The office market continues to improve, with many projects in development. Rents are rising as vacancy decreases, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s 2014 U.S. Office Outlook (http://bit.ly/1ildrS7). Dozens of markets are classified as experiencing a “rising phase” (among them, Phoenix, Chicago, Salt Lake City, and Atlanta), while Dallas, Houston, San Francisco, and the Silicon Valley are believed to be peaking.
New-construction leaders include Houston and New York City, and even in calmer markets, AEC firms are busy with workplace fitouts and renovations.
The adage “doing more with less” has become a byword for many businesses since the Great Recession, and clients are trying to maximize every precious inch. “Everyone is looking to use less space,” says Daniel P. Perruzzi, Jr., AIA, LEED AP, Principal at Boston-based Margulies Perruzzi Architects. “They’re looking at ways to modify their office and workplace standards so that they can fit into less.”
Hierarchical office assignments are becoming passé, as is the notion that people will stay in their cubicles for much of the day. “A lot of companies are going down to a single size for offices, so they’re not awarding that space on the basis of rank,” notes Perruzzi. “And as a rule, companies are looking to change the ratio between offices and open workstations. It’s all driven by collaboration.”
Non-assigned space concepts continue to gain popularity. Whether or not they’re actual telecommuters, workers on the move require well-considered accommodations, including easily accessible plug-ins for laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Says Perruzzi, “You have to think about the accommodations both technically and physically. Workers want to be able to plug in their devices and see their desktop no matter which workstation they’re using.”
Analyses by experts like CoreNet Global indicate that space per worker may drop below 100 sf within five years. Perruzzi says workstations won’t necessarily keep shrinking but will likely keep reducing in number. Margulies Perruzzi’s design for Philips North America’s first Workplace Innovation Center involved no private offices and 200 physical workstations for about 260 employees. Called “free addressing,” the plan allows employees to migrate from desk to desk while reducing the number of empty spots left by workers who are off-site.
Says Perruzzi: “There’s no such thing as an individual contributor anymore. It’s about people working in teams that change on a regular basis, are very dynamic, and need constant access to each other.”
Top Office Sector Architecture Firms
Rank | Company | 2013 Office Revenue |
1 | Gensler | $472,552,752 |
2 | HOK | 141,723,793 |
3 | Perkins+will | 112,815,842 |
4 | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill | 83,599,900 |
5 | NBBJ | 64,107,000 |
6 | Stantec | 62,594,213 |
7 | ZGF Architects | 43,902,072 |
8 | Page | 37,460,000 |
9 | Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates | 36,176,000 |
10 | Nelson | 36,089,550 |
11 | SmithGroupJJR | 35,614,366 |
12 | Hammel, Green and Abrahamson | 33,267,365 |
13 | RTKL Associates | 30,705,000 |
14 | EYP Architecture & Engineering | 30,000,000 |
15 | CannonDesign | 29,000,000 |
16 | HKS | 26,255,885 |
17 | Corgan | 24,977,990 |
18 | HDR | 24,700,000 |
19 | RSP Architects | 23,106,000 |
20 | Leo A Daly | 20,101,466 |
21 | Heery International | 20,011,958 |
22 | LS3P | 17,522,964 |
23 | Ware Malcomb | 17,500,000 |
24 | Kirksey | 15,989,864 |
25 | LPA | 15,875,503 |
26 | Perkins Eastman | 15,000,000 |
27 | NORR | 14,244,421 |
