Federal, state, and local government construction hasn’t exactly been a steamroller for the past few years, due to the end of stimulus availability and the ongoing effects of budget sequestration.
At press time, the most recent Commerce Department report indicated that government construction spending was up just under 1% in April, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $267 billion, despite overall economic contraction of about 1% in the first quarter. Federal construction spending was the growth leader, rising by 1.9% to a rate of $23.5 billion. State and local projects—a much larger piece of the public pie—were up just 0.7%, to $243.5 billion.
Among non-infrastructure public construction spending categories, healthcare (up 6%) and education (up 2%) appear most promising for this year, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors’ 2014 forecast.
Improving energy performance of existing properties through targeted upgrades—and, sometimes, large-scale reconstruction—continues to be a federal priority. Of 20 projects recently honored by the General Services Administration’s Design Awards program, half were reconstruction jobs, ranging from Beaux Arts courthouses to Modernist offices.
Along with the push for energy efficiency, federal agencies are increasingly exploring telework as an alternative to expanding office space. The bright side? Telecom and AV renovations will be required to help agencies keep off-site staff connected.
Many state and local governments continue to struggle with the sluggish overall economy, causing delays in needed construction. Among the discernible themes among state and local projects submitted to BD+C: new police facilities (designed to reflect changing ideas about community policing), replacement and upgraded courthouses, and mass-transit stations.
Top Government Sector Architecture Firms
| Rank | Company | 2013 Government Revenue |
| 1 | Stantec | $144,299,056 |
| 2 | Heery International | 125,058,364 |
| 3 | HOK | 114,753,666 |
| 4 | SmithGroupJJR | 83,064,158 |
| 5 | HDR | 81,601,164 |
| 6 | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill | 57,835,664 |
| 7 | SHW Group | 56,007,000 |
| 8 | Gensler | 52,272,600 |
| 9 | EYP Architecture & Engineering | 42,800,000 |
| 10 | RS&H | 39,200,000 |
| 11 | Page | 38,704,000 |
| 12 | Moseley Architects | 35,135,469 |
| 13 | Leo A Daly | 29,483,542 |
| 14 | Perkins+will | 28,975,375 |
| 15 | Clark Nexsen | 28,873,388 |
| 16 | ZGF Architects | 27,425,548 |
| 17 | CannonDesign | 27,000,000 |
| 18 | FreemanWhite | 25,941,154 |
| 19 | NBBJ | 19,382,000 |
| 20 | DLR Group | 19,300,000 |
| 21 | Hammel, Green and Abrahamson | 19,167,839 |
| 22 | EwingCole | 17,300,000 |
| 23 | HKS | 17,247,862 |
| 24 | PGAL | 16,097,917 |
| 25 | HNTB Corp. | 15,269,498 |
| 26 | Westlake Reed Leskosky | 15,049,000 |
| 27 | Quattrocchi Kwok Architects | 13,230,000 |
| 28 | Hoefer Wysocki Architecture | 12,860,000 |
| 29 | Fentress Architects | 12,160,971 |
| 30 | BLDD Architects | 11,800,000 |
| 31 | RTKL Associates | 11,469,000 |
| 32 | SchenkelShultz Architecture | 11,278,000 |
| 33 | NORR | 9,792,248 |
| 34 | LS3P | 8,882,375 |
| 35 | Morris Architects | 8,350,000 |
| 36 | Davis Brody Bond | 8,263,108 |
| 37 | LaBella Associates | 8,130,000 |
| 38 | CTA Architects Engineers | 8,014,884 |
| 39 | Beyer Blinder Belle | 7,947,688 |
| 40 | HMC Architects | 6,811,005 |
| 41 | VOA Associates | 6,808,200 |
| 42 | Parkhill, Smith & Cooper | 6,687,000 |
