After a long period of anemic performance, with growth mostly driven by renovations and additions, the K-12 sector is showing renewed interest in new construction. Consultant Paul Abramson, using data from Dun & Bradstreet, calculates that districts spent about $13.4 billion on construction projects in 2013, about $7.6 billion of which went for new schools (http://bit.ly/1kN4qkv).
Highest-spending regions included Texas-Louisiana-Oklahoma-Arkansas ($2.3 billion, or 17% of the nation’s K-12 total) and Arizona-California-Hawaii-Nevada ($1.68 billion). The lowest-spending regions included debt-plagued Illinois with neighboring states Minnesota and Wisconsin ($651 million) and Alaska-Idaho-Oregon-Washington ($558 million).
High schools are outpacing other K-12 facilities in construction spending, with the dollar value of projected 2014 starts at $4.15 billion, or 44% of the K-12 total. That’s followed by 33% for elementary schools, 23% for middle schools, and <1% for administrative and support projects.
Among the evident design trends: STEM morphing into STEAM with the addition of arts enrichment (sometimes with professional-quality performance spaces) to science, technology, engineering, and math schools; growing enthusiasm for vocational training facilities that provide an alternative to the traditional college prep path; and schools that do a better job of cementing community connections by leveraging local architectural themes.
The push for sustainable K-12 facilities also marches on; at high levels of green, the theme typically suffuses the pedagogy. Hood River (Ore.) Middle School’s Music and Science Building was recently certified net-zero energy by the International Living Future Institute, making it the first public school building to earn the tough-to-achieve designation.
Top K-12 School Sector Architecture Firms
| Rank | Company | 2013 K-12 Revenue |
| 1 | DLR Group | $41,000,000 |
| 2 | SHW Group | 40,016,000 |
| 3 | PBK | 35,880,000 |
| 4 | HMC Architects | 26,097,082 |
| 5 | Fanning/Howey Associates | 17,877,000 |
| 6 | Perkins+will | 16,668,514 |
| 7 | Heery International | 14,994,535 |
| 8 | NAC|Architecture | 14,494,206 |
| 9 | LPA | 14,191,442 |
| 10 | Perkins Eastman | 13,950,000 |
| 11 | Quattrocchi Kwok Architects | 13,230,000 |
| 12 | Moseley Architects | 12,521,613 |
| 13 | Integrus Architecture | 12,229,858 |
| 14 | Corgan | 10,372,178 |
| 15 | FGM Architects | 9,846,977 |
| 16 | NTD Architecture | 9,200,000 |
| 17 | Parkhill, Smith & Cooper | 8,580,000 |
| 18 | Symmes Maini & McKee Associates | 8,375,000 |
| 19 | Stantec | 8,097,800 |
| 20 | SchenkelShultz Architecture | 7,880,000 |
| 21 | SEI Design Group | 7,566,000 |
| 22 | Slaterpaull Architects | 7,500,468 |
| 23 | DLA Architects | 7,255,830 |
| 24 | GWWO | 7,047,216 |
| 25 | BRPH | 6,681,000 |
| 26 | Legat Architects | 6,630,200 |
| 27 | Wight & Company | 6,579,000 |
| 28 | Ashley McGraw Architects | 6,093,874 |
| 29 | HMFH Architects | 6,032,607 |
| 30 | BBS Architects | 5,950,250 |
| 31 | BLDD Architects | 5,750,000 |
| 32 | LaBella Associates | 5,644,772 |
| 33 | LS3P | 5,155,547 |
| 34 | Eppstein Uhen Architects | 4,623,477 |
| 35 | H+L Architecture | 4,070,997 |
| 36 | EwingCole | 4,020,000 |
| 37 | FXFOWLE Architects | 3,940,000 |
| 38 | Harley Ellis Devereaux | 3,780,000 |
| 39 | Cooper Carry | 3,402,330 |
| 40 | Goodwyn Mills & Cawood | 3,399,167 |
| 41 | CTA Architects Engineers | 3,336,600 |
| 42 | HKS | 3,142,143 |
| 43 | Cuningham Group Architecture | 3,052,272 |
| 44 | Schrader Group Architecture | 3,047,414 |
| 45 | NORR | 2,976,836 |
| 46 | Hord Coplan Macht | 2,948,595 |
| 47 | Ratio Architects | 2,879,009 |
| 48 | Albert Kahn Associates | 2,775,253 |
| 49 | IBI Group ? Gruzen Samton | 2,500,000 |
| 50 | RS&H | 2,450,000 |
| 51 | Harvard Jolly Architecture | 2,097,387 |
| 52 | Shepley Bulfinch | 2,000,000 |
