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One of the things I like most about my job is how much time I get to spend kicking around the Internet. While doing this I have stumbled across some really cool websites related to building. Thus I have decided to list a few of my favorites by category.

°ä´Ç´Ç±ô±ð²õ³ÙÌýcommercial development firm website

This has to go to the Costa Mesa-based firm, . You might be familiar with the company as they are doing the Centennial Mills redevelopment project here in town. The firm’s work defines cool, and their website helps accentuate it. The site is easy to navigate and is full of information on current and past projects. The firm begins every project by defining the culture of the area. In Portland, we are foodies, thus the company is turning the bottom floor of Centennial Mills into an artisan food market. Only this website could make you want to enter a profession that is struggling as much as commercial development is.

°ä´Ç´Ç±ô±ð²õ³ÙÌýconstruction company website

The construction industry takes the cake for lamest websites. But the St. Louis-based bucks the trend. Every picture has been run over by the grain tool in Photoshop, helping provide a gritty feeling. Plus the site has a very informative blog and live Web cams at each of the company’s project sites. For some reason I want to buy steel-toed work boots when I visit the site.

°ä´Ç´Ç±ô±ð²õ³ÙÌýarchitecture firm website

This one is hard as architecture websites are usually pretty cool. I have two favorites, both of which are international firms. The first is from the Netherlands. The firm does work all over Europe and Asia. After a cool intro, you are directed to a globe focused on Europe. There you can click and see projects the firm has done in various countries. There is very little verbiage on the website, but in architecture a picture says more than a thousand words.

The second architecture firm with a cool website is . This award-winning architecture firm from Germany has an award-winning website. The pictures the firm shoots of its completed work are as artistic as the work in general. I would literally buy prints of some of these pictures to hang on my walls. Go check out the work the firm did on the Guggenheim Museum in Taiwan and the explanation for each decision it made.

°ä´Ç´Ç±ô±ð²õ³ÙÌýproperty design, build, operate and maintain (DBOM) firm website

This has to go to of Seattle. The front page of the website is all you need to see. It gives a visual representation of every facet of construction, from underground parking structures to rooftops. The firm is all inclusive and so is the website. Dig around for a while and you will leave with a better understanding of how everything is connected in construction.

°ä´Ç´Ç±ô±ð²õ³ÙÌýresidential property database

This is a hard one as has really changed the game. But one website that takes mapping properties a step further is . This site lets you view an aerial map of available homes anywhere in the U.S. But the site lets you take it a step further by viewing heat maps for income levels, foreclosures, home prices, population density and rental rates. Type in Phoenix and look at the foreclosures heat map to get a quick overview of the current state of contemporary residential real estate.

As a side note, I will update this list periodically as I come across more categories and cooler websites. If you think there is a better website for one of these categories, or a category that I should include, send them my way.