28 | Goettsch Partners | 12,070,000 |
29 | VOA Associates | 11,040,757 |
30 | Epstein | 10,752,000 |
31 | CTA Architects Engineers | 10,438,159 |
32 | Margulies Perruzzi Architects | 10,191,746 |
33 | Cuningham Group Architecture | 10,068,814 |
34 | BRPH | 9,906,000 |
35 | DLR Group | 9,800,000 |
36 | Environetics | 9,612,351 |
37 | Vocon | 9,203,152 |
38 | RNL | 8,941,000 |
39 | Gresham, Smith and Partners | 8,768,000 |
40 | Ziegler Cooper | 8,676,816 |
41 | Davis Brody Bond | 8,369,474 |
42 | FXFOWLE Architects | 7,880,000 |
43 | Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture | 7,750,000 |
44 | Clark Nexsen | 7,707,493 |
45 | LMN Architects | 7,368,900 |
46 | Little | 7,253,565 |
47 | Cooper Carry | 7,227,738 |
48 | Symmes Maini & McKee Associates | 6,490,000 |
49 | WDG Architecture | 5,844,000 |
50 | Solomon Cordwell Buenz | 5,300,000 |
51 | Carrier Johnson + Culture | 5,118,818 |
52 | Swanke Hayden Connell Architects | 4,990,000 |
53 | Eppstein Uhen Architects | 4,972,955 |
54 | Fentress Architects | 4,551,790 |
55 | Francis Cauffman | 4,187,463 |
56 | Wight & Company | 3,683,000 |
57 | Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates | 3,653,284 |
58 | OZ Architecture | 3,625,600 |
59 | GBBN Architects | 3,540,500 |
60 | Callison | 3,481,227 |
61 | HMC Architects | 3,388,658 |
62 | Albert Kahn Associates | 3,297,848 |
63 | Baskervill | 3,226,678 |
64 | Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio | 3,120,000 |
65 | Montroy Andersen DeMarco | 3,107,000 |
66 | Goodwyn Mills & Cawood | 2,932,849 |
67 | Good Fulton & Farrell | 2,928,000 |
68 | JRS Architect | 2,850,000 |
69 | HNTB Corp. | 2,793,299 |
70 | Ratio Architects | 2,720,819 |
71 | Inventure Design Group | 2,711,701 |
72 | ai Design Group | 2,663,516 |
73 | KZF Design | 2,544,819 |
74 | EwingCole | 2,510,000 |
75 | RS&H | 2,450,000 |
76 | Integrus Architecture | 2,410,899 |
77 | MulvannyG2 Architecture | 2,200,000 |
78 | Wilson Architects | 2,200,000 |
79 | Rosser International | 1,921,665 |
80 | Hoffmann Architects | 1,602,000 |
81 | Beyer Blinder Belle | 1,496,952 |
82 | LaBella Associates | 1,493,586 |
83 | Hnedak Bobo Group | 1,339,000 |
84 | Commonwealth Architects | 1,212,741 |
85 | Hord Coplan Macht | 1,113,153 |
86 | MBH Architects | 1,090,000 |
87 | PGAL | 1,074,700 |
88 | Nadel | 1,000,000 |
88 | Polytech Associates | 1,000,000 |
90 | P+R Architects | 982,666 |
91 | Parkhill, Smith & Cooper | 945,000 |
92 | Bergmann Associates | 939,420 |
93 | Niles Bolton Associates | 840,919 |
94 | Moseley Architects | 744,501 |
95 | Moody Nolan | 722,616 |
96 | H+L Architecture | 711,172 |
97 | EDI International | 630,916 |
98 | BLTa | 630,000 |
99 | H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture | 611,898 |
100 | Hoefer Wysocki Architecture | 605,000 |
101 | WATG | Wimberly Interiors | 568,000 |
102 | Cambridge Seven Associates | 460,000 |
103 | Morris Architects | 335,000 |
104 | Emersion Design | 332,073 |
105 | DLA Architects | 317,730 |
106 | BLDD Architects | 280,000 |
107 | Hastings+Chivetta Architects | 243,171 |
108 | DesignGroup | 242,580 |
109 | Sherlock, Smith & Adams | 235,000 |
110 | Slaterpaull Architects | 230,000 |
111 | FitzGerald Associates Architects | 210,500 |
112 | Poskanzer Skott | 200,000 |
113 | SchenkelShultz Architecture | 197,000 |
114 | PHX Architecture | 180,000 |
115 | FGM Architects | 179,784 |
116 | BSA LifeStructures | 174,437 |
Top Office Sector Engineering Firms
Rank | Company | 2013 Office Revenue |
1 | AECOM Technology Corp. | $964,240,000 |
2 | Jacobs | 504,890,000 |
