More than 295 U.S. architecture and architecture-engineering (AE) firms participated in BD+C's 2022 Giants 400 survey. As part of the Giants survey process, participating firms are asked to describe their most impactful firm innovations and noteworthy company moves in the past 12 months. Here is a collection of the most compelling business and project innovations and business moves from the 2022 Architecture Giants:
AE7 Released its Project Management Office service.
AECOM Launched Think and Act Globally strategy.
AG ARCHITECTURE Transitioned to ESOP ownership.
AHL Promoted Deirdre Stearns to Director of Sustainability.
ÁLVAREZ-DÍAZ & VILLALÓN Partnered with the UN on the SDG Ambition Accelerator.
ANDERSON MIKOS ARCHITECTS Adopted Lean design.
AO Partnering with developers on action-anchored resorts.
ARC/ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES CAMBRIDGE New strategic branding effort.
ARCHITECTURE, INCORPORATED Tara McGrath, new Director of Interior Design.
AYERS SAINT GROSS Designing for operational and embodied carbon in all projects >50,000 sf.
BAILEY EDWARD DESIGN Established a DEI team.
BBS Created BBS University for staff development.
BKSK ARCHITECTS Moved to new location in NYC.
BKV GROUP Used wood-and-steel panelization on 67 multifamily projects.
BLAIR + MUI DOWD ARCHITECTS ASHE Vista Award for a children’s hospital.
ALSO SEE:
- 2022 Engineering Giants Trends Report: U.S. engineering firms cash in on a volatile, expanding market
- 2022 Contractor Giants Trends Report: U.S. construction firms lean on technology to manage growth and weather the pandemic
BRAY ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS Designed the first net zero school in Wisconsin.
BSB DESIGN Acquired Withee Malcolm design firm.
BWBR Launched BWBR+ advisory service. New President/CEO: Stephanie McDaniel.
CARRIER JOHNSON + CULTURE Appointed Claudia Escala and Ray Varela as Co-Presidents.
CB DESIGN GROUP Developed new design for electronic health record upgrades.
CBT Earned JUST label. Grew its life science business.
CDM SMITH Developed digital-twin technology to generate real-time simulations.
CETRARUDDY ARCHITECTURE Instituted three-days-in-office/two-at-home work week.
CHOATE PARKING CONSULTANTS Certifying two ParkSmart projects.
CLARK & ENERSEN Completed its first LEED Platinum and WELL-certified projects.
CLARK NEXSEN Developed a project data dashboard to assess progress on AIA 2030 DDx and SE2050.
COLLIERS ENGINEERING & DESIGN Acquired engineering firm Bergmann and four others.
COOPER CARRY Named Kyle Reis President/CEO; Tim Bakos, COO. Hired JD Harper as Sustainability Leader.
CORE STATES GROUP OF COMPANIES Acquired by Harren Equity Partners.
CORGAN Stephen Lohr named Multifamily Studio Leader. Rolled out Unscripted, which evaluates workplaces based on spacing and occupancy.
COSCIAMOOS ARCHITECTURE Using Enscape and Oculus Quest 2 in its VR platform.
CRAWFORD ARCHITECTS Became a corporate partner of the Green Sports Alliance.
CROMWELL ARCHITECTS ENGINEERS Divided the firm into eight market segments.
CRTKL New COO: David Asfour. New Retail Design Principal: Robyn Oyler. Created Prognosis, a prototyping platform for next-gen spatial design.
CSARCH Incorporating Universal Design into projects.
CTA ARCHITECTS Hired Christian Rasnake as Sustainability Coordinator.
CUNINGHAM Adopting regenerative design.
CURTIS + GINSBERG ARCHITECTS Surpassed 20,000 new/renovated dwelling units in NYC in 2022.
CUSHING TERRELL New director hires: Randy Rhodes, Affordable Housing; Keith Walzak, Urban Planning.
DAHLIN GROUP ARCHITECTURE | PLANNING Its MOD HIVE tiny home in pilot project for homeless in California. Expanding into K-12.
DATTNER ARCHITECTS Three Passive House residential projects in the works.
DESIGN COLLABORATIVE Using Matterport 3D scanner to document as-built conditions. New market: industrial.
DGA Expanded its San Diego office.
DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS Using customized data aggregator, CloudDesign, for project analytics.
DLR GROUP Launched an internal online learning platform. Formed Equity Forum to guide its racial equity work.
DLZ CORPORATION Acquired Carbon Engineering (Costa Rica). Secured a National PM Service Contract (USPS).
