Many firms that do office design and construction stayed afloat during the recession with modest projects—fit-outs, renovations, targeted green retrofits. But the sector’s finally heating up.
Commercial Realtors recently reported an increase in annual gross income for the third year in a row (www.BDCnetwork.com/Realtors2013). Jones Lang LaSalle’s latest office forecast pegged more than a dozen metros as being in “a rising phase,” including Austin, Dallas, Boston, Denver, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and New York (http://bit.ly/JLLOffice13).
Though speculative projects still lag, corporate HQs and medical office buildings are moving ahead. “The medical office building of the future can accommodate much of what was done in a traditional hospital setting,” says Steve Straus, President of Glumac. “Some of our clients have bold ambitions, including net-zero.”
TOP OFFICE SECTOR ARCHITECTURE FIRMS
2012 Office Revenue ($)1 Gensler $462,700,5002 HOK $128,726,0003 Perkins+Will $107,951,6724 NBBJ $64,002,0005 Stantec $62,500,2366 PageSoutherlandPage $43,190,0007 Heery International $39,443,9318 Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates $38,081,0009 RTKL Associates $37,474,00010 Hammel, Green and Abrahamson $37,307,000
TOP OFFICE SECTOR ENGINEERING FIRMS
2012 Office Revenue ($)1 AECOM Technology Corp. $830,320,0002 Parsons Brinckerhoff $146,400,0003 Jacobs Engineering Group $95,180,0004 Burns & McDonnell $82,020,0005 Thornton Tomasetti $50,861,4676 Michael Baker Jr. $50,720,0007 WSP USA $48,500,1628 Arup $32,355,6079 Buro Happold Consulting Engineers $28,720,00010 AKF Group $26,917,000
TOP OFFICE SECTOR CONSTRUCTION FIRMS
2012 Office Revenue ($)1 Turner Corporation, The $2,195,790,0002 Structure Tone $1,435,332,0003 PCL Construction Enterprises $1,409,212,7274 Clark Group $974,974,0665 Skanska USA $847,106,2426 Balfour Beatty $792,915,5767 Gilbane $690,915,0008 JE Dunn Construction $613,825,5639 James G Davis Construction $575,006,00010 HITT Contracting $535,524,009
On the West Coast, tech firms are creating eye-popping campuses, including NBBJ projects for Amazon (Seattle, 3.3 million sf); Samsung (San Jose, 1.1 million sf, with Arup); and Google (Mountain View, Calif., 1 million sf). Facebook tapped Frank Gehry to design its 420,000-sf Facebook West in Menlo Park, Calif., and Foster + Partners is designing Apple’s 2.8 million-sf, net-zero Campus 2 in Cupertino (to be built by DPR-Skanska.)
Bleeding-edge companies seek the latest in social engineering and sustainability, but they’re not alone in believing that generational and technological trends justify a reboot in office design. “The relevance of ‘the office’ is in question,” says Steve Hart, Director of Interior Design at Heery. “Why are you even in an office? We believe the office needs to help individuals feel connected to the company and support a common sense of purpose.”
Read BD+C's full Giants 300 Report
Related Stories
Cultural Facilities | Jul 16, 2015
Louisville group plans to build world's largest disco ball
The sphere would more than double the size of the current record holder.
Education Facilities | Jul 14, 2015
Chile selects architects for Subantarctic research center
Promoting ecological tourism is one of this facility’s goals
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 14, 2015
New city-modeling software quantifies the movement of urban dwellers
UNA for Rhino 3D helps determine the impact that urban design can have on where pedestrians go.
Industrial Facilities | Jul 14, 2015
Tesla may seek to double size of Gigafactory in Nevada
Tesla Motors purchased an additional 1,200 acres next to the Gigafactory and is looking to buy an additional 350 acres.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 14, 2015
Nation’s first 'drone park' breaks ground in North Dakota
This is one of six testing sites around the country that are developing flight standards and evaluating the utility of drones for different tasks.
Sponsored | Building Team | Jul 10, 2015
Are you the wrong type of ‘engaged’ leader?
Much of what’s written about employee engagement focuses on how leaders can help their employees become more involved at work. But what about the leaders themselves?
Architects | Jul 9, 2015
NCARB: Record number of aspiring architects on path toward licensure
More than 37,170 design professionals either reported hours through the Intern Development Program or tested for the Architect Registration Examination last year, according to a new NCARB report.
Architects | Jul 7, 2015
Why AEC firms should be cultivating 'visible experts'
A new study pinpoints the true dollar value of having knowledge leaders and market shapers on your team.
Green | Jul 7, 2015
Philips sheds new light on growing fresh food indoors
A research center in The Netherlands is testing the latest techniques in urban farming.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 6, 2015
BIM/VDC training is more than learning the features
Training can be a taxing experience for both the class and the instructor. CASE's Nathan Miller offers four ways to make training more relevant to practitioners.
