Woods Bagot has led the charge amongst Australian firms on the latest international rankings of the world's leading architectural practices.

Australian architects continue to rank prominently amongst the world’s leading practitioners of building design, with five local companies making the 2016 list of the world’s top 100 architecture firms.

British architectural newspaper Building Design has just released its World Architecture 100 (WA100) list of the leading architecture firms around the globe, based on an international survey of 1,350 members of the industry by UK communications agency Camargue.

A total of five Australian architecture practices feature on the 2016 list, with Woods Bagot at the top once again in sixth place, rising one spot compared to its position in last year’s list.

The other Australia practices on the list this year include Cox Architecture, at 44th position compared to 45th last year, Bates Smart at 57th place, Buchan Group, which climbed two spots from 60 in 2015 to 58 this year, and GHD Woodhead, at 99th position.

While Australian architects continue to perform impressively in the international rankings, the number of local practices on the World Architecture 100 fell by one in 2016 compared to six last year. Several prominent firms have slipped off the list, including HBO+EMTB, which placed 43rd last year, Thomson Adsett, at 95th position in 2015, and Hayball, which previously made 99th.

US practice Gensler came in first on the WA100 for 2016, regaining top spot after ceding it to engineering consultancy Aecom last year. According to Building Design Gensler remains the world’s largest architecture practice as well as the one with the highest earnings.

Aecom took second place this year after being ousted by Gensler from the top spot, followed by Japan’s Nikken Sekkei in third position. The top five were rounded out by US firms Perkins+Will and HDR, in fourth and fifth position respectively.

In addition to placing five firms in the top 100 the Australian market also displays strong growth potential, making the top five this year behind China, the USA, UK and India with a figure of six per cent.

The WA100 Top Five

  1. Gensler (US)
  2. Aecom (US)
  3. Nikken Sekkei (Japan)
  4. Perkins+Will (USA)
  5. HDR (USA)

The Top Five Australian Firms on the WA100

  1. Woods Bagot (6th)
  2. Cox Architecture (44th)
  3. Bates Smart (57th)
  4. Buchan Group (58th)
  5. GHD Woodhead (90th)