Nabbing the title from long-standing leader AECOM, Gensler claimed the top spot in our 2012 “Top 250 Architecture Firms” list, which ranks U.S. companies based on architectural revenue from the prior year.

For the fourth straight year, heavyweights AECOM and Gensler have landed at the number one and two spots, respectively, on our annual Top 250 Architecture Firms list, which ranks companies according to architectural revenue in the prior year.

Top 250 Architecture Firms’ 2009 revenue fell dramatically, while foreign work was stable.

If Rip Van Winkle, AIA, awoke today with no knowledge of the near collapse of the economy last year, and he decided to start catching up on news of the profession by checking architectural record’s Top 250 Firms list, he might be skeptical of the rumors that we’re in one.

What a ride it’s been. The total revenue of Architectural Record's Top 150 Architecture Firms surged in 2007, even as the AIA’s Architectural Billings Index (ABI) for March dropped to 39.7, its lowest level since the institute began tracking architects’ invoices in 1995.