Ranking Of Northwest's Top Design Survey

By Lucy Bodilly

With the Northwest wallowing in construction projects, it's no surprise the revenues reported in the 2005 Top Design survey are considerably higher than last year.

Total revenue for the top 10 firms listed for this year's survey rounded out to $827 million, compared to $634 million last year. The biggest projects listed ran the gamut from office buildings, to health care facilities, to condo developments. But the big influx of road and bridge work for the top 10 designers represents the largest portion of the work.

International dealings for many Northwest firms continue to blossom, with most of the work taking place in Asian countries. China is the main market, and a look at McGraw Hill's Smart Market report on construction trends tells why - it has the biggest construction market behind the United States and the most room for growth. NBBJ, Callison. MulvanneyG2 all in Washington and ZGF and SERA in Portland, has been in that market for close to 20 years.

Larger firms swallowed up smaller ones - first with Sparling, an electrical design firm in Seattle, buying up a telecommunication design office in Portland, and then a surveying firm in Olympia. Otak, a Portland based engineering firm bought out a coastal design firm and Shannon and Wilson, Bellevue.

"We don't have plans to grow rapidly, but always look for firms with a culture similar to ours," said Nawzad Othman, CEO and president of the firm. Originally from Iraq, Othman also opened offices in Bagdad and Kuridstan. He is waiting for more stability in southern Iraq before pursuing projects there, but is active in the northern part of the country and other parts of the Middle East, where there is less turmoil.

In addition to our listings, we are featuring the top architects in each state - NBBJ from Washington and ZGF from Oregon. Both have contributed enormously to the architectural fabric of the Northwest.

If you would like to be included in next year's survey, write a note to lucy_bodilly@mcgraw-hill.com.

Click on the links below to view:

Washington Top Design Firms
Oregon Top Design Firms
Top 55 Design Firms
Top Design Firms by Category