Under the latest round of NYC's Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Project Excellence Program, Commissioner Thomas Foley has announced that the agency has selected 20 firms to provide architectural design services for New York City’s future public buildings project. 10 of the selected firms are certified Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs), meeting the city’s ambitious goals of supporting M/WBEs and increasing its ability to generate culturally competent designs.
DDC is New York's principal construction management agency, responsible for building infrastructure and public buildings such as firehouses, libraries, community health centers, recreation centers, and cultural facilities. The Project Excellence Program (previously known as Design and Construction Excellence) pre-qualifies architecture firms to provide design services for its public buildings projects, ensuring high quality construction based on their expertise while reducing the time required to procure design services.
Prior to the final selection, the firms went through a rigorous review process to ensure they can deliver inspirational and functional designs that follow the required time and budget, and employ sustainable and durable materials. For architectural design services, five small firms (professional staff size 5 – 20) have been selected to receive projects with estimated construction costs ranging from $100,000 to $10,000,000; 10 medium firms (professional staff size 21 – 50) have been selected to receive projects with estimated construction costs ranging from $10,000,001 to $50,000,000; and five large firms (professional staff size above 50) have been selected to receive projects with estimated construction costs ranging from $50,000,001 up to $200,000,000.
The full list of firms chosen to provide architectural design services for the next round of DDC’s Project Excellence Program include:
Small (5 – 20 professional staff)
- Verona Carpenter Architects (WBE)
- nARCHITECTS (M/WBE)
- Shakespeare Gordon Vlado Architects (WBE)
- Ricardo Zurita Architecture & Planning (MBE)
- Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects (WBE)
Medium (21 – 50 professional staff)
- Selldorf Architects (WBE)
- R2Architecture (Ronnette Riley Architect/Ross Barney Architects JV) (WBE)
- ikon.5 architects
- Leroy Street Studio
- BKSK Architects
- ROGERS PARTNERS Architects+Urban Designers
- Allied Works Architecture
- TOD WILLIAMS BILLIE TSIEN Architects + Partners (M/WBE)
- H3
- PBDW Architects
Large (More than 50 professional staff)
- Studio Gang (WBE)
- SHoP Architects
- Marvel (MBE)
- Snøhetta
- Grimshaw
Several changes were implemented to the program to guarantee fair compensation and flexibility for the firms. Unlike past rounds, the next round will award projects to participating firms on a rotating basis, all contracts will be architect prime contracts, with subconsultants defined after the contract award, firms will receive an hourly rate equal to direct salary reimbursement for all time card services, and the agency’s fee structure has been adjusted to reflect the more demanding environment in which the next round of public buildings will be executed.
