An analysis of Dun & Bradstreet stats by consultant Paul Abramson indicates that some $11 billion was spent on higher ed construction last year—up a billion from 2012, with nearly 70% comprising new buildings (http://bit.ly/1qhMzaw).
As examined in BD+C’s in-depth May report, university stakeholders face complicated cap-ex stressors, from chronic (lender stinginess, deferred maintenance) to impending (President Obama’s pledge to start rating colleges on value delivered, consumer pushback on ever-rising costs).
Creative approaches to financing, design, and delivery are top-of-mind. Paula Stamp, Business Development Manager in the Los Angeles office of PCL Construction, says clients are exploring CM at risk, design-build, and design risk. Margie Simmons, VP and Education Sector Leader at Stantec, adds: “Higher debt levels will encourage institutions to seek off-balance-sheet financing solutions and P3s.”
Teri Jones, VP at Sundt Construction, sees a similar pattern, plus emphasis on revenue-generating buildings like dorms and recreation centers.
Facility trends observed by Stamp include housing construction by community colleges (serving a growing international-student population) and better use of indoor and outdoor circulation and common space. John Baxter, Education Sector Leader at EYP, says clients are asking for features that enhance an interactive “corridor culture” in dorms.
Michael Medici, AIA, NCARB, Learning Practice Leader and Senior VP at SmithGroupJJR, mentions growing demand for facilities that support interprofessional health sciences education and project-based, career-oriented learning. Also gaining traction: office zones that mimic private-sector workplaces, with less assigned space and more team zones.
Perkins+Will higher ed designers Jeff Ziebarth, Jeff Stebar, and John Long are also seeing this pattern; Long says younger faculty and administrators have been a lot more receptive than veterans.
Top University Sector Architecture Firms
Rank | Company | 2013 Higher Ed Revenue |
1 | CannonDesign | $76,000,000 |
2 | Perkins+will | 45,582,532 |
3 | Stantec | 42,368,888 |
4 | EYP Architecture & Engineering | 39,000,000 |
5 | Gensler | 29,492,000 |
6 | SmithGroupJJR | 27,088,190 |
7 | Clark Nexsen | 21,732,694 |
8 | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill | 20,933,579 |
9 | Page | 19,771,000 |
10 | ZGF Architects | 19,397,489 |
11 | Wilson Architects | 18,500,000 |
12 | Ennead Architects | 18,086,505 |
13 | Flad Architects | 16,260,000 |
14 | SHW Group | 15,991,000 |
15 | Shepley Bulfinch | 15,595,000 |
16 | Harley Ellis Devereaux | 15,120,000 |
17 | Moseley Architects | 15,016,516 |
18 | Lord Aeck Sargent | 13,533,882 |
19 | HMC Architects | 13,440,933 |
20 | NBBJ | 13,242,000 |
21 | HKS | 12,847,559 |
22 | Ballinger | 12,113,215 |
23 | Beyer Blinder Belle | 11,627,926 |
24 | DLR Group | 11,100,000 |
25 | LS3P | 10,532,964 |
26 | Morris Architects | 10,000,000 |
27 | Solomon Cordwell Buenz | 10,000,000 |
28 | Davis Brody Bond | 9,835,655 |
29 | FGM Architects | 9,821,820 |
30 | LPA | 9,561,760 |
31 | Perkins Eastman | 9,300,000 |
32 | Moody Nolan | 9,104,965 |
33 | CO Architects | 8,912,400 |
34 | EwingCole | 7,430,000 |
35 | Heery International | 7,186,274 |
36 | Hastings+Chivetta Architects | 6,378,602 |
37 | Westlake Reed Leskosky | 6,325,000 |
38 | FXFOWLE Architects | 6,200,000 |
39 | Mithun | 6,158,000 |
40 | Goodwyn Mills & Cawood | 6,127,329 |
41 | HOK | 5,876,913 |
42 | BSA LifeStructures | 5,789,413 |
43 | NTD Architecture | 5,586,000 |
44 | LMN Architects | 5,549,900 |
45 | Ratio Architects | 5,537,316 |
46 | Leo A Daly | 5,395,356 |
47 | Bergmann Associates | 5,304,175 |
48 | Little | 5,249,190 |
49 | Hammel, Green and Abrahamson | 4,836,088 |
50 | Legat Architects | 4,685,600 |
51 | GBBN Architects | 4,560,000 |
52 | Carrier Johnson + Culture | 4,060,468 |
53 | Parkhill, Smith & Cooper | 4,026,000 |
