Demand for data centers is “exploding,” says Raj Gupta, PE, LEED AP, CEO of Environmental Systems Design and emeritus member of BD+C’s Editorial Board. According to Gartner Inc., in 2010, 2% of data centers contained 52% of total data center floor space and accounted for 63% of data center hardware spending.
In 2015, 2% of data centers will contain 60% of data center floor space and account for 71% of data center hardware spending.
“Traditional in-house enterprise data centers are under attack,” says Jon Hardcastle, Gartner’s research director. Virtualization technologies are helping companies to utilize their infrastructure more effectively, and data centers are getting more efficient. The move to consolidated third-party data centers is trimming the total number of midsize facilities, while large data centers are benefitting from the rise of cloud computing. +
TOP 25 DATA CENTER SECTOR ARCHITECTURE FIRMS
| Rank | Company | 2011 Data Center Revenue ($) |
| 1 | Corgan Associates | 22,854,000 |
| 2 | Gensler | 20,100,000 |
| 3 | HDR Architecture | 16,000,000 |
| 4 | LEO A DALY | 14,753,871 |
| 5 | PageSoutherlandPage | 12,890,000 |
| 6 | Integrated Design Group | 11,436,000 |
| 7 | Reynolds, Smith and Hills | 4,200,000 |
| 8 | RTKL Associates | 3,840,295 |
| 9 | CTA Architects Engineers | 3,787,800 |
| 10 | EwingCole | 3,000,000 |
| 11 | SMMA|Symmes Maini & McKee Associates | 2,123,426 |
| 12 | HLW International | 1,900,000 |
| 13 | Fentress Architects | 1,456,103 |
| 14 | Kirksey Architecture | 1,379,269 |
| 15 | PGAL | 1,096,000 |
| 16 | Heery International | 808,000 |
| 17 | Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber | 600,000 |
| 18 | Harley Ellis Devereaux | 600,000 |
| 19 | IBI Group | 563,474 |
| 20 | H+L Architecture | 537,059 |
| 21 | Ware Malcomb | 515,000 |
| 22 | Solomon Cordwell Buenz | 500,000 |
| 23 | HOK | 426,798 |
| 24 | Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio | 350,000 |
| 25 | Gresham, Smith and Partners | 234,347 |
TOP 25 DATA CENTER SECTOR ENGINEERING FIRMS
| Rank | Company | 2011 Data Center Revenue ($) |
| 1 | Fluor Corp. | 212,484,600 |
| 2 | Jacobs | 119,930,000 |
| 3 | Syska Hennessy Group | 43,577,806 |
| 4 | URS Corp. | 34,475,000 |
| 5 | Merrick & Co. | 31,500,000 |
| 6 | AKF Group | 10,500,000 |
| 7 | Atkins North America | 10,035,923 |
| 8 | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 7,400,000 |
| 9 | Eaton Energy Solutions | 6,169,598 |
| 10 | KPFF Consulting Engineers | 5,000,000 |
| 11 | H.F. Lenz Co. | 4,741,000 |
| 12 | Burns & McDonnell | 4,500,000 |
| 13 | Stantec | 4,230,000 |
| 14 | Glumac | 4,196,563 |
| 15 | Science Applications International Corp. | 3,950,000 |
| 16 | Zak Companies | 3,043,228 |
| 17 | Michael Baker Jr., Inc | 2,970,000 |
| 18 | R.G. Vanderweil Engineers | 2,830,900 |
| 19 | RMF Engineering | 2,500,000 |
| 20 | ESD|Environmental Systems Design | 2,450,000 |
| 21 | H&A Architects & Engineers | 2,300,000 |
| 22 | RDK Engineers | 2,245,000 |
| 23 | Guernsey | 2,041,552 |
| 24 | Middough | 1,750,000 |
| 25 | M+W U.S. | 1,654,867 |
TOP 25 DATA CENTER SECTOR CONSTRUCTION FIRMS
| Rank | Company | 2011 Data Center Revenue ($) |
| 1 | Holder Construction | 1,293,000,000 |
| 2 | DPR Construction | 666,292,020 |
| 3 | Turner Corporation, The | 434,435,518 |
| 4 | Whiting-Turner Contracting, The | 393,539,085 |
| 5 | Skanska USA | 369,889,632 |
| 6 | Mortenson Construction | 304,900,000 |
| 7 | Balfour Beatty US | 277,879,080 |
| 8 | Structure Tone | 259,250,000 |
| 9 | Jacobs | 119,930,000 |
| 10 | Gilbane Building | 104,166,000 |
| 11 | JE Dunn Construction | 89,426,706 |
| 12 | Weitz Co., The | 71,442,860 |
| 13 | James G. Davis Construction | 60,000,000 |
| 14 | Hensel Phelps Construction | 50,360,000 |
| 15 | Messer Construction | 49,404,845 |
| 16 | Hoffman Corp. | 46,541,098 |
| 17 | Manhattan Construction Group | 44,196,000 |