DYER BROWN & ASSOCIATES Updated its materials library to ensure building products are eco-friendly, healthy.
E4H ENVIRONMENTS FOR HEALTH ARCHITECTURE Acquired Dixon Associates.
ELEVATUS ARCHITECTURE Developed a prototype 213-240-bed county jail.
ELKUS MANFREDI ARCHITECTS Alicia Mills named VP of Talent and Culture.
EUA Acquired Performa Inc.
EYP MISSION CRITICAL FACILITIES Developing off-the-grid data centers.
ALSO SEE: BD+C'S ARCHITECTURE GIANTS RANKINGS FOR 2022:
FANNING HOWEY ASSOCIATES Providing visioning, professional development, and commissioning services to school districts.
FENTRESS Designing Terminal C at Orlando International.
FGM ARCHITECTS Acquired LeMay Erickson Willcox Architects.
FIFTH DIMENSION ARCHITECTURE & INTERIORS Developed BIM process for faster design documentation, QA.
FINEGOLD ALEXANDER ARCHITECTS Launched FA Energy, to help clients meet carbon emissions goals.
FITZGERALD Moved to new studio in Chicago Loop.
FK ARCHITECTURE Moving into modular construction.
FLAD ARCHITECTS Integrating computational design into daily practice.
FOGARTY FINGER Adopted OpenAsset to organize its imagery library.
FXCOLLABORATIVE ARCHITECTS Moved office to Brooklyn, N.Y. Developed Automated BIM QC Process to speed up 3D models.
G70 Norman Hong named Chairman; Linda Miki, CEO.
GARMANN MILLER Using Matterport to create digital twin immersive spaces.
GBBN Using AR to deliver full-scale design models for clients. Expanded parental leave benefits.
GENSLER Issued gFloorz 2.0 computational product for use with all project types.
GREENBERGFARROW Acquired SGA|NW; broadens its multifamily reach in SE U.S.
GFF INC. Used digital modeling to design a placemaking shading structure.
GGLO Using GIS to create “heat maps.” Signed NOMA NW Call to Action. Sixteen mass timber projects in design or under development.
GLENN|PARTNERS Fabricated a perforated metal panel sunshade for a high school.
GMB ARCHITECTURE + ENGINEERING Launched an Employee Development Plan.
GOODWYN MILLS CAWOOD Acquired Binkley Garcia Architecture and Florida Disaster Consulting.
GRACE HEBERT CURTIS ARCHITECTS Implemented firmwide PM training using Centerline PM software.
GRESHAM SMITH Appointments: Rodney Chester, CEO; Peter Oram, COO. Developing A-Eye computer vision program. Created a Sustainability and Resiliency Center.
GRIMM + PARKER Became a SWaM Certified Women-Owned and Small Business in Commonwealth of Virginia.
GUIDON Launched a Science + Technology practice.
GWWO ARCHITECTS Tested PointFuse and EdgeWise software. Using Revizto UI for BIM clash detection workflows, and Polycam and Matterport for reality capture.
H. HENDY ASSOCIATES Added a healthcare studio. Developed new content management system.
H2M ARCHITECTS + ENGINEERS Acquired Dennis Noskin Architects.
HAFER Acquired hmb Architects. Using Enscape plug-in.
HANBURY Created grassroots councils to give emerging leaders a voice in firmwide strategy and leadership.
HANDEL ARCHITECTS Louis Koehl named Sustainable Design Director; Katie Donahue, Denver Office Director. Passive House projects under construction in Boston, New York, and Toronto.
HDR Developed a regenerative design tool.
HED Renewed its JUST label.
HFG ARCHITECTURE Designed a 300,000-sf cardiothoracic surgery center in Kenya for Engineering Ministries International.
HFMH ARCHITECTS Used Tally and Climate Studio to design a net-positive-energy school.
HGA Its new ENERGY.script tool performs a step-by-step energy analysis model during planning and SD.
HKS Conducting research on using neuroscience-informed design to slow cognitive decline in aging populations.
HMC ARCHITECTS Acquired Rainforth Grau Architects. New directors: Jennifer Wehling, sustainability; James Krueger, design.
HOEFER WELKER Using data visualization and role-specific dashboards for projects.
HOK Created a Regenerative Design Studio.
HOLLIS + MILLER ARCHITECTS Won the A4LE John Shaw Award for a middle school in Kansas City, Mo.
HORD COPLAN MACHT New leaders: Jennifer Cordes, Higher Education; Jim Albert, Healthcare; Monica Robertson, Housing/Mixed-use; Adele Willson, K-12.