54 | Cooper Carry | 3,961,244 |
55 | CTA Architects Engineers | 3,737,320 |
56 | Cambridge Seven Associates | 3,473,000 |
57 | PGAL | 3,260,300 |
58 | BLDD Architects | 3,000,000 |
59 | IBI Group ? Gruzen Samton | 3,000,000 |
60 | Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates | 2,974,000 |
61 | Slaterpaull Architects | 2,879,532 |
62 | Hord Coplan Macht | 2,843,072 |
63 | OZ Architecture | 2,825,000 |
64 | Kirksey | 2,822,225 |
65 | Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio | 2,801,380 |
66 | WDG Architecture | 2,757,000 |
67 | RS&H | 2,450,000 |
68 | SchenkelShultz Architecture | 2,386,000 |
69 | Payette | 2,282,352 |
70 | Corgan | 2,202,280 |
71 | Integrus Architecture | 2,191,762 |
72 | BLTa | 2,175,000 |
73 | H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture | 2,141,323 |
74 | WHR Architects | 1,958,367 |
75 | Baskervill | 1,853,208 |
76 | Ashley McGraw Architects | 1,836,510 |
77 | KZF Design | 1,698,300 |
78 | Eppstein Uhen Architects | 1,691,787 |
79 | VOA Associates | 1,628,847 |
80 | GWWO | 1,623,501 |
81 | Wight & Company | 1,586,000 |
82 | Hoffmann Architects | 1,548,000 |
83 | Symmes Maini & McKee Associates | 1,530,000 |
84 | PBK | 1,500,000 |
85 | NAC|Architecture | 1,424,431 |
86 | LaBella Associates | 1,310,186 |
87 | Niles Bolton Associates | 1,263,210 |
88 | Nelson | 1,213,987 |
89 | Fentress Architects | 1,120,400 |
90 | Urban Design Group | 1,100,000 |
91 | Environetics | 1,087,370 |
92 | NORR | 1,052,484 |
93 | Becker Morgan Group | 1,037,159 |
94 | Albert Kahn Associates | 904,065 |
95 | RTKL Associates | 849,000 |
96 | Good Fulton & Farrell | 815,800 |
97 | Goettsch Partners | 810,000 |
98 | BBS Architects | 800,240 |
99 | Commonwealth Architects | 775,074 |
100 | Francis Cauffman | 707,774 |
101 | RNL | 690,000 |
102 | RBB Architects | 657,149 |
103 | RSP Architects | 620,000 |
104 | Gresham, Smith and Partners | 567,000 |
105 | Fanning/Howey Associates | 541,000 |
106 | Rosser International | 539,460 |
107 | Harvard Jolly Architecture | 530,103 |
108 | DesignGroup | 457,970 |
109 | Hnedak Bobo Group | 353,000 |
110 | JRS Architect | 295,000 |
111 | Emersion Design | 273,766 |
112 | Ware Malcomb | 240,000 |
113 | H+L Architecture | 236,252 |
114 | Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates | 226,716 |
115 | Sherlock, Smith & Adams | 219,000 |
Top University Sector Engineering Firms
Rank | Company | 2013 Higher Ed Revenue |
1 | AECOM Technology Corp. | $76,410,000 |
2 | Jacobs | 35,150,000 |
3 | URS Corp. | 29,434,668 |
4 | Vanderweil Engineers | 26,614,500 |
5 | Burns & McDonnell | 24,152,332 |
6 | Affiliated Engineers | 22,469,000 |
7 | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 20,057,993 |
8 | STV | 18,416,000 |
9 | Arup | 14,561,909 |
10 | KJWW Engineering Consultants | 13,071,767 |
11 | BR+A Consulting Engineers | 10,120,000 |
12 | WSP Group | 9,120,000 |
13 | Simpson Gumpertz & Heger | 9,070,000 |
14 | Thornton Tomasetti | 7,942,631 |
15 | M-E Engineers | 7,243,000 |
16 | P2S Engineering | 7,170,208 |
17 | Shive-Hattery | 6,612,598 |
18 | Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates | 6,550,000 |
19 | Dewberry | 6,331,593 |
20 | Environmental Systems Design | 6,144,227 |
21 | RMF Engineering | 5,400,000 |
22 | AKF Group | 5,261,000 |
23 | Glumac | 4,922,565 |
24 | M/E Engineering | 4,699,367 |
25 | TTG | 4,600,100 |
26 | Newcomb & Boyd | 4,505,166 |
27 | RDK Engineers | 4,490,000 |
28 | Heapy Engineering | 4,426,631 |
29 | KCI Technologies | 4,400,000 |
30 | Interface Engineering | 4,351,590 |
31 | Joseph R. Loring & Associates | 4,100,000 |
32 | I. C. Thomasson Associates | 3,500,000 |
33 | Spectrum Engineers | 3,347,542 |
34 | Highland Associates | 3,200,000 |
35 | KPFF Consulting Engineers | 3,125,000 |
36 | Syska Hennessy Group | 3,072,512 |
37 | Ross & Baruzzini | 3,043,445 |
38 | H.F. Lenz | 2,878,115 |
39 | Rist-Frost-Shumway Engineering | 2,850,000 |
