U.S. architecture firm leaders are seeing a potential rebound in business after more than a year of developers taking a cautious approach to pursuing new projects.
Invoices that architecture firms sent to clients for completed work rose to an index score of 50.3 in October, according to a monthly report by the American Institute of Architects and software maker Deltek. A score higher than 50 means a firm’s rate of billings increased over the previous month. The AIA/Deltek index score is an average of all firms that participated in the survey.
The October index score of 50.3 tops the September score of 45.7 and breaks a 20-month string of declines in monthly billings. However, the value of new design contracts dropped for the seventh consecutive month, according to AIA and Deltek.
“Billings finally stabilized this month and firms are feeling more optimistic about revenue projections for 2025,” Kermit Baker, the AIA’s chief economist, said in a statement.
Real estate professionals said they expect an increase in new business on hopes the economy will improve under the incoming Trump administration. Architecture firms are typically hired in the early stages of commercial projects, and their billings are viewed as a window into the potential direction of real estate development.
About 41% of architecture firm executives polled by AIA and Deltek said they expect net revenue to grow next year. About 32% projected growth between 5% and 9%.
Designers at architecture firm Pickard Chilton are fielding more calls from current and potential new clients, said Adrienne Nelson, a principal at the New Haven, Connecticut-based company.
“We are seeing requests for various project types, from residential to life science and even corporate build-to-suit,” Nelson said in an emailed statement. “The commonality among all these requests is the desire to build upon the density of our cities. Clients are interested in flexible design solutions that can evolve with the market and complement new hubs of activity.”
Other architecture and construction firms have also recently reported new contracts. Manica, based in Kansas City, Missouri, and Atlanta-based TVS last month were hired as architects for a $900 million basketball arena in Oklahoma City, according to the Oklahoma City Council.
Parsons, based in Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded a contract last month to design six rail stations for a mass-transit project in development in Honolulu, according to the company’s most recent earnings release.
The Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron was named the architect for the conversion of the former Whitney Museum of American Art building in New York into the headquarters office for the auction house Sotheby’s.