Specialist office design consultancy DEGW has today announced it is merging with Davis Langdon, as the global construction giant bolsters its consulting business.
DEGW’s Australian managing director Steve Coster told Architecture & Design ahead of the official release that the move would not see the firm competing with Australian architects for work, despite global speculation to the contrary.
“We don’t provide design and delivery services and we won’t be doing so as part of this merger,” Coster said.
DEGW, which has been at the forefront of the thinking around hot desking and mobile office solutions, will still be able to partner with architectural firms to provide a “connected” service despite the merger, Coster said.
“It’s strengthened our platform for future growth,” Coster said. “We’ll be able to invest more energy and better into the development of our people and the systems that support our services.”
However there would be plenty of opportunities for DEGW to partner with Davis Langdon on projects, Coster said.
The move comes as Davis Langdon continues to grow its global service offering and move further into strategic consultancy.
With the construction world focusing on gaining maximum value from existing assets, the combined forces of both firms will provide strategic solutions that use space more productively and enhance organizational performance.
DEGW, best known for its work consulting on high-performance workplaces for Fortune 500 companies, employs 145 people across a network of 12 offices in Australia, the UK, mainland Europe, Asia and North America.
The firm works on behalf of clients, the likes of Microsoft, Google, GSK, Pfizer, Cisco and Nokia, to help them align their physical space with their organizational objectives, allowing them and their people to thrive.
On announcing the merger, Rob Smith, chairman of Davis Langdon said: “The merger will add a fourth dimension to our offer in that we will now be able to measure, value and manage ‘place’ in addition to ‘cost’, ‘quality’ and ‘time.’ In the current market, our clients are focusing on their costs — the biggest of which is usually their people and places. The coming together of the two firms will mean we are the construction consultant best placed to advise.”
On the benefits of the merger, Despina Katsikakis, Chairman of DEGW, commented: “For more than 35 years we have focused on managing change through the effective integration of people, process and place. The coming together with Davis Langdon enables us to measure the value of place in delivering business performance for our clients worldwide.”