40 | Sparling | 2,553,080 |
41 | Smith Seckman Reid | 2,519,005 |
42 | Martin/Martin | 2,263,812 |
43 | Karpinski Engineering | 2,170,197 |
44 | Aon Fire Protection Engineering Corp. | 2,000,000 |
45 | Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber | 2,000,000 |
46 | SSOE Group | 1,912,012 |
47 | Henderson Engineers | 1,838,909 |
48 | TLC Engineering for Architecture | 1,806,782 |
49 | Zak Companies | 1,706,697 |
50 | Bridgers & Paxton Consulting Engineers | 1,686,953 |
51 | CJL Engineering | 1,657,350 |
52 | Graef | 1,584,321 |
53 | Primera Engineers | 1,456,000 |
54 | CCRD Partners | 1,388,000 |
55 | Brinjac Engineering | 1,303,855 |
56 | Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor | 1,200,000 |
57 | Wallace Engineering | 1,133,000 |
58 | Stanley Consultants | 1,090,529 |
59 | Leidos | 1,040,000 |
60 | Walter P Moore and Associates | 1,005,161 |
61 | Allen & Shariff | 1,000,000 |
62 | Dunham Associates | 950,000 |
63 | Bala Consulting Engineers | 926,000 |
64 | Degenkolb Engineers | 855,093 |
65 | OLA Consulting Engineers | 840,000 |
66 | Mazzetti | 774,981 |
67 | DeSimone Consulting Engineers | 474,096 |
68 | KLH Engineers | 468,745 |
69 | ThermalTech Engineering | 460,000 |
70 | French & Parrello Associates | 300,690 |
71 | GHT Limited | 260,000 |
72 | Wick Fisher White | 223,276 |
73 | CTLGroup | 220,000 |
74 | Davis, Bowen & Friedel | 204,422 |
75 | Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon | 200,000 |
76 | Magnusson Klemencic Associates | 166,730 |
77 | Coffman Engineers | 116,263 |
Top University Sector Construction Firms
Rank | Company | 2013 Higher Ed Revenue |
1 | Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., The | $818,698,552 |
2 | Turner Construction | 774,984,000 |
3 | Gilbane | 475,524,757 |
4 | Skanska USA | 371,024,162 |
5 | PCL Construction | 368,990,947 |
6 | Clark Group | 312,942,079 |
7 | Shawmut Design and Construction | 265,610,000 |
8 | Barton Malow | 264,908,516 |
9 | Structure Tone | 229,539,000 |
10 | Consigli Construction | 227,995,719 |
11 | Mortenson Construction | 220,320,000 |
12 | McCarthy Holdings | 203,600,000 |
13 | Sundt Construction | 185,867,366 |
14 | Holder Construction | 176,219,000 |
15 | Messer Construction | 172,997,147 |
16 | Balfour Beatty US | 171,519,250 |
17 | JE Dunn Construction | 164,791,311 |
18 | LeChase Construction Services | 164,000,000 |
19 | Walbridge | 163,500,000 |
20 | Power Construction | 159,000,000 |
21 | Beck Group, The | 157,055,739 |
22 | Suffolk Construction | 149,745,824 |
23 | Tutor Perini Corp. | 145,671,900 |
24 | DPR Construction | 140,724,634 |
25 | W. M. Jordan Company | 130,566,823 |
26 | C.W. Driver | 127,735,000 |
27 | Flintco | 113,500,000 |
28 | Walsh Group, The | 111,960,180 |
29 | Boldt Company, The | 107,802,444 |
30 | Brasfield & Gorrie | 107,242,213 |
31 | Juneau Construction | 97,432,186 |
32 | Manhattan Construction | 89,176,000 |
33 | Rodgers Builders | 88,744,572 |
34 | McGough | 82,000,000 |
35 | Summit Contracting Group | 80,286,141 |
36 | Choate Construction | 77,541,745 |
37 | Pepper Construction | 72,000,000 |
38 | Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction | 66,219,000 |
39 | Bernards | 66,000,000 |
40 | Hensel Phelps | 65,670,000 |
41 | O'Neil Industries/W.E. O'Neil | 65,552,134 |
42 | Kraus-Anderson Construction | 64,000,000 |
43 | Hunt Construction Group | 64,000,000 |
44 | B. L. Harbert International | 63,854,476 |
45 | Lend Lease | 56,720,000 |
46 | CORE Construction Group | 55,821,501 |
47 | Fortis Construction | 53,628,000 |
48 | Layton Construction | 52,600,000 |
49 | Paric Corp. | 50,000,000 |
50 | New South Construction | 47,702,000 |
51 | Hill & Wilkinson | 46,288,000 |
52 | Austin Commercial | 44,335,793 |
53 | Yates Companies, The | 42,800,000 |
54 | Bette Companies, The | 38,929,000 |
55 | Hoffman Construction | 37,000,000 |
56 | Coakley & Williams Construction | 32,064,969 |