HUCKABEE Acquired Rachlin Partners. Josh Brown named President. Developed generative design tool to explore numerous complex design solutions simultaneously.
HUITT-ZOLLARS Implemented Bluebeam Revu firmwide.
IA Joined the Science Based Target Initiative’s Business Ambition for 1.5°C and the UN’s Race to Zero. Acquired FYOOG design firm.
IKM ARCHITECTURE Moved to a 40-hour work week Sunday-Saturday with no PTO limits.
IPS Acquired management consulting firm Linesight.
JEFFREY BERMAN ARCHITECT Healthcare architect for a pediatric cancer center in Kenya (with David Adjaye).
JLL Acquired Skyline AI artificial intelligence company.
KAHLER SLATER Using hybrid videography and animation in construction. New CEOs: Al Krueger, Glenn Roby.
KGD ARCHITECTURE Designing global HQ campus for bioscience giant Novavax.
KIRKSEY ARCHITECTURE Named Catherine Callaway Director of Sustainability. Developed a tool to help clients calculate workspace square footage needs.
KITCHEN & ASSOCIATES Added Mac Studio, Matterport, and animations.
KPF Created (with Simscale) KPFlow; runs wind simulations in early 3D design.
KTGY Added interior design and branding services.
LABELLA ASSOCIATES Acquired Odell Associates and Stieglitz Snyder Architecture. Moving into multifamily and mixed-use markets.
LARSON DESIGN GROUP Acquired LWPB Inc.
LEGAT ARCHITECTS New sector: community centers. Barry DeSimone named President/CEO.
LEO A DALY Developed Fix-Activate-Calibrate-Tune workplace design framework. Hired Steven Plam to head Design Technology.
LITTLE Implementing regenerative visioning in projects.
LPA Cut fossil fuel use in its projects by >70%, surpassing AIA 2030 Challenge.
LRK Turning single-use office buildings into residential/mixed-use communities.
LS3P Two mergers: TFF Architects & Planners and PFA Architects. Donating 1% of staff time to pro bono work.
LUMINAUT INC. Acquired Rowland Design. Added a K-12 studio.
MA DESIGN Rebranded from M+A Architects.
MARGULIES PERUZZI Conducted mandatory diversity training across the firm.
MASSA MULTIMEDIA ARCHITECTURE Implemented DfMA (Design for Manufacture and Assembly) for Walmart health clinics.
MBH ARCHITECTS Conducted a VR tour of BioEnginuity Hub at UC Berkeley.
MCFARLANE ARCHITECTS Expanding into Arizona/Utah life sciences market.
MCMILLAN PAZDAN SMITH Acquired Watson Tate Savory. Earned WELL Health-Safety rating for its offices.
METHOD ARCHITECTURE Acquired GSC Architects.
MG2 Signed the AIA Materials Pledge.
MICHAEL GRAVES ARCHITECTURE Acquired Waldon Studio Architects.
MOSELEY Using Newforma Connector for Procore to eliminate duplicate data entry in CA workflow.
NBBJ Introduced ZeroGuide, a tool that estimates the carbon equivalent of a project's emissions.
NELSON WORLDWIDE Jennifer Acevedo named Director of Strategy & Insights.
NILES BOLTON ASSOCIATES Acquired Dye Aviation to enter private aviation sector.
NMDA Christina Straughan named Creative Director.
NORR George Sorich named VP Residential. Issued an e-book on carbon neutrality.
ONYX CREATIVE Merged with L2M Architects.
PAGE Acquired EYP.
PARKHILL Launched Work Together hybrid work policy.
PAYETTE Developed Kaleidoscope, which evaluates embodied carbon in façades and flooring assemblies.
PBK Invited by Uvalde CISD to advise on school safety design following the incident at the Texas school.
PERKINS EASTMAN Acquired BLT Architects and Kliment Halsband Architects.
PERKINS AND WILL New Managing Directors: Lindsey Peckinpaugh, Chicago; Yanel de Angel, Boston; Ernest Joyner, Denver.
PFLUGER ARCHITECTS Designed high-tech school with no classrooms. Terry Hoyle named CEO.
PRIME AE Acquired Penza Bailey Architects and Prosser Inc.
PROGRESSIVE AE Signed the AIA 2030 Commitment.
PULSE DESIGN GROUP Using VantagePoint to enhance workflow and recruiting.
QUINN EVANS Named Alyson Steele President/CEO; Thomas Jester, COO.
RDG PLANNING & DESIGN Developed an equitable employee benefits package.
RKTB ARCHITECTS Using mobile video cameras for remote site observation.
