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Issue: 07/25/2011
ENR's Top 200 International Design Firms for 2011
07/20/2011
By Gary Tulacz
[ Page 1 of 3 ]
The shift in the markets for large international design firms is reflected in ENR's Top 200 International Design Firms list.
As a group, the Top 200 saw a 9.9% revenue increase in 2010, to $57.66 billion from $52.45 billion in 2009, from
projects outside their respective home countries. However, domestic revenue for these firms rose only 0.3%, to $59.40
billion in 2010 from $59.37 billion in 2009. Overall, the group enjoyed a 4.8% increase in overall design revenue, to
$117.20 billion in 2010 from$111.81 billion in 2009.
The real story is that the struggling markets in the U.S.
and Europe have been offset by surges in Asia and
Australia, Africa and Latin America. International revenue
from projects in Asia and Australia rose 21.3% in 2010 to
$13.31 billion, making that region the top regional
destination for international designers. The African
market, particularly in north Africa, also surged, rising
14.0% to $4.65 billion. Latin America was up 11.9%, to
$3.54 billion.
Europe also was up in 2010, rising 6.7% to $13.26 billion.
The U.S. market also showed a gain, hitting $6.78 billion
in 2010 from $6.24 billion in 2009. However, the U.S.
gains are misleading. For example, since Balfour Beatty
acquired New York-based engineering giant Parsons
Brinckerhoff in 2009, PB's domestic U.S. revenue of $733
million now is counted as international revenue for Balfour
Beatty. Without PB's contribution to Balfour Beatty's U.S.
revenue, the U.S. market actually declined by 3.2% in
2010.
The global financial crisis of the past few years has hurt
the overall market, particularly in developed countries.
There's no doubt that the recession had an impact on the
capital markets and on lenders' appetite for risk,says
J ohn Pearson, global managing energy director for
Canada's Hatch Group.
Many international design firms worry infrastructure
projects, employed as a fiscal stimulus, will decline
because of government debt concerns. With public debt
problems now coming to the forefront in many countries,
there is a tapering off of public infrastructure spending,
and private-sector spending has not yet necessarily
bounced back to the point where it is filling the gap,says
Keith Reynolds, group chief executive of New Zealand's
Beca Group.
The recession has also meant some owners have put the
brakes on projects. We have seen delays in powerplant
projects and also in privately financed renewable-energy
projects,says Bernd Kordes, CEO of Lahmeyer
International.
However, Pearson says resource-rich countries have
suffered the least from the recession and have recovered
the quickest. [Canada] is probably the best example of a
country that had a relatively light bump in the road economically, compared to the United States and much of Europe,
he says. Chile, Brazil and South Africa also have recovered well, he adds.
The recession has caused the global market to move from developed countries to emerging nations. There has been a
recent shift in economic prosperity from the Western world to the East,says Wael Allan, regional managing director for
the Middle East for Hyder Consulting. He says the Western world is a mature market, with less demand for
infrastructure. There are more opportunities in the East, where there are emerging markets and a much greater
demand for enhanced infrastructure.
These emerging markets increasingly are drawing private corporate investment to feed a growing middle class. Our
clients are investing in new facilities in Russia, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and India,says Ton van der Velden, board
member at Tebodin. He says countries in the Middle East are providing opportunities not just in oil and gas but in
general infrastructure. The area also is becoming a consumer market, resulting in investments in all sorts of facilities
[that produce] for the local market,he says.
U.K. Firms Seek Stability
With risks spread geographically and across sectors, large European firms report stable business with some prospect
of growth. The U.K.'s Arup Group, Halcrow Group and Mott MacDonald Group see little change in sales over last year,
though profits have dipped.
Mott's managing director, Richard Williams, attributes the company's consistency, despite the European recession, to
its geographical spread. Demand in Asia and Latin America compensates for weakening European and U.S. orders,
adds Halcrow's business development director, Mark Brown.
