last year’s list. However, this year, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff U.S.’s international revenue is not accounted for in the Top 500 as it is now considered a subsidiary of a non-U.S. design firm. (PB’s total reve- nue will be included with WSP’s revenue on the Top 225 International Design Firms list, which will be published in July.) Industry consolidation was the major issue among the Top 500 in 2014. The biggest news of 2014 was the acquisition of last year’s No. 3 firm on the Top 500, URS Corp, by the No. 1 firm, AECOM, to create the first $10-billion design firm. WSP’s acqisition of PB also was big news. Other major consolidations included Arcadis-RTKL’s acquisition of giant ar- chitectural firm Callison, which ranked at No. 73 on last year’s Top 500, and POWER Engineers’ acquisition of Burns and Roe Group, which ranked at No. 100 last year. Another major change was Amec’s ac- quisition of Foster Wheeler. The merger will provide customers in the energy sec- tor with Amec’s upstream expertise along with Foster Wheeler’s downstream expe- rience, says Simon Naylor, Amec Foster Wheeler’s president for the Americas. Another international firm moving strongly into the U.S. market is Australia’s GHD. The Australian market’s downturn moved the firm’s focus to the U.S. and Canada, resulting in its acquisition of Conestoga-Rovers & Associates in July 2014, says Richard Wankmuller, GHD’s general manager, Americas. Most executives in the industry believe consolidation will continue. “Consolida- tion is not finished,” says Greg Graves, CEO of Burns & McDonnell. He says many large firms think they need to grow faster and that the easiest way to grow is through acquisition. Industry Consolidation Shakes Up the Market NUMBER 18 PHOTO COURTESY OF GENSLER For ENR’s Top 500 Design Firms, 2014 was a tumultuous year. It was a year when some of the nation’s largest firms became even larger through the continual con- solidation that the design profession has undergone over the past decade. It was also a year in which finding the ways and means of securing financing for desper- ately needed infrastructure work became paramount. And it also was a year when global economic upheavals were a cause for concern for many firms. The evidence of this upheaval can be seen in the data from ENR’s Top 500 De- sign Firms list. Taken as a group, the Top 500 firms had design revenue of $92.30 billion in 2014, down 0.4% from $92.69 billion in 2013. Market growth was steady on the domestic side, rising 2.2%, to $66.16 billion, in 2014, up from $64.13 billion in 2013. However, revenue from projects outside the U.S. fell 8.5%, to $26.14 billion, in 2014, down from $28.55 billion in 2013. Ironically, part of this drop in revenue can be traced to one of the biggest stories of 2014: industry consolidation. In 2014, Canadian design giant WSP acquired Parsons Brinckerhoff. PB reported $924 million in international design revenue on enr.com June 29, 2015 ENR SOURCEBOOK 1 KEY TO TYPE OF FIRM A architect, E engineer, EC engineer-contractor, AE architect-engineer, EA engineer-architect, ENV environmental, GE geotechnical engineer, L landscape architect, P planner and O other, Other combinations are possible. Firms classified themselves. Companies are ranked according to revenue for design services performed in 2014 in $ millions (*). Those with subsidiaries are indicated by (†). For information on subsidiaries and where each firm worked outside of the U.S., see www.enr.com. **Firms not ranked last year. Some markets may not add up to 100% due to omission of “other” miscellaneous market category and rounding. NA-Not available. General Building as a category includes commercial buildings, offices, stores, educational facilities, government buildings, hospitals, medical facilities, hotels, apartments, housing, etc. Hazardous Waste includes chemical and nuclear waste treatment, asbestos and lead abatement, etc. Industrial Process comprises pulp and paper mills, steel mills, nonferrous metal refineries, pharmaceutical plants, chemical plants, food and other processing plants, etc. Manufacturing includes auto, electronic assembly, textile plants, etc. Petroleum includes refineries, petrochemical plants, offshore facilities, pipelines, etc. Power comprises thermal and hydroelectric power- plants, waste-to-energy plants, transmission lines, substations, cogeneration plants, etc. Sewerage / Solid Waste includes sanitary and storm sewers, treatment plants, pumping plants, incinerators, industrial waste facilities, etc. Telecommunications comprises transmission lines and cabling, towers and antennae, data centers, etc. Transportation includes airports, bridges, roads, canals, locks, dredging, marine facilities, piers, railroads, tunnels, etc. Water Supply includes dams, reservoirs, transmission pipelines, distribution mains, irrigation canals, desalination and potability treatment plants, pumping stations, etc. How to Read the Tables MILE-HIGH SKY Gensler designed the Westin Hotel and Transit Center to alter how Denver International Airport connects to the city.
Transcript
last year’s list. However, this year, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff U.S.’s international revenue is not accounted for in the Top 500 as it is now considered a subsidiary of a non-U.S. design firm. (PB’s total reve-nue will be included with WSP’s revenue on the Top 225 International Design Firms list, which will be published in July.)
Industry consolidation was the major issue among the Top 500 in 2014. The biggest news of 2014 was the acquisition of last year’s No. 3 firm on the Top 500, URS Corp, by the No. 1 firm, AECOM, to create the first $10-billion design firm. WSP’s acqisition of PB also was big news. Other major consolidations included Arcadis-RTKL’s acquisition of giant ar-chitectural firm Callison, which ranked at No. 73 on last year’s Top 500, and POWER Engineers’ acquisition of Burns and Roe Group, which ranked at No. 100 last year.
