CEI Architecture, one of western Canada's leading architectural practices, has announced it will join HDR, a global firm with one of the world's top ranked architecture practices. Leadership of the two firms cite opportunities for growth both geographically and within each firm's respective market sectors as the reasons for merging its shared commitment to design innovation in a global landscape. The agreement is expected to be completed in the next few weeks.
"Both of our firms share a philosophy of balancing quality design, technical expertise, business orientation, and customer satisfaction—specifically focusing on being market leaders in clearly defined sectors," commented Doug Wignall, AIA, president of HDR's Architecture practice. "This common platform is essential to building a solid foundation for future growth. CEI is a well-respected design firm with a commitment to design excellence that complements our own. I am confident we will work well together to continue to advance this reputation to global prominence."
"Together, we are poised to be a preeminent force in many sectors in Canada, particularly in healthcare, recreation and research," explained Bill Locking, a founding partner of CEI. "We will seek to deepen our bench of local healthcare and research expertise with the global resources HDR offers in consulting services such as strategic innovation, user experience modeling, laboratory and healthcare planning, data-driven design, and Lean Six Sigma. This uniquely positions us to deliver healthcare and research projects of all sizes, scopes and complexities."
Collectively, HDR's and CEI's experience with public-private partnership (P3) for health is perhaps more than any other architecture firm in Canada. This merger of practices provides clients with a much greater depth of experienced resources focused on an incredibly deep portfolio of PPP projects.
Additionally, Locking added, "The expertise CEI brings to the table can help the firm expand into new sectors such as recreation, K-12 education and commercial development not only throughout all provinces of Canada, but beyond the Canadian border as well."
CEI was founded in 1996 and has approximately 70 employees located in British Columbia; its main office is in Vancouver, with additional offices in Victoria and Penticton, as well as Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta. HDR's presence in the Canadian market began in 2002; currently about 120 employees are based in offices throughout Ontario.