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Williams

Facing excess European design capacity, DHV Group is on a two-year program to cut staff in its
Netherlands base by 25%, to 1,800, by year's end, says company President Bertrand van Ee. DHV
global staffing will shrink at a slower pace, to around 5,200 employees from 5,500. We see
continuing high demand for world-class competence,he says.
U.K.-based W.S. Atkins plc last month reported a 12.7% rise on global sales. Our strategy is
working. We are keeping to our core business,says CEO Keith Clarke, who retires this month.
Lars-Peter Sbye, CEO of Denmark's Cowi A/S, is also bullish. Business is now much betterthan
in 2010, he says. I expect growth to pick up.The nearby Nordic market is robust, and Sbye
sees growth globally in transportation.
Keywords: The Top 200 International Design Firms;International Architects;International Engineers;ENR's Top
Lists;Largest Building Engineers;Parsons Brinckerhof;Balfour Beatty
[ Page 1 of 3 ]
Gives readers a glimpse of who is planning and
constructing some of the largest projects throughout the
U.S. Much information for pulse is derived from
McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge.
For more information on a project in Pulse that has a
DR#, or for general information on Dodge products and
services, please visit our Website at
www.dodge.construction.com.
Information is provided on construction projects in
following stages in each issue of ENR: Planning,
Contracts/Bids/Proposals and Bid/Proposal Dates.
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Issue: 07/25/2011
ENR's Top 200 International Design Firms for 2011
07/20/2011
By Gary Tulacz
[ Page 2 of 3 ]
Although Arup's margins are down, its sales are doing better, says Chairman Philip Dilley, who forecasts modest
improvement. With increasing mergers and acquisitions, the marketplace is changing very rapidly,he adds. Arup will
not grow through acquisitions, says Dilley. He sees alliances as a way to achieve a necessary operational scale.
Last month, Arup took a major step along this route, signing a memorandum of understanding with China Railway
Group for bids in Africa, the Middle East, South America and Southeast Asia. The agreement will boost China Railway's
ambition for global growth in the years ahead,notes the company's international general manager, Chen Zhigong
The slowdown in established markets in Europe and the U.S. has caused many Western firms to look at the developing
markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America. But this shift has caused some concern for firms already in those markets.
For example, the biggest worry about the international market for Australia's SMEC is increased competition from
established companies in the U.K. and U.S.A. into SMEC markets,says Ross Hitt, CEO.
Aurecona 2009 merger between Connell Wagner, Australia, and Africon and Ninham Shand, both of South Africa
managed to diversify while spreading the risk of economic downturns. The merger helped reduce the risk by increasing
global diversification and enabling greater access to growing economies, especially in the developing world,says Paul
Lombard, Aurecon's general manager, emerging regions.
The one bright spot for many global design firms is the flourishing market in natural resources. Commodity prices are
solid, and our clients are going forward with their development plans to pull ore out of the ground and get it to market as
efficiently as possible,says Pearson. He says the surge in the mining and metals market also requires energy
upgrades and infrastructure investments as the facilities need power and the products need to be transported.
This increase in commodity prices has helped sophisticated firms in the metals and mining market. Often these
projects are located in difficult-to-reach areas that are engineering-intensive,says Reynolds.
Mixed Signals on China
In China, Arup is doing brilliantly,says Dilley. The firm has increased its bases to six cities fromthree cities. But the
market remains elusive for many firms, notes Mott's Williams. Mott MacDonald is doing well on high-speed rail projects,
he says.
[In China], you need to be a niche player,opines Van Ee. DHV is selling water treatment technology and, this month,
won the master-plan design competition for a vast domestic airport in Beijing. Able to handle 130 million passengers a
year, the airport will have four large terminals.
India is increasingly seen as a larger prospect than China. India continues to see growth,says van Ee, highlighting
public-private highway projects. Cowi aims to expand its mapping business into engineering, says Sbye. For Arup's
young business in India, the challenge is sorting out the one job that's going to happen from the 15 that don't,says
Dilley.
Getting work in India has its drawbacks. There was a big increase in [international] competition when Dubai started to
suffer its problems,says Halcrow's Brown, who says the firm is investing heavilyin India.