Another major change was Amec’s ac-quisition of Foster Wheeler. The merger will provide customers in the energy sec-tor with Amec’s upstream expertise along with Foster Wheeler’s downstream expe-rience, says Simon Naylor, Amec Foster Wheeler’s president for the Americas.
Another international firm moving strongly into the U.S. market is Australia’s GHD. The Australian market’s downturn moved the firm’s focus to the U.S. and Canada, resulting in its acquisition of Conestoga-Rovers & Associates in July 2014, says Richard Wankmuller, GHD’s general manager, Americas.
Most executives in the industry believe consolidation will continue. “Consolida-tion is not finished,” says Greg Graves, CEO of Burns & McDonnell. He says many large firms think they need to grow faster and that the easiest way to grow is through acquisition. !
Industry Consolidation Shakes Up the Market
NUM
BER
18PH
OTO
COUR
TESY
OF
GEN
SLER
For ENR’s Top 500 Design Firms, 2014 was a tumultuous year. It was a year when some of the nation’s largest firms became even larger through the continual con-solidation that the design profession has undergone over the past decade. It was also a year in which finding the ways and means of securing financing for desper-ately needed infrastructure work became paramount. And it also was a year when global economic upheavals were a cause for concern for many firms.
The evidence of this upheaval can be seen in the data from ENR’s Top 500 De-sign Firms list. Taken as a group, the Top
500 firms had design revenue of $92.30 billion in 2014, down 0.4% from $92.69 billion in 2013. Market growth was steady on the domestic side, rising 2.2%, to $66.16 billion, in 2014, up from $64.13 billion in 2013. However, revenue from projects outside the U.S. fell 8.5%, to $26.14 billion, in 2014, down from $28.55 billion in 2013.
Ironically, part of this drop in revenue can be traced to one of the biggest stories of 2014: industry consolidation. In 2014, Canadian design giant WSP acquired Parsons Brinckerhoff. PB reported $924 million in international design revenue on
enr.com June 29, 2015 ! ENR SOURCEBOOK ! 1
KEY TO TYPE OF FIRM A architect, E engineer, EC engineer-contractor, AE architect-engineer, EA engineer-architect, ENV environmental, GE geotechnical engineer, L landscape architect, P planner and O other, Other combinations are possible. Firms classified themselves.
Companies are ranked according to revenue for design services performed in 2014 in $ millions (*). Those with subsidiaries are indicated by (†). For information on subsidiaries and where each firm worked outside of the U.S., see www.enr.com. **Firms not ranked last year. Some markets may not add up to 100% due to omission of “other” miscellaneous
market category and rounding. NA-Not available.
General Building as a category includes commercial buildings, offices, stores, educational facilities, government buildings, hospitals, medical facilities, hotels, apartments, housing, etc.
Hazardous Waste includes chemical and nuclear waste treatment, asbestos and lead abatement, etc.
Industrial Process comprises pulp and paper mills, steel mills, nonferrous metal refineries, pharmaceutical plants, chemical plants, food and other processing plants, etc.
Manufacturing includes auto, electronic assembly, textile plants, etc.
Petroleum includes refineries, petrochemical plants, offshore facilities, pipelines, etc.
Power comprises thermal and hydroelectric power-plants, waste-to-energy plants, transmission lines, substations, cogeneration plants, etc.
Sewerage / Solid Waste includes sanitary and storm sewers, treatment plants, pumping plants, incinerators, industrial waste facilities, etc.
Telecommunications comprises transmission lines and cabling, towers and antennae, data centers, etc.
Transportation includes airports, bridges, roads, canals, locks, dredging, marine facilities, piers, railroads, tunnels, etc.
Water Supply includes dams, reservoirs, transmission pipelines, distribution mains, irrigation canals, desalination and potability treatment plants, pumping stations, etc.
How to Read the Tables
MILE-HIGH SKY Gensler designed the Westin Hotel and
Transit Center to alter how Denver International Airport
* NO. 368, HAROLD O’SHEA BUILDERS, INADVERTENTLY PLACED ITS DESIGN-BUILD NUMBERS IN THE DESIGN CATEGORY AND SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN RANKED ON THE TOP 500.
enr.com June 29, 2015 ! ENR ! 9
THE TOP 500 DESIGN FIRMS
enr.com June 29, 2015 ! ENR ! 10
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TOTAL INT’LFIRMTYPEFIRM
RANK2015 2014
2014 REVENUE $ MIL.
402 363 CO ARCHITECTS, Los Angeles, Calif. A 27.8 0.3 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
449 448 OPN ARCHITECTS, Cedar Rapids, Iowa A 24.0 0.0 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
450 441 OZ ARCHITECTURE, Denver, Colo. A 23.6 0.5 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
451 ** NOVA ENGINEERING AND ENVIRONMENTAL LLC, Kennesaw, Ga. E 23.3 0.0 79 1 1 1 5 1 8 4 1
#52HKS INC. is creating a comprehensive master plan to define growth needs over the next 50 years for 6,000 acres around San Diego Bay, Calif.
THE TOP 500 DESIGN FIRMS #150C&S COS. designed the Syracuse University Carrier Dome Rainwater Harvesting system, the first such system on an air-supported dome.
* THE NO. 368 FIRM ON THE LIST WAS IMPROPERLY RANKED AND HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE LIST. SO SAULSBURY INDUSTRIES SHOULD HAVE BEEN RANKED NO. 500 ON THE ORIGINAL LIST.