ROSEMANN & ASSOCIATES Moved Atlanta office to Circa 730 Building.
RSC ARCHITECTS Won the AIA-NJ Firm of the Year Service Award.
RYAN A+E Created tool that produces SD level of design from simple parametrics.
SASAKI ASSOCIATES Invented a free tool, the Carbon Conscience App.
SCB Converted Tribune Tower, Chicago, to condominiums.
SCHAEFER Pursuing the federal buildings market.
SCHRADERGROUP Running Instagantt, Asana, and Project Guru to keep projects on schedule.
SHEEHAN NAGLE HARTRAY ARCHITECTS Implementing DfMA. New Sustainability Director, Denis Blanc.
SHEPLEY BULFINCH Named Angela Watson President/CEO. Acquired PARC design lab.
SMITH SECKMAN REID New COO: Susan Osterberg; Chief Growth Officer: Mike Rogers.
SMITHGROUP Presented an analysis of mechanical systems in healthcare facilities at ASHRAE 2022.
SOM Created Equity Design Lab to embed DEI into its projects. Presented “Urban Sequoias” concept—buildings absorbing carbon—at UN COP26 conference.
STEINBERG HART Named new office directors: Douglas Moss, Austin, Texas; Vincent Mudd, San Diego.
TAYLOR DESIGN Joined the new I2SL LA/Orange County (Calif.) chapter.
TETER Implemented Vantagepoint for business and PM.
THENDESIGN ARCHITECTURE Named Christopher D. Smith President.
TOWERPINKSTER Acquired Kovert Hawkins Architects. Signed the AIA 2030 Commitment.
TPG ARCHITECTURE Promoted Ken Tracey to Managing Executive.
TREANORHL Hired visualization expert Joel Gray.
TVS Using Web-based tools to create experiential marketing materials.
URBAHN ARCHITECTS Leading gut renovation of two public hospitals for NYC’s corrections department.
VLK ARCHITECTS Employed off-site manufacture of building components in a K-12 project.
WALKER CONSULTANTS Launched Perq customizable parking solution. New President/CEO: Dave Ryan.
WARE MALCOMB Enhanced its WM Future Lab.
WDG Adapting office buildings, hotels to residential.
WEBER THOMPSON Now a Woman-Owned Business.
WENDEL Named Joseph DeFazio President/CEO.
WOOLPERT Acquired Optimal GEO, AAM, and eTrac. Earned a LIDAR patent.
ZGF Reduced emissions in its portfolio by ~60%.
VIEW THE 2022 GIANTS 400 RANKINGS BY AEC DISCIPLINE
A. Top 180 Architecture Firms
B. Top 110 Architecture/Engineering (AE) Firms
C. Top 80 Engineering Firms
D. Top 45 Engineering/Architecture (EA) Firms
E. Top 200 Contractors
F. Top 90 Construction Management Firms
See more 2022 Giants 400 Rankings
Related Stories
| Feb 11, 2011
RS Means Cost Comparison Chart: Office Buildings
This month's RS Means Cost Comparison Chart focuses on office building construction.
| Feb 11, 2011
Sustainable features on the bill for dual-building performing arts center at Soka University of America
The $73 million Soka University of America’s new performing arts center and academic complex recently opened on the school’s Aliso Viejo, Calif., campus. McCarthy Building Companies and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects collaborated on the two-building project. One is a three-story, 47,836-sf facility with a grand reception lobby, a 1,200-seat auditorium, and supports spaces. The other is a four-story, 48,974-sf facility with 11 classrooms, 29 faculty offices, a 150-seat black box theater, rehearsal/dance studio, and support spaces. The project, which has a green roof, solar panels, operable windows, and sun-shading devices, is going for LEED Silver.
| Feb 11, 2011
BIM-enabled Texas church complex can broadcast services in high-def
After two years of design and construction, members of the Gateway Church in Southland, Texas, were able to attend services in their new 4,000-seat facility in late 2010. Located on a 180-acre site, the 205,000-sf complex has six auditoriums, including a massive 200,000-sf Worship Center, complete with catwalks, top-end audio and video system, and high-definition broadcast capabilities. BIM played a significant role in the building’s design and construction. Balfour Beatty Construction and Beck Architecture formed the nucleus of the Building Team.
