Engineering and consulting group GHD has announced it will acquire specialist architecture and design firm Woodhead.
Engineering and consulting group GHD has announced it will acquire specialist architecture and design firm Woodhead.
Under the terms of the deal announced today, GHD and Woodhead will combine operations in a number of offices across Australia.
GHD general manager for Australia and New Zealand Phil Duthie said the purchase of Woodhead was a key development in the company’s targeted property and buildings growth strategy.
The Australia-grown international engineering, architecture and environmental consulting company has worked closely with Woodhead for a number of years in Australia, and GHD believes the merger will strengthen the business in handling future projects around the world.
“The union reinforces a shared vision that design is a collaborative and integrated process, at its heart,” Woodhead managing director Angelo Di Marco said.
In Western Australia, GHD employs 600 staff, of 410 of whom are engineers, with 98 working in environmental consulting, according to Business News IQ.
It also employs a small number of architects, town planners and interior designers.
Woodhead has 25 employees in its Perth office, with most working in interior design and architecture.
GHD is planning to establish a new Perth office at 999 Hay Street, where QUBE Property Group is currently developing an office building.
Business News reported in August last year that GHD had committed to lease 6,500 square metres in the new building.
Since their establishment in the 1920s, both companies have branched out from their east coast offices to different parts of the globe.
Woodhead has a strong influence on projects in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, while GHD employs more than 5,500 people across five continents.
“Woodhead combining with GHD reinforces our position as a world-leading architectural and engineering integrated design practice,” GHD global market leader, property & buildings, Paul Morris said.
Today’s announcement comes just weeks after GHD took over a Canadian engineering and environmental consulting firm, Conestoga-Rovers & Associates.