| 43 | Rosser International | 6,652,324 |
| 44 | LMN Architects | 6,388,100 |
| 45 | Sherlock, Smith & Adams | 6,388,000 |
| 46 | Becker Morgan Group | 6,343,277 |
| 47 | Flad Architects | 6,126,870 |
| 48 | KZF Design | 5,887,462 |
| 49 | Epstein | 5,402,000 |
| 50 | IBI Group ? Gruzen Samton | 5,000,000 |
| 51 | Solomon Cordwell Buenz | 4,500,000 |
| 52 | Goodwyn Mills & Cawood | 4,409,249 |
| 53 | Wight & Company | 4,402,093 |
| 54 | RSP Architects | 4,326,000 |
| 55 | Harley Ellis Devereaux | 4,310,000 |
| 56 | Carrier Johnson + Culture | 4,066,891 |
| 57 | BRPH | 3,957,000 |
| 58 | FGM Architects | 3,776,698 |
| 59 | Ennead Architects | 3,729,000 |
| 60 | RNL | 3,418,000 |
| 61 | WDG Architecture | 3,095,000 |
| 62 | Perkins Eastman | 3,000,000 |
| 63 | GWWO | 2,965,804 |
| 64 | Gresham, Smith and Partners | 2,787,930 |
| 65 | Integrus Architecture | 2,705,119 |
| 66 | Hoffmann Architects | 2,654,000 |
| 67 | Swanke Hayden Connell Architects | 2,534,000 |
| 68 | Ratio Architects | 2,462,355 |
| 69 | LPA | 2,205,538 |
| 70 | Emersion Design | 2,183,039 |
| 71 | Array Architects | 2,138,000 |
| 72 | WHR Architects | 2,076,445 |
| 73 | Cooper Carry | 1,987,669 |
| 74 | Little | 1,961,000 |
| 75 | Bergmann Associates | 1,941,360 |
| 76 | OZ Architecture | 1,724,680 |
| 77 | Legat Architects | 1,675,500 |
| 78 | LBL Architects | 1,600,000 |
| 79 | Schrader Group Architecture | 1,573,559 |
| 80 | Symmes Maini & McKee Associates | 1,563,000 |
| 81 | Good Fulton & Farrell | 1,373,500 |
| 82 | H+L Architecture | 1,295,496 |
| 83 | Harvard Jolly Architecture | 1,221,576 |
| 84 | Cambridge Seven Associates | 1,210,000 |
| 85 | FXFOWLE Architects | 1,180,000 |
| 86 | Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates | 1,128,560 |
| 87 | Moody Nolan | 1,083,924 |
| 88 | CO Architects | 1,031,600 |
| 89 | Shepley Bulfinch | 836,000 |
| 90 | Corgan | 762,894 |
| 91 | Cuningham Group Architecture | 742,891 |
| 92 | Lord Aeck Sargent | 742,273 |
| 93 | GBBN Architects | 660,000 |
| 94 | Nadel | 650,000 |
| 95 | Eppstein Uhen Architects | 640,751 |
| 96 | Commonwealth Architects | 599,591 |
| 97 | Hastings+Chivetta Architects | 491,188 |
| 98 | DesignGroup | 433,190 |
| 99 | Baskervill | 391,276 |
| 100 | Payette | 383,755 |
| 101 | Taylor Design | 372,052 |
| 102 | LawKingdon Architecture | 350,000 |
| 103 | Anderson Mikos Architects | 350,000 |
| 104 | NAC|Architecture | 345,476 |
| 105 | Environetics | 341,475 |
| 106 | Kirksey | 323,571 |
| 107 | H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture | 305,903 |
| 108 | Hnedak Bobo Group | 301,000 |
| 109 | TEG Architects | 235,686 |
| 110 | RBB Architects | 215,897 |
| 111 | BBS Architects | 200,030 |
| 112 | DLA Architects | 133,140 |
| 113 | Fanning/Howey Associates | 50,000 |
| 114 | BSA LifeStructures | 41,019 |
| 115 | ai Design Group | 33,048 |
Top Government Sector Engineering Firms
| Rank | Company | 2013 Government Revenue |
| 1 | Fluor Corporation | $2,675,202,710 |
| 2 | URS Corp. | 648,982,536 |
| 3 | AECOM Technology Corp. | 574,020,000 |
| 4 | Jacobs | 287,190,693 |
| 5 | STV | 168,948,000 |
| 6 | Burns & McDonnell | 99,462,332 |
| 7 | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 57,994,366 |
| 8 | Leidos | 55,125,000 |
| 9 | H&A Architects & Engineers | 38,735,000 |
| 10 | Allen & Shariff | 33,964,317 |
| 11 | Dewberry | 26,388,476 |
| 12 | Arup | 23,554,256 |
| 13 | Smith Seckman Reid | 19,741,666 |
| 14 | Simpson Gumpertz & Heger | 19,066,000 |
