Architects, contractors feel the weight of the slowdown - Houston Business Journal:

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Contractors turn to architectural firms to gauge how much work they have to look forwarde to and this year that pipeline of work isextremelyg light. “Workload for architects is reallyt the canary in the coal mine for the construction saidWalter P. Palmeer III, president and CEO of the Genera Building Contractors Associationin Philadelphia. “Some architectural firmd are down to three days a laid off the majority of theirr staff and several architectural institutionsgraduating five-yeae architects that have nowhere to go to get a job. That presentsz a rippling effect that comew across theconstruction industry.
Our entire board of directorxs tell me 2010 is going to be much worse than A convergence of developers delaying projectsz orhalting them, and lenders still not funding developmentw has put a squeeze on architectxs and contractors. The construction industryh has already been hit with a 12 percen decline in employment inthe five-county region betweejn 2007 and the first part of this according to the Bureau of Labot Statistics. Man hours are off by about 25 percenty fromlast year’s Palmer said.
Architects were extremely busy between 2003 and 2007 with last year consideresa peak, according to John Claypool, executive director at the Philadelphia chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Firms had a fairly long line of busineszs racked up forthe future, Claypooo said. But no more. Some architectural firms have already beenearlyu casualties. SPG3, which was involved in retailoand entertainment, has slashed its staff and launchex a major restructuring. Ted Agoos, co-founder of , saw the firsr six months of last year asthe firm’sw best, but this year is different. Doinyg a mix of projects and not focusiny on one areahas helped.
“Everyonr is busy, but it’s the big projectx that give stability,” Agoos said. The firm has takebn on smaller, shorter projects to sustain the It also cut down thework week. “The challenge we face as an industruy is everyone is burning off backlohg as fast as they canreplenish it,” said Terryg Steelman at Ballinger, a Philadelphia architectural firm. “That is all goingh to trickle down to theconstruction industry. We think 2009 has clearly been a challenging year and 2010 is going to be a very challenginyg year unless things start to happen and start tohappenj quickly.” Contractors find they need to quicklyy adjust to survive.
“Our theme for this year is to analyzs and adaptto achieve,” Palmer said. Alreadg contractors are engaging in a bidding frenzy over any project thatcomez up. Contractors are undercutting bids just to win work and inothe situations, major constructing companiesz are bidding on minuscule projects that were once the territor of small firms. “Where there used to be two or threre bidderson projects, now there are 20 and 30,” Palmert said. has “rightsized,” cuttingb 20 percent of its office andfieldr staff, said Steve Pouppirt, Clemens hasn’t gone after work for no profig just to keep Pouppirt said.
Emily Bittenbender, managing partner of , formed two new divisions as a way to ginup business. “Wde have to adapt to this Bittenbender said. “People are so optimistic that it’sd going to turn around but my concernis we’re looking out a coupler years.” Bittenbender started a sustainablee program-management business to assist government agenciees seeking stimulus funds for projects but whicu lack the staff to supporyt and oversee them. The other new busines s is a carpentry unit that will go after federa l contracts asa subcontractor.
Architectsz are also venturing into new Ballinger ramped up writing grant applicationsz for institutions seeking stimulus fundstargetinfg research. These grants require a schematic designb of what they intends to do withthe awards.