Ontario, Canada April 28, 2011 – Ottawa and Hamilton (Dundas)-based Vermeulen Hind Architects, one of Canada’s leading healthcare architectural firms, has merged with Perkins+Will. Vermeulen Hind joins Toronto-based Shore Tilbe Perkins+Will, celebrated for its focus on civic and recreation architecture, and Vancouver-based Busby Perkins+Will, widely regarded as one of North America’s leading green practices, to create Perkins+Will Canada. The combination marks the official launch of Perkins+Will Canada, a merge that will establish the firm as among the pre-eminent interdisciplinary design practices in Canada.
“The Vermeulen Hind merger supports our strategy to grow by targeted acquisition, as it represents a pooling of expertise that will bring significant benefits to our global business by establishing a strong healthcare practice in Canada,” said Phil Harrison, Perkins+Will CEO. “The establishment of Perkins+Will Canada provides us with a platform to harness our expertise into a national Canadian practice and combine it with the depth and global reach of the Perkins+Will brand.”
Founded in 1992, Vermeulen Hind has deep experience in designing specialized healthcare facilities, including cancer centers. The firm’s portfolio ranges from smaller, adaptive re-use and restoration projects to larger, multi-phase institutional transformations. Vermeulen Hind, along with Perkins+Will’s current Toronto office, will comprise the Ontario practice of Perkins+Will Canada.
“Each Perkins+Will Canada office shares a common philosophy of design excellence, and combining the knowledge, expertise and resources of our legacy firms will result in one of the strongest and most innovative architecture practices in North America,” said Fred Vermeulen Healthcare Market Sector Leader, Ontario. “By collaborating with our colleagues across Perkins+Will, we will be able to strengthen our offering and better meet the growing needs of our diverse client base.”
About Perkins+Will
Established in 1935, Perkins+Will is an integrated design firm serving clients from offices in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Dubai, Dundas, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Orlando, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Research Triangle Park, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C. The firm practices architecture, interiors, branded environments, planning + strategies, Preservation + Adaptive Reuse, and urban design for clients in the aviation + transit, corporate + commercial + civic, healthcare, higher education, K-12 education, science + technology and Sports + Recreation markets. Perkins+Will routinely ranks among the world’s top design firms and has received hundreds of awards, including the prestigious American Institute of Architects’ “Firm of the Year Award.” Social responsibility has been a driving philosophy at Perkins+Will since the firm’s beginnings in 1935. The firm has committed to the 1% Solution through Public Architecture, promising to donate time pro bono to non-profit organizations in need of design services. With more LEED Accredited Professionals than any design firm in North America, Perkins+Will is recognized as one of the preeminent sustainable design firm in the country. Perkins+Will was the first multi-office company to commit to the 2030 Challenge, in which the firm has pledged that all of their projects be designed to carbon neutrality by the year 2030.
About Vermeulen Hind Architects
Founded in 1992, the firm specializes in cancer center, healthcare and research facility design. The firm provides a full complement of comprehensive services – architecture, interior, urban and landscape design, and master and space planning – across two Ontario offices; one in Dundas and one in Ottawa.
Vermeulen Hind is bound by a common thread – to provide comfortable, healthy and stimulating experiences that celebrate life, promote wellness, contribute positively to community and heighten cultural awareness, all with a high degree of professionalism and social responsibility.
Related Stories
| Feb 11, 2011
Two projects seek to reinvigorate Los Angeles County medical center
HMC Architects designed two new buildings for the Los Angeles County Martin Luther King, Jr., Medical Center as part of a $360 million plan to reinvigorate the campus. The buildings include a 120-bed hospital, which involves renovation of an existing tower and several support buildings, and the construction of a new multi-service ambulatory care center. The new facilities will have large expanses of glass at all waiting and public areas for unobstructed views of downtown Los Angeles. A curved glass entrance canopy will unite the two buildings. When both projects are completed—the hospital in 2012 and the ambulatory care center in 2013—the campus will have added more than 460,000 sf of space. The hospital will seek LEED certification, while the ambulatory care center is targeting LEED Silver.
