HDR Annual Report, 2025

Collaborative Success

Thank you for all your hard work and contributions to the success of our clients, our company, and each other in 2025. We collectively demonstrated our strength and resilience by successfully working through challenges, collaborating as a team, and focusing on the values that have become so much a part of our DNA for the past 109 years. Thanks to your work, we are proud to once again celebrate a year marked by innovation, adaptation, creative and technical excellence, and unwavering dedication to our clients, the communities we serve, and to one another. Congratulations on another extraordinary year in our HDR story.

Culture and Client Focus

This past year, our company grew to more than 14,000 employees as we welcomed Live Oak Consultants and NOVA Consulting to our team. We responded to external conditions by adeptly sharing work across all geographies and business groups, demonstrating once again that collaboration remains foundational to our success. Our culture, focus on our clients, and delivery of quality work continue to fuel our profitable growth.

Among the many accolades we earned in 2025, Forbes named HDR one of America’s Best Employers for Company Culture and New Grads. And, we are now the fifth-largest employee-owned firm in the United States, and the top one in our industry.

We expect to see another year of collaboration and growth in 2026 as workloads surge in several key market sectors that are at the core of our business, and as we push into markets that require an integrated approach, such as aviation architecture and advanced manufacturing.

We will establish a new framework for how we interact with our clients and strengthen our partnerships with them. We will add value to our clients, improve productivity, and enhance project delivery performance by integrating several technology tools into our business over the next few years. These efforts are intended to move us beyond just winning individual projects to cultivating strategic client relationships.

Our Heritage of Success

As we look forward, we will have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Significant uncertainty caused by worldwide geopolitical events and unprecedented rhetoric in public dialogue will continue to affect our teammates, our partners, and our communities. In the meantime, our focus remains on delivering for our clients, living our values, and taking care of each other in a culture of ownership, integrity, and respect.

As the rate of change continues to accelerate, some things will always hold true at HDR. Our exceptional organisational character lives on thanks to the fortitude shown by H.H. Henningson in 1917, which was reaffirmed by the HDR leaders who championed our employee ownership in 1996. Let us be inspired by our history and heritage, which continue to serve as the foundation for our success, and work together every day to pass this DNA on to the next generation of employee-owners.

Please accept my gratitude for another fantastic year and for the work you do every day. I am confident that if H.H. Henningson, Chuck Durham, or Willard Richardson read this Annual Report, they would be proud of their legacy, which continues to be alive and well. I am grateful to serve as your teammate and business partner.

Thanks again.

John Henderson, P.E.
Chairman and CEO

No. 1 

Largest Architecture/Engineering 100% Employee-Owned Companies in the U.S.
National Center for Employee Ownership

No. 2

Top 100 Global Architecture Practices
World Architecture 100 Survey

Top Data Center A/AE Firms & Top Architecture/Engineering Firms
Building Design+Construction, Giants 400

No. 4

Largest 100% Employee-Owned Companies in the U.S.
National Center for Employee Ownership

No. 5

Largest Employee-Owned Companies in the U.S.
National Center for Employee Ownership

No. 6 

Top 500 Design Firms
Engineering News-Record

Named Among America’s Best Employers for Company Culture and New Grads 2025
Forbes

2025 Awards

2025 Rankings

The need to replace seismically vulnerable structures created an opportunity to improve this vital east-west corridor and reconnect the Montlake neighbourhood, which was divided by the original highway construction. The project also enhances mobility for all users, including transit, high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, bicycles, and pedestrians. Improvements to the highway and its crossing over Union Bay will provide safer and more reliable travel. The project is part of the Washington State Department of Transportation’s larger State Route 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program, which is making significant improvements to the SR 520 corridor in Seattle. HDR has been a key part of the $5.9 billion program since 2005 as its general engineering consultant.

