Design activity has laid the foundation for another year of strong construction activity, Jessica Reinert, executive director of the Iowa chapter of the American Institute of Architects said after a reading of the national organization’s measure of billings to architectural firms. “2017 turned out to be a strong year for architecture firms with the majority of ABI monthly scores in positive territory,” Reinert said in a release. The index was 52.9 in December, down from 55 the previous month but still capping three consecutive months of positive growth, with any reading above 50 indicating an increase in activity. An index measuring requests for new projects was at 61.9, up from 61.1 in November, and the new contracts index dropped to 53.2 from 52.7.