| 15 | Affiliated Engineers | 15,598,000 |
| 16 | Syska Hennessy Group | 12,155,407 |
| 17 | Thornton Tomasetti | 10,996,123 |
| 18 | Coffman Engineers | 10,676,374 |
| 19 | KPFF Consulting Engineers | 10,500,000 |
| 20 | RMF Engineering | 10,000,000 |
| 21 | Guernsey | 9,680,758 |
| 22 | Shive-Hattery | 9,029,738 |
| 23 | Walker Parking Consultants | 8,925,000 |
| 24 | Bridgers & Paxton Consulting Engineers | 8,780,161 |
| 25 | WSP Group | 8,060,000 |
| 26 | Interface Engineering | 6,809,917 |
| 27 | Glumac | 6,650,738 |
| 28 | Joseph R. Loring & Associates | 6,500,000 |
| 29 | Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates | 5,870,000 |
| 30 | TTG | 5,811,850 |
| 31 | Graef | 5,387,348 |
| 32 | KJWW Engineering Consultants | 5,191,493 |
| 33 | TLC Engineering for Architecture | 5,134,526 |
| 34 | Heapy Engineering | 5,072,001 |
| 35 | Ross & Baruzzini | 4,975,183 |
| 36 | I. C. Thomasson Associates | 4,750,000 |
| 37 | KCI Technologies | 4,600,000 |
| 38 | Vanderweil Engineers | 4,565,800 |
| 39 | Degenkolb Engineers | 4,462,450 |
| 40 | GRW | 3,753,047 |
| 41 | Sparling | 3,690,424 |
| 42 | H.F. Lenz | 3,559,848 |
| 43 | Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon | 3,495,000 |
| 44 | SSOE Group | 3,332,408 |
| 45 | Newcomb & Boyd | 3,140,130 |
| 46 | M/E Engineering | 3,096,775 |
| 47 | Henderson Engineers | 2,989,363 |
| 48 | RDK Engineers | 2,880,000 |
| 49 | Apogee Consulting Group | 2,732,049 |
| 50 | Spectrum Engineers | 2,497,641 |
| 51 | Brinjac Engineering | 2,083,384 |
| 52 | M-E Engineers | 2,000,000 |
| 53 | Davis, Bowen & Friedel | 1,610,242 |
| 54 | Walter P Moore and Associates | 1,441,663 |
| 55 | Rist-Frost-Shumway Engineering | 1,350,000 |
| 56 | CTLGroup | 1,330,000 |
| 57 | GHT Limited | 1,300,000 |
| 58 | French & Parrello Associates | 1,213,200 |
| 59 | Dunham Associates | 1,200,000 |
| 60 | AKF Group | 1,186,000 |
| 61 | Highland Associates | 1,150,000 |
| 62 | Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor | 1,015,000 |
| 63 | Environmental Systems Design | 920,969 |
| 64 | BR+A Consulting Engineers | 920,000 |
| 65 | Aon Fire Protection Engineering Corp. | 918,914 |
| 66 | CJL Engineering | 870,000 |
| 67 | Mazzetti | 831,363 |
| 68 | Primera Engineers | 775,000 |
| 69 | ThermalTech Engineering | 750,000 |
| 70 | KLH Engineers | 480,951 |
| 71 | OLA Consulting Engineers | 262,000 |
| 72 | Zak Companies | 208,120 |
| 73 | Wick Fisher White | 195,530 |
| 74 | Wallace Engineering | 150,000 |
| 75 | Total Building Commissioning | 122,935 |
| 76 | G&W Engineering Corp. | 109,200 |
| 77 | P2S Engineering | 99,369 |
| 78 | DeSimone Consulting Engineers | 90,000 |
| 79 | Stanley Consultants | 74,747 |
| 80 | Integrated Design Group | 55,650 |
Top Government Sector Construction Firms
| Rank | Company | 2013 Government Revenue |
| 1 | Turner Construction | $2,343,544,729 |
| 2 | Clark Group | 2,342,085,755 |
| 3 | PCL Construction | 1,343,431,142 |
| 4 | Walsh Group, The | 1,188,110,497 |
| 5 | Hensel Phelps | 1,184,760,000 |
| 6 | Balfour Beatty US | 1,145,573,619 |
| 7 | Gilbane | 814,257,000 |
| 8 | Tutor Perini Corp. | 767,580,319 |
| 9 | McCarthy Holdings | 738,000,000 |
| 10 | Lend Lease | 551,622,000 |
| 11 | Skanska USA | 493,318,641 |
| 12 | Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., The | 455,618,872 |
| 13 | Brasfield & Gorrie | 379,267,063 |
| 14 | JE Dunn Construction | 321,764,977 |
| 15 | Hunt Construction Group | 277,300,000 |
| 16 | Mortenson Construction | 178,340,000 |