| Feb 11, 2011
Sustainable community center to serve Angelinos in need
Harbor Interfaith Services, a nonprofit serving the homeless and working poor in the Harbor Area and South Bay communities of Los Angeles, engaged Withee Malcolm Architects to design a new 15,000-sf family resource center. The architects, who are working pro bono for the initial phase, created a family-centered design that consolidates all programs into a single building. The new three-story space will house a resource center, food pantry, nursery and pre-school, and administrative offices, plus indoor and outdoor play spaces and underground parking. The building’s scale and setbacks will help it blend with its residential neighbors, while its low-flow fixtures, low-VOC and recycled materials, and energy-efficient mechanical equipment and appliances will help it earn LEED certification.
| Feb 11, 2011
Texas megachurch inspired by yesteryear’s materials, today’s design vocabulary
The third phase of The First Baptist Church of Pasadena, Texas, involves construction of a new 115,000-sf worship center addition. Currently in design by Zeigler Cooper, the project will include a 2,500-seat worship center (with circular layout and space for a 50-person orchestra and 200-person choir), a 500-seat chapel (for weddings, funerals, and special events), and a prayer room. The addition will connect to the existing church and create a Christian Commons for education, administration, music, and fellowship. The church asked for a modern design that uses traditional materials, such as stone, brick, and stained glass. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer.
| Feb 11, 2011
Apartment complex caters to University of Minnesota students
Twin Cities firm Elness Swenson Graham Architects designed the new Stadium Village Flats, in the University of Minnesota’s East Bank Campus, with students in mind. The $30 million, six-story residential/retail complex will include 120 furnished apartments with fitness rooms and lounges on each floor. More than 5,000 sf of first-floor retail space and two levels of below-ground parking will complete the complex. Opus AE Group Inc., based in Minneapolis, will provide structural engineering services.
| Feb 11, 2011
Four-story library at Salem State will hold half a million—get this—books!
Salem State University in Massachusetts broke ground on a new library and learning center in December. The new four-story library will include instructional labs, group study rooms, and a testing center. The modern, 124,000-sf design by Boston-based Shepley Bulfinch includes space for 500,000 books and study space for up to a thousand students. Sustainable features include geothermal heating and cooling, rainwater harvesting, and low-flow plumbing fixtures.
| Feb 11, 2011
Green design, white snow at Egyptian desert retail complex
The Mall of Egypt will be a 135,000-sm retail and entertainment complex in Cairo’s modern 6th of October district. The two-story center is divided into three themed zones—The City, which is arranged as a series of streets lined with retail and public spaces; The Desert Valley, which contains upscale department stores, international retailers, and a central courtyard for music and other cultural events; and The Crystal, which will include leisure and entertainment venues, including a cinema and indoor snow park. RTKL is designing the massive complex to LEED Silver standards.
| Feb 10, 2011
7 Things to Know About Impact Glazing and Fire-rated Glass
Back-to-basics answers to seven common questions about impact glazing and fire-rated glass.
| Feb 10, 2011
Medical Data Center Sets High Bar for BIM Design Team
The construction of a new data center becomes a test case for BIM’s ability to enhance project delivery across an entire medical campus.
| Feb 10, 2011
Zero Energy Buildings: When Do They Pay Off in a Hot and Humid Climate?
There’s lots of talk about zero energy as the next big milestone in green building. Realistically, how close are we to this ambitious goal? At this point, the strategies required to get to zero energy are relatively expensive. Only a few buildings, most of them 6,000 sf or less, mostly located in California and similar moderate climates, have hit the mark. What about larger buildings, commercial buildings, more problematic climates? Given the constraints of current technology and the comfort demands of building users, is zero energy a worthwhile investment for buildings in, for example, a warm, humid climate?
| Feb 9, 2011
Hospital Construction in the Age of Obamacare
The recession has hurt even the usually vibrant healthcare segment. Nearly three out of four hospital systems have put the brakes on capital projects. We asked five capital expenditure insiders for their advice on how Building Teams can still succeed in this highly competitive sector.
