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
Adaptive Reuse | Sep 12, 2024
White paper on office-to-residential conversions released by IAPMO
IAPMO has published a new white paper titled “Adaptive Reuse: Converting Offices to Multi-Residential Family,” a comprehensive analysis of addressing housing shortages through the conversion of office spaces into residential units.
Mixed-Use | Sep 10, 2024
Centennial Yards, a $5 billion mixed-use development in downtown Atlanta, tops out its first residential tower
Centennial Yards Company has topped out The Mitchell, the first residential tower of Centennial Yards, a $5 billion mixed-use development in downtown Atlanta. Construction of the apartment building is expected to be complete by the middle of next year, with first move-ins slated for summer 2025.
Healthcare Facilities | Sep 9, 2024
Exploring the cutting edge of neuroscience facility design
BWBR Communications Specialist Amanda Fisher shares the unique considerations and challenges of designing neuroscience facilities.
Office Buildings | Sep 6, 2024
Fact sheet outlines benefits, challenges of thermal energy storage for commercial buildings
A U.S. Dept. of Energy document discusses the benefits and challenges of thermal energy storage for commercial buildings. The document explains how the various types of thermal energy storage technologies work, where their installation is most beneficial, and some practical considerations around installations.
Office Buildings | Sep 5, 2024
Office space downsizing trend appears to be past peak
The office downsizing trend may be past its peak, according to a CBRE survey of 225 companies with offices in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. Just 37% of companies plan to shrink their office space this year compared to 57% last year, the survey found.
University Buildings | Sep 4, 2024
UC San Diego’s new Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building will support research and teaching in both health and biological sciences
The University of California San Diego has approved plans for a new Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building, with construction starting this fall. The 200,000-sf, six-level facility will be the first building on the UC San Diego campus to bridge health science research with biological science research and teaching.
Codes and Standards | Sep 3, 2024
Atlanta aims to crack down on blighted properties with new tax
A new Atlanta law is intended to crack down on absentee landlords including commercial property owners and clean up neglected properties. The “Blight Tax” allows city officials to put levies on blighted property owners up to 25 times higher than current millage rates.
Resiliency | Sep 3, 2024
Phius introduces retrofit standard for more resilient buildings
Phius recently released, REVIVE 2024, a retrofit standard for more resilient buildings. The standard focuses on resilience against grid outages by ensuring structures remain habitable for at least a week during extreme weather events.
Construction Costs | Sep 2, 2024
Construction material decreases level out, but some increases are expected to continue for the balance Q3 2024
The Q3 2024 Quarterly Construction Insights Report from Gordian examines the numerous variables that influence material pricing, including geography, global events and commodity volatility. Gordian and subject matter experts examine fluctuations in costs, their likely causes, and offer predictions about where pricing is likely to go from here. Here is a sampling of the report’s contents.
Adaptive Reuse | Aug 29, 2024
More than 1.2 billion sf of office space have strong potential for residential conversion
More than 1.2 billion sf of U.S. office space—14.8% of the nation’s total—have strong potential for conversion to residential use, according to real estate software and services firm Yardi. Yardi’s new Conversion Feasibility Index scores office buildings on their suitability for multifamily conversion.