The new Downtown Connection Center will help meet Flagstaff’s increasing transit service needs. Its design reflects the historic core of downtown Flagstaff, with a façade comprising stone veneer, curtained wall and metal panelling. Construction of the new building alongside the existing 11-bus-bay connector enhances connectivity across the city and creates purpose-built spaces for riders and staff. The redesigned bus connector plaza features 13 bays, photovoltaics and electric charging stations, supporting Mountain Line’s goal of achieving net-zero operational energy and adopting emerging technologies to accommodate its 30-year growth plans. Mass timber construction helps to reduce embodied energy by over 30% compared to a traditional steel structure. The centre is on track to receive gold certification by the Coconino County Sustainable Building Program standards.

The Milton Keynes University Hospital design will enhance patient care, improve experiences and support future healthcare demands as the population of Milton Keynes, U.K., is projected to double by 2050. As one of the first National Health Service (NHS) New Hospital Programme projects to benefit from the Hospital 2.0 design framework, Milton Keynes University Hospital will expand clinical capacity, introduce advanced technology, improve patient experiences and care, and be flexible enough to adapt to changes in care delivery for decades to come. The NHS-funded work will also enable the introduction of innovative technology that will create “smarter” hospital facilities.

Image: Rendering

The $200 million Carlsbad Desalination Plant Intake and Discharge Facility in California is a technologically advanced, environmentally sensitive seawater facility. The facility maintains the plant’s production capacity of 50 million gallons per day (mgd) and delivers water to the San Diego County Water Authority, which serves 10% of San Diego’s potable water demand. The plant is part of a multidecade strategy to diversify the county’s water supply and reduce drought vulnerability. As the lead designers, our engineers worked alongside the builders to create a constructable project.
 

This transformative transit project extends an already successful streetcar line to create a transit spine in the city center and offer multimodal options along a dense corridor. Since the streetcar’s opening in 2016, the area around its route has seen approximately $1.8 billion in economic development. Civic officials have publicly attributed about 25% of that growth, at least in part, to the KC Streetcar. For the extension project, HDR reaffirmed its trusted client status with two clients, working collaboratively and efficiently to bring their vision to life and enhance one of the fastest federally funded streetcar projects ever completed.

This historic pedestrian bridge was inspected and redesigned to enhance resiliency and support outdoor recreation at one of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) most popular destinations. Handling over 100,000 visitors annually, the original bridge had severely deteriorated due to years of use, neglect in a remote location and windstorm damage, raising safety concerns for those crossing. We collaborated with BLM to assess the bridge’s integrity, explore alternatives to extending its lifespan beyond a deck revamp and redesign the overall site. Reverse-engineering the existing bridge produced a 3D model for structural analysis, enabling the preservation and restoration of most of the original structure.

Embodying a new approach to healing, discovery and teaching, the tower supports The Ohio State University’s long-term planning goals and enhances interventional procedures and inpatient care — all while offering families technology-rich spaces designed for healing, respite and gathering. With more than 800 private patient rooms and bright, airy spaces, the seamless integration of environment, staff, services, processes, and culture will create a superior patient experience. By reviewing the condition, usage and utility of all buildings on the current medical centre campus, the team has optimised the use of existing structures alongside new facilities.

Image: © 2024 Lauren K Davis / Feinknopf

Home to more than 4,300 species of plants and animals and supporting more than $730 million in annual economic impact, the ecologically vital Southern Indian River Lagoon region has been inundated with freshwater and pollutants. To reverse the harm to these sensitive ecosystems, the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed the C-44 Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area. As the first part of the Indian River Lagoon South Restoration Project and part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, the C-44 Stormwater Treatment Area project will reverse the damaging effects of pollution and unnaturally large freshwater discharges into these ecologically vital water bodies. By travelling through a 3,400-acre, 15-foot-deep reservoir and 6,300 acres of stormwater treatment areas, the water will pass through constructed wetlands for sedimentation and nutrient reduction.

The San Pedro Creek Culture Park revitalises a once-sacred creek with inspired art, splendid paseos, native plantings, unique plazas, places of respite, and spaces for cultural reflection. By expanding and beautifying the long-forgotten waterway, the project team contained the 100-year floodplain, built both literal and metaphorical bridges to the past, and connected long-separated cultures. The historically significant project created additional aquatic habitat and improved water quality, and its on-time delivery reinforced public trust in the ability to execute complex, community-centred projects. It also spurred development in downtown San Antonio and is expected to catalyse an estimated US$1.5 billion in economic impact.

