一年的差异是什么。在2008年夏天,大多数领先的建筑和工程公司在一般建筑业的工作中与工作齐平,时间很好。经济范围内可能存在云,令人担忧的是,发烧的步伐是不可持续的,但没有人预测2008年秋季袭击的经济海啸。

The 137-acre Qatar Petroleum campus is moving ahead.
照片:Skidmore,Outings&Merill
The 137-acre Qatar Petroleum campus is moving ahead.
德克萨斯州儿童的健康中心正在前进。
Photo: PageSoutherlandPage
德克萨斯州儿童的健康中心正在前进。

海啸已经冲走或延迟了非国有商业和机构项目,留下了一些普通建筑设计公司。18luck官网虽然大公司中最大的做得很好,但一些甚至正在获得市场份额,但据领先高管的调查和访谈,普通建筑业的较小的馅饼均为艰巨的经济时期意味着艰难的经济时期。公司。

“Overall design-market conditions remain very weak, as there is no region of the country or any major construction sector where firms are reporting increases,” says Kermit Baker, chief economist for the American Institute of Architects. “Project activity in all major construction sectors is still slowing but at a moderating pace.” However, firms in the Northeast and South “appear to be closer to recovering than firms in other regions of the country,” says Baker.

贝克表示,5月份,可根据AIA的最新分析,商业,混合使用和制度市场仍然持续下降,但贝克表示,轶事报告显示夏季积极领土的运动。

长征

A number of firms in the general building sector interviewed by ENR paint a similar picture. The global nature of the recession and the collapse and subsequent drought in project financing from both bond markets and commercial banking mean the negative impact on project starts will continue for a significant period. George Pearson, chief operating officer, calls it something more intense than a recession. “It is a disruption more than a downturn,” he says, because of the “sudden impact” across the board in building markets. He believes the downturn will last through the end of 2010. Others agree.

“It is a worldwide problem,” says Bradford Perkins, chairman and CEO of Perkins Eastman, New York City. “The disruption in financing has caused cancellations or delays in good projects in safe market sectors such as health care and senior living....The assumption that we could cover a domestic decline with more international work has proven harder to accomplish than we expected.”

的一个公司的打击尤其严重的衰退ssion is Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merill (SOM). With roughly half its revenue coming from commercial work, the bottom dropped out quickly last fall, says Gary Haney, CEO. The demise of Lehman Brothers in August 2008 had an immediate impact. “That really killed our business,” Haney says, because Lehman was a driving force in commercial project financing. As a result of the downturn, roughly 40% of the projects in SOM’s New York City office were canceled or delayed, he says. Overall, roughly 30% of the projects on the firm’s books were delayed or canceled. “The market just stopped dead in September,” he says.

停工导致了一系列裁员。“当你努力地击中时,你只需削减掉回”,“哈尼说。自去年秋季以来,该公司将其工作人员减少了25%至30%,是一个触床过程。Haney将它与“飞机正在下降的行动电影”,你正在做的一切都可以把它拉出潜水。最后你得到了飞机升级了,但你仍然在紧急情况 - 这是一种现在感觉的样子。“

从经济衰退中复苏将更多的差异icult than usual, adds John Cryer III, principal with PageSoutherlandPage, Houston. “There is tremendous excess in the system, so that markets will be slow to recover. At the same time, there will be changing priorities, with a strong emphasis on repurposing existing structures and improving energy consumption of buildings.” Cryer says roughly 15% to 20% of his firm’s backlog currently is on hold.

More Marketing

Faced with what looks to be a sustained downturn, firms are scrambling to adapt. Many firms are ramping up marketing budgets and principals are devoting more time to client development. A number of Top 100 design firms report they are focusing on relatively positive markets such as health-care, institutional and federal work. But this is putting downward pressure on fees for services as more design firms chase fewer building projects.

虽然有些人正在抵抗削减费用的冲动,但其他人几乎没有选择,而是要投产。“在过去的几年里,作为一个行业,我们已经成功地让客户远离仅限于费用,”Som的Haney说。但是当你在办公室里戴上熟练的人的房间时,有很少的工作要做的时候,这是挑战性的。“

尽管如此,一些合同正在被授予。消息人士称,前进的最佳市场是卫生保健,制度工作和与可持续发展有关的设计工作。“我们仍然看到了医疗保健的机会......