Photo courtesy of Chuck Smith, Charles Davis Smith

Designing k-12 Corgan Associates, this year’s Top Design Firm, is the architect for the new Red Oak High School near Dallas. Cadence McShane Cos. completed the 40,000-sq-ft, three-story masonry and glass facility.

AECOM attributes the increase to its participation in several megaprojects involving public-private partnerships as well as two design-build projects: SH 161 for the North Texas Tollway Authority and the North Tarrant Express for the Texas Dept. of Transportation.

The 92 firms that responded to the request for information reported collective billings in Texas of $2.56 billion in 2010, down from the $2.88 billion reported by the 95 firms responding a year ago. URS, which earned the top spot last year with more than $388.1 million in Texas billings, did not participate this year. Participating firms billed $262 million in Louisiana in 2010.

The Top Contenders

Jacobs came in second with $236.93 million in regional billings. CH2M HILL, ranking third, had $163.15 million in billings, followed by Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), lead designer of the DFW Connector, with $141.41 million and HNTB Corp. with $139.99 million. Only one other firm, HDR, at number six, with $132.68 million in billings, topped the $100-million level.

Rounding out the top 10 are Gensler, with $99.4 million; ARCADIS, with $86.64 million; Atkins North America—formerly PBS&J—with $81 million; and Freese and Nichols, with $78.49 million.

The firms collectively reported $26.4 billion in worldwide revenue, an increase from $22.4 billion on last year’s list. AECOM topped the list with $5.9 billion worldwide, followed by Jacobs, with $4.74 billion; CH2M HILL, with $3.6 billion; PB, with $1.56 billion; and HDR, with $1.5 billion.