January 17, 2007

Architecture billings up 11% over 3 years

Billings at U.S. architecture firms increased 11 percent between 2002 and 2005 to reach $28.7 billion annually. The total construction value of projects that architecture firms directly designed approached $360 billion, accounting for almost 3 percent of overall U.S. gross domestic product.

The figures are from The American Institute of Architects Business of Architecture: 2006 AIA Firm Survey, which is conducted every three years. The study also revealed the profession is becoming more diverse and the number green design projects is growing.

The top five sectors served by architects in 2005 were health care, at 14.3 percent of firm billings; office, 11.7 percent; education (K-12), 11 percent; multifamily residential, 10.7 percent; and education (college/university, 7.7 percent.

“While the residential design category posted the strongest gains in share of firm activity during this period, the institutional market — led by the health care and education sectors — remains the largest source for architecture services,” said survey co-author, AIA chief economist Kermit Baker.

“State and local governments were the leading architecture clients, followed closely by developers/construction companies,” he said. “The most common project delivery method remains traditional design-bid-build, which accounts for nearly 60 percent of project activity at architecture firms.”