TMK Architekten • Ingenieure, one of Germany’s leading healthcare architecture firms, announced today that it is joining forces with HDR Architecture, the world’s No. 1 healthcare and science + technology design firm. The merged company will conduct business as HDR TMK, and will be the hub for the firm’s healthcare and science + technology design programs in Europe.
TMK joins the HDR family with nearly 200 employees located in offices in Berlin, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Erfurt, Kiel, and Leipzig, Germany. Since its foundation more than 50 years ago, the firm has designed more than 1,500 healthcare projects throughout Europe, ranging from large-scale replacement hospitals to community clinics, surgical centers and outpatient facilities. The firm is well-known as an innovator in designing contemporary buildings for health—buildings that are distinctively designed to focus on people and to aid in the healing process.
“This is an exciting announcement for both HDR and TMK and a key part of our global strategy,” says Doug Wignall, president of HDR Architecture. “As a firm, HDR has made a commitment not only to designing projects all over the world and bringing the best ideas from around the globe to our clients, but to establishing a permanent presence in strategic locations around the globe. We are excited about the opportunity to blend the unique perspective that TMK offers as a German healthcare practice into HDR’s global team of thought leaders from North America, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim.”
Reflecting on the merger of the practices, Guido Messthaler, a Senior Partner with TMK Architekten, notes that, “Both firms are compatible on many levels, specifically in our commitment to our clients and to design excellence.” He continues, “The merger will deepen our healthcare expertise and enable us to reach deeper in the European marketplace. And with access to HDR’s expertise and portfolio, we will also be able to further develop work in the science and technology and higher education markets.”
HDR Architecture employs more than 1,300 professionals in 44 offices worldwide, including offices in the U.S., Canada, China, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. Global acquisitions are a key part of the firm’s growth strategy; with the addition of TMK, over 20% of HDR Architecture’s employees are located outside of the United States.
About HDR Architecture
HDR Architecture is a part of the HDR, Inc. family, a global architecture, engineering and consulting firm with more than 8,000 professionals in 190 locations worldwide. The architecture practice is an industry leader in designing technologically complex buildings and infrastructure; it is ranked as the No. 1 healthcare and science + technology design firm in the “World Architecture 100” ranking. Recent projects in Europe include the new Roslin Institute Building at the University of Edinburgh in Midlothian, Scotland; the Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory in Braga, Portugal; and multiple projects for the Pirbright Institute in Surrey, United Kingdom. In addition to the newly acquired TMK offices in Germany, HDR has a design studio in London, UK. Visit www.hdrinc.com and www.tmk-architekten.de/
Related Stories
| Apr 5, 2011
Top 10 Buildings: Women in Architecture
Making selections of top buildings this week led to a surprising discovery about the representation of women in architecture, writes Tom Mallory, COO and co-founder, OpenBuildings.com. He discovered that finding female-created architecture, when excluding husband/wife teams, is extremely difficult and often the only work he came across was akin to interior design.
| Apr 5, 2011
What do Chengdu, Lagos, and Chicago have in common?
They’re all “world middleweight cities” that are likely to become regional megacities (10 million people) by 2025—along with Dongguan, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, and Wuhan (China); Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo); Jakarta (Indonesia); Lahore (Pakistan); and Chennai (India), according to a new report from McKinsey Global Institute: “Urban World: Mapping the economic power of cities”.
| Mar 30, 2011
China's low-carbon future city
In 2005, the Chinese government announced its target to reduce energy consumption per GDP unit by 20% by the year 2010. After a multi-billion investment, that target has been reached. The Chinese Climate Protection Program’s goal to increase energy efficiency, develop renewable energies, and promote energy savings while reducing pollutant emissions and strengthening environmental protection is reflected in the “Future City” by SBA Design.
| Mar 30, 2011
Is the AEC industry at risk of losing its next generation leaders without better mentoring?
After two or three horrifying years for the AEC industry, we are finally seeing the makings of a turnaround. However, data developed by Kermit Baker as part of the AIA Work-on-the-Boards survey program indicates that between 17% and 22% of design firms are eliminating positions for interns and staff with less than six years of experience. This data suggests the industry is at risk of losing a large segment of its next generation of leaders if something isn't done to improve mentoring across the profession.
| Mar 29, 2011
City's design, transit system can ease gas costs
Some cities in the U.S. are better positioned to deal with rising gas prices than others because of their design and transit systems, according to CEOs for Cities, a Chicago-based nonprofit that works to build stronger cities. The key factor: whether residents have to drive everywhere, or have other options.
| Mar 29, 2011
Chicago’s Willis Tower to become a vertical solar farm
Chicago’s iconic Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) is set to become a massive solar electric plant with the installation of a pilot solar electric glass project.
| Mar 29, 2011
Read up on Amazon.com's new green HQ
Phase IV of Amazon’s new headquarters in Seattle is nearly complete. The company has built 10 of the 11 buildings planned for its new campus in the South Lake Union neighborhood, and is on-track for a 2013 grand opening.
| Mar 29, 2011
Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura wins Pritzker Architecture Prize
Portugese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, whose precisely-honed buildings reflect the influence of the late Chicago modernist Mies van der Rohe, is the 2011 winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the field's highest honor.
| Mar 25, 2011
Qatar World Cup may feature carbon-fiber ‘clouds’
Engineers at Qatar University’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering are busy developing what they believe could act as artificial “clouds,” man-made saucer-type structures suspended over a given soccer stadium, working to shield tens of thousands of spectators from suffocating summer temperatures that regularly top 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
