BKF Featured by Engineering News-Record (ENR): 2026 California Design Firm of the Year in “BKF Aims Big While Retaining its Roots.” By: L.L. Poirier. 

BKF has been recognized by ENR, highlighting the firm’s continued growth, strong client partnerships, and expanding service capabilities across the West Coast.

The ENR feature underscores BKF’s evolution from a regional civil engineering firm into a multiservice organization delivering planning, engineering, surveying, and construction management services across transportation, water, government, and land development markets. Recent strategic mergers and partnerships with MNS Engineers, Inc., and Lotus Water have further strengthened BKF’s ability to provide integrated infrastructure solutions and to deepen its regional impact.

The article features BKF’s history, technical capabilities, long-term relationships, client-centric mindset, and employee-first culture contributing to BKF’s success and promising future.

Noting BKF’s history in California and the West, Peter Wijsman, Executive Vice President of Infrastructure Solutions, says: “BKF has been around for 110 years. We carry a very long legacy, having been founded in the Bay Area, being a California-headquartered company, and having the majority of our staff in California. We can deliver large infrastructure and have the horsepower to do so. We do that through deep local connections, and I think that makes us different.”

“I think if you looked at us 20 years ago, something of a secret sauce for us was just our entrepreneurship,” Patrick Chan, Executive Vice President, Development Solutions, explains. “And what we’re able to do now is funnel that specifically into our clients and the markets that we want to be in—so choosing what to do and what not to do.”

“Some of the amazing clients that BKF has range from elite universities like Stanford to our tech sector friends at Alphabet, to the growing need for health care in the state and in the West between Kaiser and Sutter Health—just clients that we really value the partnership with and we really appreciate them continuing to come back to us for ongoing services,” Darren Riegler, President and CEO of BKF, states.

Belinda Young at HOK, a leader in Health Care, states, “BKF is very responsive and integral to finding solutions that are durable and cost-effective. We work on health care projects that are particularly challenging in California, with escalating costs and exacting requirements. BKF has the experience and knowledge to get these types of projects completed successfully.”

BKF’s client-centric mindset was further reinforced by Timothy J. Campbell, Deputy District Director, District 5 Project Development and Construction, Caltrans, who states: “BKF has developed great working relationships, from both their staff and management, and provided excellent support to our teams.”

With a team of over 800 professionals across 20 offices, BKF continues to prioritize long-term client relationships, support complex infrastructure projects, and invest in opportunities for employee growth, all while maintaining its strong California roots.

Focusing on the heart of our company, BKF’s employees, Darren reinforces that “Part of putting these companies together is to provide expanded solutions to our clients, but also [it provides] opportunities for our employees.”