| 18 | Brasfield & Gorrie | 34,612,782 |
| 19 | URS Corp. | 34,475,000 |
| 20 | Sundt Construction | 28,801,944 |
| 21 | Kitchell | 24,310,000 |
| 22 | Ryan Companies US | 23,664,942 |
| 23 | Harkins Builders | 21,000,000 |
| 24 | McShane Companies, The | 20,000,000 |
| 25 | Yates Companies., The | 20,000,000 |
Related Stories
Mass Timber | Jan 27, 2023
How to set up your next mass timber construction project for success
XL Construction co-founder Dave Beck shares important preconstruction steps for designing and building mass timber buildings.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Jan 26, 2023
Miami’s motorsport ‘country club’ to build sleek events center
Designed by renowned Italian design firm Pininfarina and with Revuelta as architect, The Event Campus at The Concours Club will be the first and only motorsport-based event campus located within minutes of a major metro area.
Student Housing | Jan 26, 2023
6 ways 'choice architecture' enhances student well-being in residence halls
The environments we build and inhabit shape our lives and the choices we make. NAC Architecture's Lauren Scranton shares six strategies for enhancing well-being in residence halls.
K-12 Schools | Jan 25, 2023
As gun incidents grow, schools have beefed up security significantly in recent years
Recently released federal data shows that U.S. schools have significantly raised security measures in recent years. About two-thirds of public schools now control access to school grounds—not just the building—up from about half in the 2017-18 school year.
AEC Tech Innovation | Jan 24, 2023
ConTech investment weathered last year’s shaky economy
Investment in construction technology (ConTech) hit $5.38 billion last year (less than a 1% falloff compared to 2021) from 228 deals, according to CEMEX Ventures’ estimates. The firm announced its top 50 construction technology startups of 2023.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Jan 24, 2023
Nashville boasts the largest soccer-specific stadium in the U.S. and Canada
At 30,105 seats and 530,000 sf, GEODIS Park, which opened in 2022, is the largest soccer-specific stadium in the U.S. and Canada. Created by design firms Populous and HASTINGS in collaboration with the Metro Nashville Sports Authority, GEODIS Park serves as the home of the Nashville Soccer Club as well as a venue for performances and events.
Concrete | Jan 24, 2023
Researchers investigate ancient Roman concrete to make durable, lower carbon mortar
Researchers have turned to an ancient Roman concrete recipe to develop more durable concrete that lasts for centuries and can potentially reduce the carbon impact of the built environment.
Architects | Jan 23, 2023
PSMJ report: The fed’s wrecking ball is hitting the private construction sector
Inflation may be starting to show some signs of cooling, but the Fed isn’t backing down anytime soon and the impact is becoming more noticeable in the architecture, engineering, and construction (A/E/C) space. The overall A/E/C outlook continues a downward trend and this is driven largely by the freefall happening in key private-sector markets.
Multifamily Housing | Jan 23, 2023
Long Beach, Calif., office tower converted to market rate multifamily housing
A project to convert an underperforming mid-century office tower in Long Beach, Calif., created badly needed market rate housing with a significantly lowered carbon footprint. The adaptive reuse project, composed of 203,177 sf including parking, created 106 apartment units out of a Class B office building that had been vacant for about 10 years.
Hotel Facilities | Jan 23, 2023
U.S. hotel construction pipeline up 14% to close out 2022
At the end of 2022’s fourth quarter, the U.S. construction pipeline was up 14% by projects and 12% by rooms year-over-year, according to Lodging Econometrics.