3 | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 158,130,489 |
4 | Burns & McDonnell | 102,620,000 |
5 | Thornton Tomasetti | 63,427,107 |
6 | URS Corp. | 49,783,891 |
7 | WSP Group | 49,230,000 |
8 | Arup | 43,201,720 |
9 | H&A Architects & Engineers | 36,000,000 |
10 | Leidos | 28,150,000 |
11 | AKF Group | 27,835,000 |
12 | KPFF Consulting Engineers | 27,000,000 |
13 | Syska Hennessy Group | 26,817,533 |
14 | Magnusson Klemencic Associates | 16,437,499 |
15 | Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates | 14,220,000 |
16 | Glumac | 14,102,479 |
17 | Dewberry | 13,478,149 |
18 | Bala Consulting Engineers | 12,507,000 |
19 | Environmental Systems Design | 12,505,965 |
20 | RDK Engineers | 10,690,000 |
21 | Vanderweil Engineers | 10,533,700 |
22 | GHT Limited | 9,665,000 |
23 | Simpson Gumpertz & Heger | 7,430,000 |
24 | Allen & Shariff | 7,200,000 |
25 | KCI Technologies | 6,400,000 |
26 | Walter P Moore and Associates | 6,002,650 |
27 | Highland Associates | 6,000,000 |
28 | STV | 5,339,000 |
29 | DeSimone Consulting Engineers | 5,084,661 |
30 | Aon Fire Protection Engineering Corp. | 5,000,000 |
31 | Hixson Architecture, Engineering, Interiors | 5,000,000 |
32 | SSOE Group | 4,656,959 |
33 | H.F. Lenz | 4,362,698 |
34 | Joseph R. Loring & Associates | 4,000,000 |
35 | KLH Engineers | 3,875,841 |
36 | M-E Engineers | 3,863,000 |
37 | Newcomb & Boyd | 3,802,993 |
38 | Sparling | 3,799,152 |
39 | Bridgers & Paxton Consulting Engineers | 3,612,041 |
40 | Smith Seckman Reid | 3,508,905 |
41 | Affiliated Engineers | 3,104,000 |
42 | Interface Engineering | 2,946,713 |
43 | Martin/Martin | 2,793,639 |
44 | KJWW Engineering Consultants | 2,711,604 |
45 | I. C. Thomasson Associates | 2,600,000 |
46 | TLC Engineering for Architecture | 2,329,558 |
47 | Henderson Engineers | 2,269,347 |
48 | ThermalTech Engineering | 2,250,000 |
49 | Heapy Engineering | 2,145,190 |
50 | CJL Engineering | 1,878,330 |
51 | Dunham Associates | 1,750,000 |
52 | Wick Fisher White | 1,734,113 |
53 | Karpinski Engineering | 1,695,420 |
54 | Shive-Hattery | 1,581,161 |
55 | CTLGroup | 1,560,000 |
56 | Graef | 1,469,354 |
57 | Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor | 1,400,000 |
58 | OLA Consulting Engineers | 1,398,000 |
59 | TTG | 1,383,325 |
60 | Kamm Consulting | 1,344,151 |
61 | CCRD Partners | 1,270,000 |
62 | G&W Engineering Corp. | 1,091,000 |
63 | M/E Engineering | 1,034,842 |
64 | Brinjac Engineering | 1,032,104 |
65 | Coffman Engineers | 1,028,004 |
66 | Mazzetti | 1,013,140 |
67 | Rist-Frost-Shumway Engineering | 1,000,000 |
68 | Guernsey | 958,526 |
69 | Ross & Baruzzini | 828,783 |
70 | Apogee Consulting Group | 815,250 |
71 | GRW | 562,957 |
72 | CRB | 495,240 |
73 | Zak Companies | 458,187 |
74 | Davis, Bowen & Friedel | 331,004 |
75 | Wallace Engineering | 310,000 |
76 | French & Parrello Associates | 264,900 |
77 | Primera Engineers | 253,000 |
78 | RMF Engineering | 150,000 |
79 | Integrated Design Group | 137,118 |
80 | P2S Engineering | 135,228 |
81 | Spectrum Engineers | 85,926 |
82 | Stanley Consultants | 12,178 |
83 | Total Building Commissioning | 4,798 |
Top Office Sector Construction Firms
Rank | Company | 2013 Office Revenue |
1 | Turner Construction | $1,965,630,000 |
2 | Structure Tone | 1,770,996,000 |
3 | Balfour Beatty US | 1,083,107,816 |
4 | PCL Construction | 965,124,704 |
5 | Gilbane | 850,668,144 |
6 | Clark Group | 768,213,069 |
7 | Skanska USA | 756,888,741 |
8 | Hensel Phelps | 595,480,000 |
9 | Suffolk Construction | 575,149,178 |
10 | HITT Contracting | 510,600,000 |
