Press Release

SOM Tops Architect Magazine’s 2012 Architect 50 List

New York, NY: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), the acclaimed architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban planning firm, has once again received a high ranking in Architect magazine’s annual Architect 50 list. Out of 134 participating firms, SOM has ranked number one in the design excellence/pro bono category and number seven overall.

Now in its fourth year, Architect’s Arch 50 list endeavors to determine which U.S. architecture firm had the best year. The 2012 overall ranking is based on scores in three separate categories: business, sustainability, and design excellence/pro bono. Questions in each category are assigned a weight, and firms earn points per questions based on how well they perform relative to their counterparts. The design excellence/pro bono score measures the awards won by firms, their commitment to pro bono work, the percentage of repeat clients, employee benefits, and the scope and range of employees’ civic engagement.

The goal of the Architect 50 is to “reward accomplishment according to the broadest possible criteria [and] the list is designed to celebrate practices of all kinds.” SOM has consistently ranked in the top ten since Architect started producing the list in 2009, and in 2010, the firm, which the magazine called “the perennial list-maker,” achieved the title of number one architecture firm in the United States.

For more information about Architect’s methodology and to see the full 2012 Architect 50 list, visit http://www.architectmagazine.com/business/architect-ranking-the-architect-50-2012.aspx.

About Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) is one of the leading architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban-planning firms in the world, with a 75-year reputation for design excellence and a portfolio that includes some of the most important architectural accomplishments of the 20th and 21st centuries. Since its inception, SOM has been a leader in the research and development of specialized technologies, new processes and innovative ideas, many of which have had a palpable and lasting impact on the design profession and the physical environment. The firm’s longstanding leadership in design and building technology has been honored with more than 1,600 awards for quality, innovation, and management. The American Institute of Architects has recognized SOM twice with its highest honor, the Architecture Firm Award—in 1962 and again in 1996. The firm maintains offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Abu Dhabi.