57 | Adolfson & Peterson Construction | 30,713,572 |
58 | URS Corp. | 29,434,668 |
59 | James G. Davis Construction | 27,506,326 |
60 | Weitz Company, The | 26,478,980 |
61 | Bomel Construction | 24,949,344 |
62 | Linbeck Group | 24,410,000 |
63 | LPCiminelli | 23,426,935 |
64 | IMC Construction | 22,086,310 |
65 | Hill International | 22,000,000 |
66 | HITT Contracting | 20,900,000 |
67 | E.W. Howell | 20,566,000 |
68 | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 20,057,993 |
69 | STV | 18,416,000 |
70 | Stalco Construction | 17,780,000 |
71 | Haselden Construction | 17,425,677 |
72 | Kitchell Corp. | 13,043,551 |
73 | Hoar Construction | 12,920,000 |
74 | Batson-Cook | 12,513,549 |
75 | Absher Construction | 12,280,813 |
76 | S. M. Wilson & Co. | 10,863,488 |
77 | James McHugh Construction | 10,538,534 |
78 | Robins & Morton | 8,714,264 |
79 | Clune Construction | 8,635,947 |
80 | Haskell | 8,294,931 |
81 | Alberici Constructors | 7,380,631 |
82 | Heery International | 7,186,274 |
83 | Wight & Company | 4,935,000 |
84 | Gray Construction | 3,880,000 |
85 | Ryan Companies US | 3,715,948 |
86 | KBE Building Corp. | 2,694,826 |
87 | Leopardo Companies | 1,907,266 |
88 | Douglas Company, The | 1,507,502 |
89 | JLL | 1,375,045 |
90 | Astorino | 1,222,033 |
91 | Allen & Shariff | 1,000,000 |
Read BD+C's full 2014 Giants 300 Report
Related Stories
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 9, 2018
Work, park, live: Inside Cincinnati’s parking garage turned lifestyle hotel
The Summit hotel and conference center is a converted parking garage that was once a factory.
Architects | Jun 28, 2018
Designing successful maker spaces
The challenge is to design makerspaces that work, spaces that function as a tool for educators to produce better students.
Architects | Jun 27, 2018
Steven A. Lichtenberger joins Leo A Daly as President
He will lead the firm’s global planning, architecture, engineering, and interiors practice worldwide.
Accelerate Live! | Jun 24, 2018
Watch all 19 Accelerate Live! talks on demand
BD+C’s second annual Accelerate Live! AEC innovation conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago) featured talks on AI for construction scheduling, regenerative design, the micro-buildings movement, post-occupancy evaluation, predictive visual data analytics, digital fabrication, and more. Take in all 19 talks on demand.
Building Team | Jun 22, 2018
What owners should know before choosing the design-build project delivery method
Outside of drawing up a well-written contract, owners often overlook a key attribute that can significantly impact the success of a design-build project, writes Skanska’s Julie Hyson.
Architects | Jun 14, 2018
Chicago Architecture Center sets Aug. 31 as opening date
The Center is located at 111 E. Wacker Drive.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 13, 2018
Multifamily visionaries: KTGY’s extraordinary expectations
KTGY Architecture + Planning keeps pushing the boundaries of multifamily housing design in the U.S., Asia, and the Middle East.
| Jun 11, 2018
Accelerate Live! talk: Regenerative design — When sustainability is not enough
In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), HMC’s Eric Carbonnier poses the question: What if buildings could actually rejuvenate ecosystems?
| Jun 11, 2018
Accelerate Live! talk: The smart jobsite — Predictive visual data analytics for proactive project controls
In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), a trio of experts in predictive visual data analytics presents how design-build giant Clayco has leveraged this technology to achieve production efficiency on several construction sites.
| Jun 11, 2018
Accelerate Live! talk: Design innovation at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), AS+GG’s Anthony Viola takes us behind the magic curtain to illuminate the firm’s methods for nurturing design innovation.