What Gilsanz Murray Steficek does

Gilsanz Murray Steficek (GMS) is a privately held structural engineering and building envelope consulting firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1991 as a multi-disciplinary engineering practice, the firm operates from four U.S. offices — Manhattan, Bloomfield NJ, Los Angeles, and Stamford CT — serving developers, architects, government agencies, healthcare and educational institutions, and cultural organizations across commercial, residential, institutional, and infrastructure markets. GMS has earned more than 400 project awards since inception and counts collaborations with 11 Pritzker Prize-winning architects among its portfolio references.

The firm delivers four core service lines: structural engineering (new construction, adaptive reuse, seismic design, and construction administration), building envelope design (curtain walls, ETFE roofs, prefabricated panel systems, waterproofing), inspection and testing (structural steel, reinforced concrete and masonry, plus TOMIE-certified tunnel and bridge inspections), and forensic engineering (failure analysis, expert testimony, and condition assessments). Underlying technical work uses SAP2000, ETABS, RAM Structural SAFE, finite element and nonlinear analysis, and BIM/Revit with Grasshopper and Dynamo parametric modeling for complex geometries. The staff of approximately 90 (per stated headcount) draws from 31 countries and represents 30 languages, with leadership holding past-president and board chair positions at SEAoNY, NCSEA, ATC, and ACEC-NY.

GMS generates revenue exclusively through project-based professional services engagements, with fees that are project-specific and not publicly disclosed. The firm goes to market via direct enterprise engagement with architects, developers, building owners, and government clients, supplemented by industry thought leadership — conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications in Structure Magazine and Modern Steel Construction, ACE Mentor Program participation, and Canstruction competitions. The customer base skews toward marquee institutional and developer clients (Guggenheim, Carnegie Hall, Empire State Building, JP Morgan Chase HQ at 270 Park Avenue, Lenox Hill Hospital, NYC DDC, NYU, Avalon Bay), supporting a referral-driven, reputation-led acquisition motion rather than a sales-led pipeline.

Name

Gilsanz Murray Steficek

Legal name

Gilsanz Murray Steficek

Website

https://gmsllp.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Gilsanz Murray Steficek is a New York-headquartered structural engineering and building envelope consulting firm serving developers, architects, government agencies, and institutional clients across four U.S. offices, with practices in structural design, facade consulting, inspection and testing, and forensic engineering.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Engineering Consulting Services: Project-based professional services revenue generated from structural engineering, building envelope consulting, forensic engineering, and inspection/testing engagements with developers, architects, and government agencies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Gilsanz Murray Steficek (GMS) is a multi-disciplinary structural engineering and building envelope consulting firm providing professional engineering services. Its core offerings span structural engineering consulting for new and existing buildings, building envelope and facade design, special inspections and materials testing, and forensic engineering analysis for failure investigation and expert testimony. Services are delivered as project-based consulting engagements to developers, architects, institutions, and government agencies.