| Feb 11, 2011
Kentucky’s first green adaptive reuse project earns Platinum
(FER) studio, Inglewood, Calif., converted a 115-year-old former dry goods store in Louisville, Ky., into a 10,175-sf mixed-use commercial building earned LEED Platinum and holds the distinction of being the state’s first adaptive reuse project to earn any LEED rating. The facility, located in the East Market District, houses a gallery, event space, offices, conference space, and a restaurant. Sustainable elements that helped the building reach its top LEED rating include xeriscaping, a green roof, rainwater collection and reuse, 12 geothermal wells, 81 solar panels, a 1,100-gallon ice storage system (off-grid energy efficiency is 68%) and the reuse and recycling of construction materials. Local firm Peters Construction served as GC.
| Feb 11, 2011
Former Richardson Romanesque hotel now houses books, not beds
The Piqua (Ohio) Public Library was once a late 19th-century hotel that sat vacant and deteriorating for years before a $12.3 million adaptive reuse project revitalized the 1891 building. The design team of PSA-Dewberry, MKC Associates, and historic preservation specialist Jeff Wray Associates collaborated on the restoration of the 80,000-sf Richardson Romanesque building, once known as the Fort Piqua Hotel. The team restored a mezzanine above the lobby and repaired historic windows, skylight, massive fireplace, and other historic details. The basement, with its low ceiling and stacked stone walls, was turned into a castle-like children’s center. The Piqua Historical Museum is also located within the building.
| Feb 11, 2011
Justice center on Fall River harbor serves up daylight, sustainable elements, including eucalyptus millwork
Located on historic South Main Street in Fall River, Mass., the Fall River Justice Center opened last fall to serve as the city’s Superior and District Courts building. The $85 million facility was designed by Boston-based Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc., with Dimeo Construction as CM and Arup as MEP. The 154,000-sf courthouse contains nine courtrooms, a law library, and a detention area. Most of the floors have the same ceiling height, which will makes them easier to reconfigure in the future as space needs change. Designed to achieve LEED Silver, the facility’s elliptical design offers abundant natural daylight and views of the harbor. Renewable eucalyptus millwork is one of the sustainable features.
| Feb 11, 2011
Research facility separates but also connects lab spaces
California State University, Northridge, consolidated its graduate and undergraduate biology and mathematics programs into one 90,000-sf research facility. Architect of record Cannon Design worked on the new Chaparral Hall, creating a four-story facility with two distinct spaces that separate research and teaching areas; these are linked by faculty offices to create collaborative spaces. The building houses wet research, teaching, and computational research labs, a 5,000-sf vivarium, classrooms, and administrative offices. A four-story outdoor lobby and plaza and an outdoor staircase provide orientation. A covered walkway links the new facility with the existing science complex. Saiful/Bouquet served as structural engineer, Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers served as MEP, and Research Facilities Design was laboratory consultant.
| Feb 11, 2011
A feast of dining options at University of Colorado community center, but hold the buffalo stew
The University of Colorado, Boulder, cooked up something different with its new $84.4 million Center for Community building, whose 900-seat foodservice area consists of 12 micro-restaurants, each with its own food options and décor. Centerbrook Architects of Connecticut collaborated with Denver’s Davis Partnership Architects and foodservice designer Baker Group of Grand Rapids, Mich., on the 323,000-sf facility, which also includes space for a career center, international education, and counseling and psychological services. Exterior walls of rough-hewn, variegated sandstone and a terra cotta roof help the new facility blend with existing campus buildings. Target: LEED Gold.
| Feb 11, 2011
Chicago high-rise mixes condos with classrooms for Art Institute students
The Legacy at Millennium Park is a 72-story, mixed-use complex that rises high above Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. The glass tower, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, is mostly residential, but also includes 41,000 sf of classroom space for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and another 7,400 sf of retail space. The building’s 355 one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom condominiums range from 875 sf to 9,300 sf, and there are seven levels of parking. Sky patios on the 15th, 42nd, and 60th floors give owners outdoor access and views of Lake Michigan.
| Feb 11, 2011
Iowa surgery center addresses both inpatient and outpatient care
The 12,000-person community of Carroll, Iowa, has a new $28 million surgery center to provide both inpatient and outpatient care. Minneapolis-based healthcare design firm Horty Elving headed up the four-story, 120,000-sf project for St. Anthony’s Regional Hospital. The center’s layout is based on a circular process flow, and includes four 800-sf operating rooms with poured rubber floors to reduce leg fatigue for surgeons and support staff, two substerile rooms between each pair of operating rooms, and two endoscopy rooms adjacent to the outpatient prep and recovery rooms. Recovery rooms are clustered in groups of four. The large family lounge (left) has expansive windows with views of the countryside, and television monitors that display coded information on patient status so loved ones can follow a patient’s progress.