11 | Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., The | 483,040,306 |
12 | Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction | 478,000,000 |
13 | Clayco | 474,300,000 |
14 | DPR Construction | 419,864,261 |
15 | James G. Davis Construction | 409,209,373 |
16 | Holder Construction | 375,561,000 |
17 | Clune Construction | 350,356,681 |
18 | Walsh Group, The | 330,591,769 |
19 | JE Dunn Construction | 319,712,834 |
20 | Tutor Perini Corp. | 299,785,799 |
21 | Plaza Construction | 281,000,000 |
22 | Brasfield & Gorrie | 255,289,660 |
23 | Lend Lease | 203,243,000 |
24 | Ryan Companies US | 198,980,348 |
25 | Manhattan Construction | 195,656,000 |
26 | Choate Construction | 176,908,443 |
27 | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 158,130,489 |
28 | McGough | 144,000,000 |
29 | Austin Commercial | 126,751,064 |
30 | Swinerton Builders | 125,070,000 |
31 | McShane Companies, The | 120,701,443 |
32 | Pepper Construction | 116,840,000 |
33 | Mortenson Construction | 114,140,000 |
34 | JLL | 107,497,010 |
35 | Linbeck Group | 105,400,000 |
36 | C.W. Driver | 102,470,000 |
37 | Shawmut Design and Construction | 93,000,000 |
38 | B. L. Harbert International | 92,475,153 |
39 | CORE Construction Group | 91,118,620 |
40 | Leopardo Companies | 90,583,950 |
41 | McCarthy Holdings | 84,700,000 |
42 | Consigli Construction | 82,688,033 |
43 | Messer Construction | 75,756,377 |
44 | Power Construction | 67,000,000 |
45 | Hoar Construction | 66,258,000 |
46 | Weitz Company, The | 65,679,309 |
47 | Robins & Morton | 64,633,817 |
48 | Sundt Construction | 63,414,544 |
49 | Beck Group, The | 61,444,072 |
50 | Hill International | 61,000,000 |
51 | Yates Companies, The | 50,000,000 |
52 | URS Corp. | 49,783,891 |
53 | Hunt Construction Group | 46,000,000 |
54 | Fortis Construction | 41,800,000 |
55 | Adolfson & Peterson Construction | 40,492,626 |
56 | LeChase Construction Services | 39,360,000 |
57 | Bomel Construction | 38,747,785 |
58 | Rodgers Builders | 37,126,784 |
59 | Paric Corp. | 35,000,000 |
60 | Haselden Construction | 30,679,991 |
61 | IMC Construction | 30,597,000 |
62 | Barton Malow | 28,706,771 |
63 | Haskell | 28,625,841 |
64 | Coakley & Williams Construction | 26,086,629 |
65 | New South Construction | 22,590,000 |
66 | Flintco | 22,000,000 |
67 | EMJ Corp. | 21,000,000 |
68 | Layton Construction | 20,800,000 |
69 | E.W. Howell | 20,491,000 |
70 | O'Neil Industries/W.E. O'Neil | 20,354,165 |
71 | Heery International | 20,011,958 |
72 | Kitchell Corp. | 19,231,158 |
73 | Hill & Wilkinson | 19,149,000 |
74 | Walbridge | 18,100,000 |
75 | Wight & Company | 16,827,000 |
76 | Harkins Builders | 16,300,000 |
77 | James McHugh Construction | 14,829,260 |
78 | Hoffman Construction | 14,000,000 |
79 | Kraus-Anderson Construction | 10,000,000 |
80 | Batson-Cook | 8,329,557 |
81 | Gray Construction | 7,600,000 |
82 | Stalco Construction | 7,380,000 |
83 | Allen & Shariff | 7,200,000 |
84 | Boldt Company, The | 7,044,051 |
85 | Bernards | 6,700,000 |
86 | W. M. Jordan Company | 6,575,178 |
87 | Graycor | 6,456,452 |
88 | KBE Building Corp. | 5,964,801 |
89 | STV | 5,339,000 |
90 | Weis Builders | 5,031,000 |
91 | Bette Companies, The | 4,834,000 |
92 | Alberici Constructors | 2,961,966 |
93 | Absher Construction | 2,256,599 |
94 | S. M. Wilson & Co. | 1,607,814 |
95 | Douglas Company, The | 1,479,136 |
96 | LPCiminelli | 1,349,300 |
97 | Astorino | 1,334,650 |
Read BD+C's full 2014 Giants 300 Report
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
AIA hires Worthen, Fitzgerald for sustainability, young architects initiatives
