Growth-minded AEC firm CannonDesign announced this morning that it will merge with Denver-based Bennett Wagner Grody Architects (BWG), a 28-year AE firm with portfolio strengths in the K-12, Higher Education, and healthcare sectors.
This alliance gives CannonDesign its first office in Colorado, and represents its second acquisition within the past few months. In September, Cannon announced that it was joining forces with Houston-based design firm FKP, whose expertise extends to healthcare, science and technology.
CannonDesign did not disclose the terms of its agreement with BWG. But Brad Lukanic, AIA, who took over as CannonDesign’s CEO 15 months ago, indicated that this deal is part of his 102-year-old company’s larger ambitions to expand by linking with strategic partners. “We’re in the mode of looking at how our practice is evolving,” he tells BD+C. “The two recent mergers are key steps” in CannonDesign’s growth framework, and are expected to help the company expand its position in the education and S+T sectors.
Brad Lukanic, CannonDesign's CEO, says his company intends to continue growing organically and through mergers with strategic partners. Image: courtesy of CannonDesign
Don Grody, AIA, a founding partner at BWG, says that about a year ago his firm started thinking about its future within a consolidating AE industry, too. It concluded that prosperity hinged on locating the right partner firm. He says the company worked up a list of 200 AE firms, and targeted 20 of them with an information piece about BWG. “CannonDesign was one of the firms that responded positively to BWG as well as to the Colorado market.”
Grody says the merger “allows us to harness new services and expertise to help our clients leverage the built environment to improve performance and create stronger futures. It gives us a very distinct perspective in the industry.”
CannonDesign has coveted a bigger presence in Denver “for a very long time,” says Lukanic. BWG’s recent projects in the state include Colorado State University’s Behavioral Sciences Building, Colorado Mesa University’s Engineering Building, and numerous projects with Kaiser Permanente. CannonDesign’s work in Colorado includes the renovation and expansion of the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Student Recreation Center, the expansion of the University of Colorado Hospital’s Anschutz Inpatient Pavilion, and the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Holaday Athletic Center.
Don Grody, one of BWG's founding principals, is in charge of innovation, quality planing, and excellence at his firm. Image: courtesy of CannonDesign
BWG’s management team, including its three principals, is staying on with the company. BWG will operate as Bennett Wagner Grody Architects | CannonDesign, and while its brand will eventually disappear, that transition process “could be fairly long,” predicts Lukanic, because Cannon Design doesn’t want to lose any of BWG’s marketing cachet.
Once its merger with BWG is completed, CannonDesign will have nearly 1,000 employees working in 19 offices in North America and abroad.
As for future expansion, Lukanic says CannonDesign is tracking markets where populations are growing and where its core business sectors are strong. He points specifically to Texas as an area where the firm wants to be a bigger player, and to construction services as an area for potential increased business.
He says that CannonDesign is also looking at “a few key international markets” for expansion, both within and outside of North America.
Lukanic believes that, by operating multiple offices, CannonDesign has a better shot at attracting and retaining the “emerging leaders” it will need to be successful in the future. Its geographic diversity “gives our people more lifestyle options.”
Related Stories
Airports | Aug 31, 2015
Surveys gauge users’ satisfaction with airports
Several surveys gauge passenger satisfaction with airports, as flyers and airlines weigh in on technology, security, and renovations.
Airports | Aug 31, 2015
Small and regional airports in a dogfight for survival
Small and regional airports are in a dogfight for survival. Airlines have either cut routes to non-hub markets, or don’t provide enough seating capacity to meet demand.
Airports | Aug 31, 2015
Airports expand rental car facilities to ease vehicular traffic at their terminals
AEC teams have found fertile ground in building or expanding consolidated rental car facilities, which are the No. 1 profit centers for most airports.
Airports | Aug 31, 2015
Experts discuss how airports can manage growth
In February 2015, engineering giant Arup conducted a “salon” in San Francisco on the future of aviation. This report provides an insight into their key findings.
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 28, 2015
Hospital construction/renovation guidelines promote sound control
The newly revised guidelines from the Facilities Guidelines Institute touch on six factors that affect a hospital’s soundscape.
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 28, 2015
7 (more) steps toward a quieter hospital
Every hospital has its own “culture” of loudness and quiet. Jacobs’ Chris Kay offers steps to a therapeutic auditory environment.
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 28, 2015
Shhh!!! 6 ways to keep the noise down in new and existing hospitals
There’s a ‘decibel war’ going on in the nation’s hospitals. Progressive Building Teams are leading the charge to give patients quieter healing environments.
Mixed-Use | Aug 26, 2015
Innovation districts + tech clusters: How the ‘open innovation’ era is revitalizing urban cores
In the race for highly coveted tech companies and startups, cities, institutions, and developers are teaming to form innovation hot pockets.
Building Enclosure Systems | Aug 11, 2015
Deriving value from coordinated building enclosure shop drawings
Building enclosure shop drawings play a critical role in guarding against common performance, cost, and schedule pitfalls associated with the transitions between adjacent enclosure components. Engineers with Simpson Gumpertz & Heger provide tips for success.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
GOVERNMENT SECTOR GIANTS: Public sector spending even more cautiously on buildings
AEC firms that do government work say their public-sector clients have been going smaller to save money on construction projects, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.