| 17 | STV | 168,948,000 |
| 18 | Hunt Companies | 154,387,811 |
| 19 | Sundt Construction | 153,006,199 |
| 20 | HITT Contracting | 145,900,000 |
| 21 | O'Neil Industries/W.E. O'Neil | 142,005,318 |
| 22 | CORE Construction Group | 135,900,848 |
| 23 | Manhattan Construction | 126,300,000 |
| 24 | Heery International | 125,058,364 |
| 25 | W. M. Jordan Company | 117,481,667 |
| 26 | Yates Companies, The | 111,200,000 |
| 27 | Holder Construction | 110,063,000 |
| 28 | Flintco | 106,026,635 |
| 29 | Hoffman Construction | 84,474,600 |
| 30 | Messer Construction | 79,799,220 |
| 31 | B. L. Harbert International | 74,365,423 |
| 32 | Consigli Construction | 74,312,383 |
| 33 | James G. Davis Construction | 72,010,706 |
| 34 | Suffolk Construction | 67,717,700 |
| 35 | DPR Construction | 65,709,181 |
| 36 | Coakley & Williams Construction | 61,953,906 |
| 37 | C.W. Driver | 58,850,000 |
| 38 | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 57,994,366 |
| 39 | Ryan Companies US | 57,693,535 |
| 40 | Fortis Construction | 52,585,000 |
| 41 | Shawmut Design and Construction | 49,000,000 |
| 42 | Leopardo Companies | 47,786,003 |
| 43 | Bernards | 46,000,000 |
| 44 | Swinerton Builders | 45,394,000 |
| 45 | Walbridge | 41,300,000 |
| 46 | Hill International | 41,000,000 |
| 47 | Power Construction | 39,000,000 |
| 48 | Kitchell Corp. | 38,162,513 |
| 49 | KBE Building Corp. | 37,661,458 |
| 50 | Beck Group, The | 36,300,176 |
| 51 | Allen & Shariff | 33,964,317 |
| 52 | Barton Malow | 33,108,673 |
| 53 | Wight & Company | 32,543,000 |
| 54 | Haselden Construction | 32,300,743 |
| 55 | Absher Construction | 31,202,850 |
| 56 | Structure Tone | 29,981,000 |
| 57 | Hoar Construction | 29,474,000 |
| 58 | Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction | 29,000,000 |
| 59 | New South Construction | 28,999,000 |
| 60 | Haskell | 28,573,183 |
| 61 | S. M. Wilson & Co. | 28,521,558 |
| 62 | Robins & Morton | 28,415,079 |
| 63 | Harkins Builders | 28,400,000 |
| 64 | EMJ Corp. | 21,000,000 |
| 65 | LeChase Construction Services | 19,680,000 |
| 66 | Bomel Construction | 19,327,000 |
| 67 | Layton Construction | 17,900,000 |
| 68 | Adolfson & Peterson Construction | 17,884,760 |
| 69 | McShane Companies, The | 17,672,043 |
| 70 | BlueScope Construction | 14,554,879 |
| 71 | Juneau Construction | 11,405,546 |
| 72 | Hill & Wilkinson | 10,864,000 |
| 73 | E.W. Howell | 9,541,000 |
| 74 | James McHugh Construction | 8,334,048 |
| 75 | Choate Construction | 7,670,062 |
| 76 | Weitz Company, The | 6,600,000 |
| 77 | JLL | 6,000,000 |
| 78 | Stalco Construction | 5,620,500 |
| 79 | LPCiminelli | 4,790,613 |
| 80 | Kraus-Anderson Construction | 3,000,000 |
| 81 | Bette Companies, The | 2,697,000 |
| 82 | Astorino | 2,384,468 |
| 83 | Batson-Cook | 1,390,120 |
| 84 | Graycor | 1,152,668 |
| 85 | Alberici Constructors | 1,080,320 |
| 86 | Paric Corp. | 1,000,000 |
| 87 | IMC Construction | 75,000 |
Read BD+C's full 2014 Giants 300 Report
Related Stories
Student Housing | Feb 19, 2024
UC Law San Francisco’s newest building provides student housing at below-market rental rates
Located in San Francisco’s Tenderloin and Civic Center neighborhoods, UC Law SF’s newest building helps address the city’s housing crisis by providing student housing at below-market rental rates. The $282 million, 365,000-sf facility at 198 McAllister Street enables students to live on campus while also helping to regenerate the neighborhood.
MFPRO+ News | Feb 15, 2024
