Buro Happold Opens Five New U.S. Offices, Adding Key Regional Leaders

With global capabilities in sustainable, equitable solutions for cities and buildings, roster now includes new leaders in varied regions, alongside experts in innovative solutions

LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK, N.Y. – The award-winning multidisciplinary design firm and consultancy Buro Happold has announced an unprecedented expansion in the United States, including five new offices and more than a dozen key people added in cities from San Francisco to Washington, DC.

Unveiled by Buro Happold’s U.S. leadership, the firm’s presence in North America has vaulted from seven offices to 12, now including active locations in San Diego, Seattle, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and Raleigh-Durham. In addition, the award-winning consultancy has named a noted leader in sustainable design and technical excellence, Justin Schultz, P.E., to lead its growing San Francisco office. The moves presage a growth period in such sectors as healthcare, science and technology, cultural buildings, mixed-use and commercial complexes, as well as diverse planning and consulting in sustainability, resiliency and climate change adaptation.

Across the continent, Buro Happold has established a new beachhead in Washington, D.C., including a new associate principal, structural engineer Chris Crilly, P.E., LEED AP, known for his work on high-profile, high-design projects with innovative concrete and steel structures. Crilly worked for Buro Happold previously, and led structural engineering teams in the design of hotels, high-rise office and residential buildings, mixed-use and retail complexes, and government facilities. Also joining the D.C. office as principal is Roger Chang, P.E., a LEED Fellow and noted leader in sustainable design who will advance Buro Happold’s Capitol-area team of experts and expand the firm’s reach of world-class design and planning work across the region.

Adding to Buro Happold’s diverse staff of over 300 employees — ranging from engineers and architects to planners, economists, urban designers and real estate professionals — the new expansion is called highly strategic, focused on adding capacities sought after by a wide range of prominent clients. From city and federal governments to top universities and leading corporations, these end-users are increasingly engaging Buro Happold as a prime consultant for their highest-profile works. Growth in key sectors includes the new San Diego office, for example, which is completing its first major cultural project this spring.

“Buro Happold is methodically and strategically expanding to double our staff numbers from 2,000 to 4,000 employees in the next six years,” says Buro Happold CEO James Bruce. “In the U.K., we now have 1,000 staff members, and our goal has been to accelerate our building of a similar presence in the United States, focused on the most challenging, design-intensive and complex challenges the world faces today.” These include buildings and planning and consulting assignments with mission-critical significance to their constituencies, adds Bruce, who joined as CEO in May last year.

Leading Bruce’s expansion to create a more resilient business are experts in healthcare, science and technology (HST) in Boston, now led by partner John Swift, as well as in higher education, including partner Elliot Felix, who has worked with 100-plus universities nationally. In San Francisco and San Diego, mechanical engineers known for the country’s most sustainable new buildings will spearhead significant projects for client architects, bringing competencies in facades, LEED certification, health and wellbeing, analytics/energy modelling, fire and life safety, ICT/AV and security, and lighting design.

Known for taking projects from large-scale visioning and planning to intricate, highly technical design and implementation needs, Buro Happold has cultivated a steadfast following among technology companies, municipal leaders, transportation authorities, and large-scale developers with a vision for positive change.

More background information on Buro Happold’s new offices and recently appointed leaders is available from C.C. Sullivan. Key sources at the firm, including David Herd in Los Angeles and Craig Schwitter in New York, are available for interview.