Architecture, interior design, planning, landscape design, and strategic consulting firm B+H is partnering with one of Asia’s largest urban and infrastructure consulting firms, Surbana Jurong Private Limited (Surbana Jurong).
Poised for the next phase of its transformation into a world-class strategic consulting and design powerhouse, this new partnership aligns B+H with a global industry leader and provides unprecedented access to a deeper and broader platform from which to propel the firm’s growth.
This new partnership marks Singapore-based Surbana Jurong’s first investment in a North American consulting and design practice and a key phase of its urban transformation strategy. Sharing common goals and service, sector and geographic synergies, B+H will deepen Surbana Jurong’s architecture and design capabilities. In turn, B+H’s ability to transform spaces, communities and economies will be dramatically expanded through the Surbana Jurong Group’s global network.
Left to right: Mr. Eric Ang, Board Member, Surbana Jurong; Mr. Ku Moon Lun, Board Member, Surbana Jurong; Mr. Bill Nankivell, CEO, B+H Architects; Mr. Liew Mun Leong, Chairman, Surbana Jurong; Mr. Wong Heang Fine, Group CEO, Surbana Jurong; Mr. Rocco Yim, Principal, Rocco Design Architects; Mr. Yeo Siew Haip, Managing Director, SAA
“This partnership accelerates B+H’s continued growth strategy and positions us to compete with some of the most powerful firms in the world,” says Bill Nankivell, CEO, B+H. “Continued investments, consolidation and mergers in our industry are providing platforms for firms to grow, diversify, compete, and attract and retain the best talent. The B+H and Surbana Jurong partnership will allow us to deliver bold and inspiring projects in new geographies and sectors, providing extraordinary opportunities for our people.”
A shared vision
Sharing a legacy of progressive projects that have made significant contributions to their communities – Surbana Jurong are the innovators behind one million public housing units in Singapore and the iconic Snowy Mountain Hydroelectric Scheme in Australia – both firms are committed to design excellence and continual growth at all scales. This synergistic alignment of purpose and values was the impetus for the partnership and the reason why B+H selected Surbana Jurong as an investor in its future.
“Surbana Jurong and B+H believe in shaping spaces, communities, cities, economies and lives,” says Wong Heang Fine, Group CEO of Surbana Jurong. “Both firms are committed to delivering resilient and healthy environments. Together, we will aim to provide integrated, end-to-end and best-in-class solutions, from real estate and development strategies, to design and consulting services and through to facilities management. We will create spaces and design infrastructure where people live, work and play, shaping cities into homes with sustainable jobs where communities and businesses can flourish.”
A new platform for strategic growth and design leadership
Founded in Toronto in 1953, B+H first established its name by working on small-to-medium-scale developments throughout the city, gradually building its portfolio through collaborations with well-known ‘starchitects’ on the execution of some the city’s most iconic projects, such as Mies van der Rohe’s TD Centre.
Over the years, B+H grew in response to shifting market conditions, expanding into new geographies and acquiring smaller firms to diversify its services, access new sectors, and grow internationally. This agility allowed B+H to broaden its conventional business model and establish a reputation for high design and advanced consulting services.
The next phase of its evolution will see B+H play a key role in shaping Surbana Jurong’s global urban transformation vision through its design leadership, talent, portfolio, and consulting services that use design thinking to create high value solutions for the built environment.
Maintaining B+H’s Canadian roots and identity
B+H Principals will continue to be owners and the firm will be managed as an independent entity by its Managing Principals, with its head office remaining in Toronto thereby retaining its strong Canadian brand.
Surbana Jurong’s business model is to have specialist groups operate independently in the global marketplace, with the flexibility to work separately or collaboratively in response to need and opportunity. B+H and Surbana Jurong will collaborate on strategic opportunities in North America where feasible, where Surbana Jurong does not currently have a strong market presence.
In China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam, where both firms have a presence, B+H will continue to operate independently, providing a full suite of design services and collaborating with Surbana Jurong and member companies. The partnership will allow B+H to leverage Surbana Jurong’s presence in Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, India, Indonesia, Australia and Africa to pursue new project opportunities.
An investment in Canada’s knowledge economy
Surbana Jurong is a group of companies with a global network of 130 offices with 14,500 employees. Its other member companies are AETOS and KTP in Singapore, RBG and SMEC in Australia and Sino-Sun in China. The group is committed to delivering long-term sustainable value for present and future generations. The partnership provides B+H with access to a much broader and deeper network that will allow the firm to scale and grow both in Canada and overseas and will provide new job opportunities for Canadian talent both at home and abroad.
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About B+H B+H is a global, award-winning consulting + design solutions firm. We leverage the core visualization and integration skills of an architecture and design practice to understand and articulate complex data into transformative solutions across a broad spectrum of sectors and services. Founded on a 65-year legacy of creating bold and inspiring spaces for people, B+H provides core architecture, planning, landscape, and interior design services. Today our team includes more than 450 curious designers, place makers, strategists, storytellers, and creative human beings who believe in embracing change and challenging the status quo to deliver resilient, healthy environments that make positive contributions to their communities and are characterized by vibrant human experiences. Collaborating across ten studios in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Seattle, Los Angeles, Dubai, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore & Ho Chi Minh City, B+H’s architects, interior designers, planners, landscape architects, organizational design specialists, experience designers, researchers, analysts, and brand strategists combine strategic thinking, bold design and advanced technology with the creative human energy of an interdisciplinary, multigenerational team. A member of the Surbana Jurong Group, B+H delivers strategic consulting and high value design solutions that shape spaces, communities, and economies. About Surbana Jurong Surbana Jurong is one of the largest Asia-based urban and infrastructure consulting firms. Leveraging technology and creativity, Surbana Jurong provides best-in-class consultancy solutions across the entire value chain of the urbanisation, industrialisation and infrastructure domains. Headquartered in Singapore, the Surbana Jurong Group has a global workforce of over 14,500 employees in more than 130 offices across over 40 countries in Asia, Australia, UK, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, and an annual turnover of around S$1.5 billion. Surbana Jurong has a track record of close to 70 years, and has built more than a million homes in Singapore, crafted master plans for more than 30 countries and developed over 100 industrial parks globally. Surbana Jurong’s motto ‘Building Cities, Shaping Lives’ reflects its belief that development is more than just steel and concrete. Surbana Jurong creates spaces and designs infrastructure where people live, work and play, shaping cities into homes with sustainable jobs where communities and businesses can flourish. |
(Sources: Bill Nankivell, CEO, B+H; Karen Cvornyek, President, Asia, B+H; Wong Heang Fine, Group Chief Executive Officer, Surbana Jurong Private Limited)