UL Solutions launches indoor environmental quality verification designation for building construction projects
UL Solutions recently launched UL Verified Healthy Building Mark for New Construction, an indoor environmental quality verification designation for building construction projects.
MFPRO+ News | Feb 15, 2024
Nine states pledge to transition to heat pumps for residential HVAC and water heating
Nine states have signed a joint agreement to accelerate the transition to residential building electrification by significantly expanding heat pump sales to meet heating, cooling, and water heating demand. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by directors of environmental agencies from California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island.
MFPRO+ News | Feb 15, 2024
Oregon, California, Maine among states enacting policies to spur construction of missing middle housing
Although the number of new apartment building units recently reached the highest point in nearly 50 years, construction of duplexes, triplexes, and other buildings of from two to nine units made up just 1% of new housing units built in 2022. A few states have recently enacted new laws to spur more construction of these missing middle housing options.
Green | Feb 15, 2024
FEMA issues guidance on funding for net zero buildings
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently unveiled new guidance on additional assistance funding for net zero buildings. The funding is available for implementing net-zero energy projects with a tie to disaster recovery or mitigation.
Hospital Design Trends | Feb 14, 2024
Plans for a massive research hospital in Dallas anticipates need for child healthcare
Children’s Health and the UT Southwestern Medical Center have unveiled their plans for a new $5 billion pediatric health campus and research hospital on more than 33 acres within Dallas’ Southwestern Medical District.
Architects | Feb 13, 2024
Pierluca Maffey joins Carrier Johnson + Culture as new Firmwide Head of Design
Carrier Johnson + Culture (CJ+C) has hired Pierluca “Luca” Maffey, International Assoc. AIA, as the firm's new Firmwide Head of Design and Design Principal.
K-12 Schools | Feb 13, 2024
K-12 school design trends for 2024: health, wellness, net zero energy
K-12 school sector experts are seeing “healthiness” for schools expand beyond air quality or the ease of cleaning interior surfaces. In this post-Covid era, “healthy” and “wellness” are intersecting expectations that, for many school districts, encompass the physical and mental wellbeing of students and teachers, greater access to outdoor spaces for play and learning, and the school’s connection to its community as a hub and resource.
Office Buildings | Feb 13, 2024
Creating thoughtful tech workplace design
It’s important for office design to be inspiring, but there are some practical principles that can be incorporated into the design of real-world tech workplaces to ensure they convey an exciting, sophisticated allure that accommodates progressive thinking and inventiveness.
Airports | Feb 13, 2024
New airport terminal by KPF aims to slash curb-to-gate walking time for passengers
The new Terminal A at Zayed International Airport in the United Arab Emirates features an efficient X-shape design with an average curb-to-gate walking time of just 12 minutes. The airport terminal was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), with Arup and Naco as engineering leads.