| 53 | Becker Morgan Group | 1,945,649 |
| 54 | Leo A Daly | 1,787,681 |
| 55 | Good Fulton & Farrell | 1,704,900 |
| 56 | KZF Design | 1,490,333 |
| 57 | Clark Nexsen | 1,441,748 |
| 58 | Little | 1,410,229 |
| 59 | LMN Architects | 1,223,400 |
| 60 | Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates | 1,213,567 |
| 61 | Environetics | 1,137,965 |
| 62 | Massa Montalto Architects | 1,056,000 |
| 63 | VOA Associates | 989,711 |
| 64 | Mithun | 930,000 |
| 65 | Gensler | 700,000 |
| 66 | WHR Architects | 699,316 |
| 67 | PGAL | 672,000 |
| 68 | Ennead Architects | 585,055 |
| 69 | Davis Brody Bond | 570,932 |
| 70 | DesignGroup | 538,710 |
| 71 | OZ Architecture | 487,900 |
| 72 | Kirksey | 466,989 |
| 73 | HNTB Corp. | 444,786 |
| 74 | Beyer Blinder Belle | 405,394 |
| 75 | CO Architects | 386,900 |
| 76 | RSP Architects | 377,000 |
| 77 | LawKingdon Architecture | 350,000 |
| 78 | Ziegler Cooper | 348,762 |
| 79 | Morris Architects | 335,000 |
| 80 | Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio | 320,000 |
| 81 | Cambridge Seven Associates | 305,000 |
| 82 | Ware Malcomb | 284,000 |
| 83 | Hoffmann Architects | 260,000 |
| 84 | CASCO Diversified Corp. | 250,000 |
| 85 | JRS Architect | 235,000 |
| 86 | Rosser International | 230,000 |
| 87 | Page | 229,000 |
| 88 | Nelson | 210,577 |
| 89 | Gresham, Smith and Partners | 200,000 |
| 90 | Hastings+Chivetta Architects | 169,568 |
| 91 | Nadel | 130,000 |
| 92 | Epstein | 108,000 |
| 93 | BSA LifeStructures | 106,426 |
| 94 | ATA Beilharz Architects | 104,525 |
| 95 | Niles Bolton Associates | 104,386 |
| 96 | Hensley Lamkin Rachel | 100,000 |
| 97 | GBBN Architects | 97,000 |
| 98 | Sherlock, Smith & Adams | 92,000 |
| 99 | Lord Aeck Sargent | 75,379 |
| 100 | Poskanzer Skott | 50,000 |
| 101 | TEG Architects | 11,928 |
Top K-12 School Sector Engineering Firms
| Rank | Company | 2013 K-12 Revenue |
| 1 | AECOM Technology Corp. | $50,930,000 |
| 2 | URS Corp. | 47,642,239 |
| 3 | Jacobs | 35,150,000 |
| 4 | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 20,057,993 |
| 5 | TTG | 12,352,642 |
| 6 | STV | 8,018,000 |
| 7 | Shive-Hattery | 5,975,671 |
| 8 | KCI Technologies | 4,800,000 |
| 9 | Dewberry | 4,340,398 |
| 10 | Joseph R. Loring & Associates | 4,300,000 |
| 11 | Heapy Engineering | 4,079,921 |
| 12 | Thornton Tomasetti | 3,617,144 |
| 13 | Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates | 3,380,000 |
| 14 | Allen & Shariff | 3,000,000 |
| 15 | Interface Engineering | 2,934,922 |
| 16 | KJWW Engineering Consultants | 2,878,919 |
| 17 | Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor | 2,800,000 |
| 18 | Brinjac Engineering | 2,677,720 |
| 19 | Simpson Gumpertz & Heger | 2,610,000 |
| 20 | M/E Engineering | 2,531,610 |
| 21 | Primera Engineers | 2,357,000 |
| 22 | French & Parrello Associates | 2,297,300 |
| 23 | Coffman Engineers | 2,147,260 |
| 24 | Henderson Engineers | 2,103,903 |
| 25 | Bridgers & Paxton Consulting Engineers | 2,024,344 |
| 26 | RDK Engineers | 1,880,000 |
| 27 | Wallace Engineering | 1,691,000 |
| 28 | KPFF Consulting Engineers | 1,625,000 |
| 29 | H.F. Lenz | 1,619,250 |
| 30 | Highland Associates | 1,600,000 |
| 31 | KLH Engineers | 1,384,045 |
| 32 | Glumac | 1,306,149 |
| 33 | AKF Group | 1,299,000 |
| 34 | Rist-Frost-Shumway Engineering | 1,000,000 |
| 35 | Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber | 1,000,000 |
| 36 | CJL Engineering | 994,410 |
| 37 | TLC Engineering for Architecture | 967,161 |
| 38 | M-E Engineers | 966,000 |
| 39 | Walter P Moore and Associates | 937,062 |
| 40 | Vanderweil Engineers | 808,300 |
| 41 | Karpinski Engineering | 720,037 |
| 42 | Sparling | 682,833 |
| 43 | Martin/Martin | 674,166 |
| 44 | SSOE Group | 664,516 |
| 45 | RMF Engineering | 650,000 |
| 46 | Aon Fire Protection Engineering Corp. | 540,000 |