Among other positive markets, Australia is booming on the back of natural-resource exports to China, says Mott's
Williams. Anything connected with commodities is doing brilliantly,agrees Dilley. But the domestic economy is not so
good.
However, many firms believe Australia has great potential beyond natural resources. Australia has an attractive
business environment, offers good local project financing options and has enormous infrastructure development
potential,says Reynolds.
Latin America also is attracting new interest. Arup has set up a small office in Brazil, which has a difficult commercial
environment, says Dilley. The company plans to persevere but with caution, he says.
Halcrow is building on its long presence in Argentina to grow in the region, says Brown. Halcrow is a the government
adviser on the Rio-So Paulo high-speed-rail project.
Keywords: The Top 200 International Design Firms;International Architects;International Engineers;ENR's Top
Lists;Largest Building Engineers;Parsons Brinckerhof;Balfour Beatty
[ Page 2 of 3 ]
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Issue: 07/25/2011
ENR's Top 200 International Design Firms for 2011
07/20/2011
By Gary Tulacz
[ Page 3 of 3 ]
Resiliency in Middle East
Despite political unrest, the Middle East is resilient,says Brown. Halcrow repatriated seven staff members from Libya,
but we are in a number of sectors in quite a few countries,he adds. Sbye says the unrest delayed projects, such as
the Bahrain-Qatar causeway. Public procurement in Oman is at a standstill,he adds.

Many Middle Eastern countries have active markets. Abu Dhabi and Qatar are the two places with
promise,says Dilley, noting increasing competition. We are not bidding to win the work at any
cost.
Atkins' regional order book is beyond excellent,says Clarke. There is very strong planned
economic growth now in the Middle East in infrastructure.Atkins has been recovering delayed
payments, he adds.
The Middle East's growing population will require a lot of investment in infrastructure, and the
demand is great in all aspects of life,says Allan of Hyder. He says that while the U.A.E. is steady,
there are great opportunities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Fuelled by natural-resource exports, Mozambique is undergoing unbelievable growth,says van Ee. From struggling to
find work for 30 staff members two years ago, DHV now has 90 people at work in Mozambique, he adds. Our Africa
division has been the fastest-growing division,adds Hitt of SMEC.
U.S. Continues To Attract
Though the U.S. has poor finances, it retains European interest. DHV finds the aviation sector attractive. [North
America] will go from strength to strength,adds Cowi's Sbye. Arup is maintaining its U.S. workload, helped by large
transportation infrastructure projects. Commercial work is down, but Arup has won several jobs for cultural buildings,
says Dilley.
Atkins already is shipping work to its U.S. acquisition, Florida-based PBSJ Corp., notably from Saudi Arabia, says
Clarke. Now named Atkins North America, PBSJ has undergone quite radical change at the topbut has lost few of its
core staff, he adds.
The picture is mixed in Europe. Apart from the Nordic region and the U.K., Cowi has little work in Western Europe, says
Sbye. The firm aims to be even more focused on selected countriesin Eastern Europe. The Russian market is OK,
but the business environment is quite difficult,Sbye adds.
European public spending will continue to be down for the near future,says van Ee. He expects privatization,
especially in Portugal and Greece, to generate high-level advisory work. Poland continues to struggle with its
infrastructure projects, he adds.
The U.K. government is cutting budgets deeply but has listened to the need to keep some [infrastructure] investment
going,says Williams. Arup's Dilley reports ample transportation infrastructure work and a reviving commercial market
in London.
The current market has forced design firms to become responsive to quick market changes. Few firms on the Top 200
were tested this year more than New Zealand's Beca Group. Reynolds says the firm's work on search-and-rescue,
damage assessment and the initial rebuild in the wake of February's devastating earthquake in Christchurch, New
Zealand, reinforced the need for us to maintain flexibility and fluidity in our decision-making to enable us to react
quickly to rapidly changing and developing events.
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Lists;Largest Building Engineers;Parsons Brinckerhof;Balfour Beatty
[ Page 3 of 3 ]
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