Product overview

Gilsanz Murray Steficek (GMS) is a multi-disciplinary structural engineering and building envelope consulting firm providing professional engineering services. The firm operates as a single unified consulting practice organized around four core service disciplines: Structural Engineering, Building Envelope Design, Inspection and Testing, and Forensic Engineering. These services are delivered through project-based consulting engagements rather than a software product or platform model.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Structural Engineering Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 400 project awards since 1991, including five AISC Ideas2 awards for steel innovations.
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SEAoNY (Structural Engineers Association of New York)coreOthersGMS actively participates in SEAoNY events, presentations, and competitions. Staff hold leadership positions in the organization. The firm sponsors the annual Balsa Wood Competition and employees have served as officers and directors of SEAoNY.
• NCSEA (National Council of Structural Engineers Associations)coreOthersGMS staff have been elected to various offices in NCSEA. Vicki Arbitrio is a Past-President of NCSEA. The firm participates in NCSEA Engineering Excellence Awards and Summits.
• ATC (Applied Technology Council)coreOthersVicki Arbitrio is a Past-President of ATC, a not-for-profit organization that develops and promotes state-of-the-art engineering resources for hazard mitigation. GMS staff contribute to ATC initiatives and publications.
• ACEC New YorkcoreOthersVicki Arbitrio served as 2018-2020 Chair for ACEC-NY Metropolitan Region Board of Directors. GMS regularly wins Engineering Excellence Awards from ACEC-NY.
• ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers)coreOthersGMS staff participate in ASCE events, present at ASCE seminars, and Ramon Gilsanz received the ASCE Homer Gage Balcom Lifetime Achievement Award. Jessica Mandrick serves on ASCE committees.
• ACE Mentor ProgramminorOthersGMS serves as a mentor firm in the ACE Mentor Program, providing guidance and career development opportunities for students interested in architecture, engineering, and construction.
• CanstructionminorOthersGMS has participated in Canstruction NY competitions for over 20 years, building structures from canned food for donation to food banks. Multiple Best Use of Labels awards have been won.
• NYC Pride March / BuildOut AllianceminorOthersGMS participates annually in the NYC Pride March with BuildOut Alliance, an organization supporting LGBTQ+ professionals in design and construction.
• NIST/GEER (National Institute of Standards and Technology / Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance)coreOthersGMS engineers, including Ramon Gilsanz, participate in NIST/GEER reconnaissance teams for earthquake and disaster investigations, including the 2010 Haiti earthquake, 2014 Cephalonia Greece earthquakes, and 2024 New Jersey earthquake.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Thornton Tomasetti: Global structural engineering and applied science firm with deep presence in New York and a much larger service portfolio spanning forensics, protection engineering, and sustainability. Direct overlap with GMS on landmark new construction and forensic work, but at significantly greater scale and breadth.
• WSP USA: One of the world's largest professional services firms offering structural, building envelope, and inspection services across the full building lifecycle. Competes with GMS for major developer and institutional engagements while providing broader multi-discipline capabilities.
• Arup: Global engineering consultancy with a prominent New York structural engineering practice serving cultural, commercial, and institutional projects. Closely comparable to GMS in its work with Pritzker architects and complex building geometry, but at much larger firm scale.
• SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill): Integrated architecture, engineering, and urban planning firm with a leading structural engineering practice that competes with GMS on landmark skyscrapers and cultural projects. Larger, multi-discipline model with global reach.

Direct peers

• Buro Happold: International engineering consultancy with strong structural engineering, building envelope, and facade practices serving cultural and commercial clients. Comparable project mix and design-collaborative culture to GMS, with overlapping service lines and similar prestige positioning.
• DeSimone Consulting Engineers: New York-headquartered structural engineering firm serving high-rise residential, commercial, and cultural projects with a similarly strong reputation for landmark work. Direct competitor for the same developer and architect relationships in the NYC market.
• Leslie E. Robertson Associates (LERA): NYC-based structural engineering firm specializing in tall buildings, complex geometry, and adaptive reuse for cultural and institutional clients. Closely mirrors GMS's high-end, design-collaborative practice and New York-centric project base.
• Severud Associates: Long-established New York structural engineering firm with a comparable boutique profile focused on complex new construction and renovations for cultural, commercial, and institutional clients. Similar size and project type to GMS.
• Robert Silman Associates: Historic preservation and adaptive reuse-focused structural engineering firm based in New York and Washington, D.C. Direct overlap with GMS on landmark preservation, cultural institutions, and existing-building structural work.
• Silman (a TYLin company): Structural engineering consultancy with strong East Coast presence in preservation, cultural, and institutional projects. Now part of TYLin but operates as a focused structural peer competing for similar GMS clients and project types.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/gmsllp
• Facebookfacebook.com/gmsllp1991
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/2502722
• Instagraminstagram.com/gmsllp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gilsanz Murray Steficek