| 47 | Newcomb & Boyd | 534,136 |
| 48 | Environmental Systems Design | 521,731 |
| 49 | Guernsey | 502,819 |
| 50 | I. C. Thomasson Associates | 500,000 |
| 51 | G&W Engineering Corp. | 484,000 |
| 52 | Wick Fisher White | 446,553 |
| 53 | Arup | 431,084 |
| 54 | CTLGroup | 400,000 |
| 55 | OLA Consulting Engineers | 308,400 |
| 56 | Kamm Consulting | 286,426 |
| 57 | DeSimone Consulting Engineers | 262,015 |
| 58 | GRW | 189,200 |
| 59 | Zak Companies | 178,364 |
| 60 | Dunham Associates | 150,000 |
| 61 | Mazzetti | 149,031 |
| 62 | Davis, Bowen & Friedel | 132,028 |
| 63 | Affiliated Engineers | 112,000 |
| 64 | Spectrum Engineers | 93,110 |
| 65 | Magnusson Klemencic Associates | 76,069 |
Top K-12 School Sector Construction Firms
| Rank | Company | 2013 K-12 Revenue |
| 1 | Gilbane | $480,230,252 |
| 2 | Turner Construction | 419,619,000 |
| 3 | Balfour Beatty US | 372,288,885 |
| 4 | CORE Construction Group | 278,177,865 |
| 5 | Skanska USA | 212,802,648 |
| 6 | Swinerton Builders | 182,000,000 |
| 7 | Kraus-Anderson Construction | 181,000,000 |
| 8 | JE Dunn Construction | 167,798,654 |
| 9 | Consigli Construction | 151,997,147 |
| 10 | Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., The | 146,933,150 |
| 11 | Adolfson & Peterson Construction | 142,957,713 |
| 12 | Barton Malow | 142,524,833 |
| 13 | McCarthy Holdings | 140,400,000 |
| 14 | PCL Construction | 122,996,983 |
| 15 | Tutor Perini Corp. | 120,049,254 |
| 16 | McShane Companies, The | 118,124,887 |
| 17 | Flintco | 110,350,000 |
| 18 | KBE Building Corp. | 89,239,714 |
| 19 | Bernards | 85,000,000 |
| 20 | Sundt Construction | 69,522,647 |
| 21 | Absher Construction | 67,476,142 |
| 22 | LeChase Construction Services | 65,600,000 |
| 23 | Walsh Group, The | 62,965,887 |
| 24 | Wight & Company | 61,092,000 |
| 25 | Lend Lease | 59,255,000 |
| 26 | Haselden Construction | 55,166,396 |
| 27 | LPCiminelli | 54,810,831 |
| 28 | Shawmut Design and Construction | 51,000,000 |
| 29 | Ryan Companies US | 48,316,285 |
| 30 | URS Corp. | 47,642,239 |
| 31 | Yates Companies, The | 42,800,000 |
| 32 | Pepper Construction | 35,760,000 |
| 33 | C.W. Driver | 35,595,000 |
| 34 | E.W. Howell | 33,818,000 |
| 35 | Coakley & Williams Construction | 32,267,167 |
| 36 | Brasfield & Gorrie | 30,364,402 |
| 37 | Choate Construction | 30,237,395 |
| 38 | Bette Companies, The | 29,375,000 |
| 39 | S. M. Wilson & Co. | 25,725,568 |
| 40 | Suffolk Construction | 25,620,266 |
| 41 | EMJ Corp. | 24,000,000 |
| 42 | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 20,057,993 |
| 43 | Manhattan Construction | 19,124,000 |
| 44 | New South Construction | 17,650,000 |
| 45 | Hill & Wilkinson | 17,026,000 |
| 46 | Kitchell Corp. | 16,545,918 |
| 47 | Heery International | 14,994,535 |
| 48 | HITT Contracting | 14,900,000 |
| 49 | Robins & Morton | 13,176,447 |
| 50 | W. M. Jordan Company | 12,735,471 |
| 51 | Messer Construction | 12,453,591 |
| 52 | Structure Tone | 12,081,000 |
| 53 | Hill International | 12,000,000 |
| 54 | Boldt Company, The | 11,978,048 |
| 55 | Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction | 11,690,000 |
| 56 | James G. Davis Construction | 10,187,161 |
| 57 | Stalco Construction | 10,040,000 |
| 58 | STV | 8,018,000 |
| 59 | Hunt Construction Group | 7,000,000 |
| 60 | O'Neil Industries/W.E. O'Neil | 5,825,412 |
| 61 | Weis Builders | 3,389,000 |
| 62 | Beck Group, The | 3,117,539 |
| 63 | Allen & Shariff | 3,000,000 |
| 64 | Linbeck Group | 2,590,000 |
| 65 | Batson-Cook | 1,810,861 |
| 66 | Hoar Construction | 1,769,000 |
| 67 | Clark Group | 1,731,296 |
| 68 | James McHugh Construction | 1,460,905 |
| 69 | Weitz Company, The | 1,434,533 |
| 70 | IMC Construction | 1,433,690 |
| 71 | Astorino | 743,040 |
| 72 | JLL | 242,655 |
Read BD+C's full 2014 Giants 300 Report
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.