As part of an ongoing effort to bolster its education and outreach on sustainability, the American Institute of Architects has hired William J. Worthen, AIA, LEED AP, vice president of Simon & Associates (a green consulting firm) as Director and Resource Architect for Sustainability. The AIA has also hired Kevin A. Fitzgerald, AIA, a former associate with Robert AM Stern Architects, as a staff coordinator/team leader for several AIA committees devoted to young architects.
| Aug 11, 2010
Perkins+Will acquires Canadian firm Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners
Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners of Toronto, Ont., Canada, has been acquired by Perkins+Will, a global integrated design firm headquartered in Chicago. The merger marks Perkins+Will's 19th office in North America and its second in Canada.
| Aug 11, 2010
NBBJ and C.T. Hsu associates join forces for Florida healthcare market
NBBJ has entered into an exclusive alliance agreement with C.T. Hsu + Associates P.A. (CTHA) to provide world-class design/planning services for Florida's emerging healthcare and science facilities market. The alliance combines NBBJ's international reputation for the design and planning of healthcare and science & research facilities with CTHA's knowledge of community needs and established reputation for planning and design expertise in Central Florida.
| Aug 11, 2010
Minneapolis Public Housing authority, Honeywell launch energy retrofit program
Minneapolis Public Housing Authority and Honeywell today announced a $33.6-million energy efficiency and facility renewal program that will help the housing authority improve its infrastructure, reduce its impact on the environment, and save more than $3.7 million in utility costs per year. Local contractors will also complete a majority of the work for the program, one of the largest of its kind for a public housing authority, helping boost the Twin Cities job market.
| Aug 11, 2010
Shepley Bulfinch announces merger of Merzproject
National architecture firm Shepley Bulfinch of Boston and Merzproject of Phoenix today announced their merger. The merger unites Shepley Bulfinch, one of the country’s leading design firms, and Merzproject.
| Aug 11, 2010
Skanska Promotes Richard Kennedy to COO for NY/NJ Metro Area
Skanska USA Building Inc., headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., has announced that Richard Kennedy was promoted to Chief Operating Officer from his previous role as Senior Vice President – General Counsel. Kennedy’s promotion marks the latest addition to Skanska’s national leadership team.
| Aug 11, 2010
The New Yorker's David Owen: Why Manhattan is America's greenest community
David Owen is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of 14 books, most recently Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability, in which he argues that Manhattan is the greenest community in America. He graduated from Harvard and lives in Washington, Conn., where he chairs the town planning commission.
| Aug 11, 2010
Brown Craig Turner opens senior living studio
Baltimore-based architecture and design firm Brown Craig Turner has significantly expanded its housing design capabilities and expertise with the launch of its new senior living studio.
| Aug 11, 2010
George H. Miller, FAIA, inaugurated as 2010 AIA President
George H. Miller, FAIA, partner at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners LLP, was inaugurated as the 86th president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) during ceremonies held on December 4th.