While a historic silver mine from the late 1800s stood abandoned for decades, a series of natural tunnel collapses enabled millions of gallons of metal-laden, acidic groundwater to accumulate underground and discharge to the surface. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) subsequently designated the mine as a Superfund site. Beginning in 2009, we led a decades-long, multiphase remediation effort to control mine flow and remediate the site to environmental standards. We have also supported the EPA’s robust community outreach program at a series of public meetings. Safeguarding the waters of the Rio Grande and providing a safe habitat for key aquatic species preserves the river’s ecosystem and protects a recreational mainstay in the mountains.

The historic 40,000-square-foot Charleston City Market is one of the oldest continually operating urban markets in the U.S. Its restoration includes repointing old bricks and retrofitting The Market sheds with ceiling fans, a skylight running the length of its block-long roof, modernised restrooms, new ceiling and floors, and 20 “micro boutiques” — locally owned retail spaces of 150 to 600 square feet each that share an open floor plan. The original City Market was established in 1807 to sell meat, fruit, vegetables and fish. It served as a recruiting station during the Civil War. For the last few decades, The Market sold T-shirts, crafts and sweetgrass baskets. The overhaul is intended to bring back high-end local businesses and shoppers who had abandoned the site to the tourist trade.

The Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point has played a significant role in United States national defence for over 80 years. FRCE now performs depot-level maintenance for F-35 aircraft, and a new sustainment facility is needed to support and upgrade 20 F-35s simultaneously. This will be the first facility specifically designed for this purpose. Before the on-site design charrette, our team prepared draft floor plans, site plans and building visualisations based on operational planning discussions with FRCE staff. The site development included a taxiway connecting the existing runway to the new facility and a new aircraft parking apron in an environmentally sensitive area.

Image: Rendering

A transformative expansion of the University of Kansas Cancer Center introduces two interconnected buildings dedicated to advanced cancer research and clinical care. By integrating innovative research with patient care, the project reflects the joint vision of the KU Medical Center and the University of Kansas Health System to bring together the entire cancer community — research, physicians and clinical staff — to work side by side in one complex. The new complex contributes to a strategic investment in the future of cancer research and treatment at this National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centre.

Image: Rendering

The East River Electric Power Cooperative (ERE) supplies energy to 24 Midwestern rural electric cooperatives and one municipally owned electric system. ERE initiated a three-year systemwide upgrade program to meet increasing power demands from municipal utilities, agriculture, industry, and emerging crypto mining and data centres. This program involved over 50 projects, featuring extensive transmission and distribution upgrades to boost capacity and develop interconnections. We helped ERE review and identify programmatic tools, processes and resourcing requirements to address systemwide upgrade needs. Given the diverse needs of each interconnection, this strategic approach confirms design consistency and promotes efficiency in critical infrastructure.

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) assembled a collaborative team to upgrade a 16-mile transmission corridor from Redmond to Renton, Washington, when the existing 115-kilovolt (kV) transmission line reached capacity — an effort known as Energize Eastside. To minimise impacts, PSE elected to upgrade the existing corridor to high-capacity 230kV transmission and add the Richards Creek Substation, enabling the new transmission system to supply power to more residents and businesses. Coordination of multiple disciplines provided PSE with consistent, comprehensive permit applications and thorough responses to agency comments. Now operational, Energize Eastside has added capacity and reliability that will serve PSE customers for years to come.

The MV-22 hangar (P-1024) is a two-bay, Type II aircraft maintenance hangar that totals 53,055 square feet (SF), with each bay containing three MV-22 aircraft parking spots. A two-story, single-squadron administration and maintenance unit is located adjacent to the hangar and includes 33,453 SF on the first level and 15,660 SF on the second level. The administration and maintenance areas include command office suites, special access program facilities areas, and utility rooms for mechanical and plumbing, electrical, telecommunications, and fire protection. The HDR team incorporated Department of Defense and Department of the Navy principles for high-performance, sustainable building requirements into the project’s design and construction into the Naval Air Station Hangar and Administration Facility in North Island, California.

Image: © Alex Nye / Prismedia LLC