built a reputation for excellence and innovation in high-performance design with a roster of industry-leading clients. The terms of the transaction are not disclosed.
University Buildings | Jun 9, 2023
Cornell’s new information science building will foster dynamic exchange of ideas and quiet, focused research
Construction recently began on Cornell University’s new 135,000-sf building for the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science (Cornell Bowers CIS). The structure will bring together the departments of Computer Science, Information Science, and Statistics and Data Science for the first time in one complex.
Museums | Jun 6, 2023
New wing of Natural History Museums of Los Angeles to be a destination and portal
NHM Commons, a new wing and community hub under construction at The Natural History Museums (NHM) of Los Angeles County, was designed to be both a destination and a portal into the building and to the surrounding grounds.
Performing Arts Centers | Jun 6, 2023
Mumbai, India’s new Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre has three performing arts venues
In Mumbai, India, the recently completed Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) will showcase music, theater, and fine arts from India and from across the globe. Atlanta’s TVS Design served as the principal architect and interior designer of both the cultural center and the larger, adjacent Jio World Centre.