Design activity at architecture firms finally back to pre-recession levels: AIA report

As the U.S. construction industry continues to rebound from the downturn in the past economic cycle, "The Business of Architecture: 2014 AIA Firm Survey Report" shows that design activity at architecture firms has recovered to pre-recession levels.

Most firms have seen revenue levels at least stabilize, if not finally begin to grow with gross billings at architecture firms increasing by 20% from 2011.

Key findings include:

With losses during the economic downturn, architecture firms have become smaller and younger with 43% having been founded since the year 2000, with one-third of those firms founded just since 2010.
Renovations of existing facilities account for a larger share of design activity than during the last construction boom.
Nearly two-thirds of large firms worked on international projects in 2013.
Over a third of architecture firms nationally—and virtually all larger firms—were using some form of BIM for billable projects.
Twelve percent of firms are using energy modeling software for billable projects.
Twenty-one percent of firms have worked on one or more projects that incorporate resilient design strategies.
Even with most of the institutional building category remaining in recession in 2013, this sector generated half of the billings at architecture firms.
Within the institutional category, education facilities accounted for 21% of overall billings.

The full survey is available for purchase here.

Two innovations—program manager Gafcon’s SharePoint360 project management platform and a new BIM “wall creator” add-on developed by ClarkDietrich Building Systems for use with the Revit BIM platform and construction consultant—show how fabricators and owner’s reps are stepping in to fill the gaps between construction and design that can typically be exposed by working with a 3D model.