IBI Group Inc. is a Canadian-based architecture, engineering, planning, and technology firm operating from over 60 offices in 12 countries across the world. Founded in 1974 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Canada, IBI Group has since been ranked as one of the largest architecture or architecture/engineering firms in the world: in 2011 it ranked 4th or 6th (depending on the methodology used); in 2016 it was ranked as the 8th largest architecture firm (with 836 fee-earning architects) by BD Online;WA100-2016 the big list
Retrieved 2016-09-16 and in 2016 its United States operations were ranked by

ArchDaily ArchDaily is a weblog covering architectural news, projects, products, events, interviews and competitions, opinion pieces, among others, catering to architects, designers and other interested parties. Description ArchDaily is one of the mo ...

as the 13th largest architecture firm in the USA. As of 2022, IBI Group has approximately 3,400 employees and more than 60 offices located across six continents. IBI Group's consulting services business is concentrated in three practice areas: Intelligence, Buildings and Infrastructure. By integrating productivity tools, processes and technology innovations developed through IBI’s Intelligence practice, the Company has been able to drive incremental growth in its traditional Buildings and Infrastructures practices, while generating more efficient results for IBI clients. The company's mission is to define the cities of tomorrow and its vision is to be the global partner to plan, design and sustain the cities of tomorrow. On September 27, 2022, it was acquired by Arcadis.

History

The IBI Group was founded in Toronto by nine partners to provide professional planning and design services for

urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

and transportation projects. The firm merged with Robbie/Young + Wright Architects to become Robbie Young + Wright / IBI Group Architects, with noted Toronto architect

Rod Robbie Roderick "Rod" George Robbie, (September 15, 1928 – January 4, 2012) was a British-born Canadian architect and planner. He was known for his design of the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 67 and Toronto's Rogers Centre (SkyDome). Biography and ...

as chairman emeritus. In 2004 the firm became a publicly owned entity through the formation of the IBI Income Fund. In 2010 the Fund was converted to a corporation, IBI Group Inc.IBI Group history
Retrieved 2016-09-15 The firm's name was derived from the last initials of its two founding principals, Neal Irwin and Phil Beinhaker. The firm has rebranded itself, stating the IBI stands for "Intelligence, Buildings, and Infrastructure." In July 2022, IBI Group was acquired by Arcadis.

Major acquisitions

Since 2000 the firm has expanded through mergers and acquisitions of consulting firms in multiple locations. Some have been folded into the IBI Group brand and others have maintained a distinct identity. The major acquisitions below are listed in chronological order.

Cummings Cockburn

In 2004, IBI Group acquired the Ontario architecture and consulting firm Cumming Cockburn, as well as its subsidiaries CCL Consultants and Marshall Cumming & Associates.

Vancouver office

The

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

office expanded through the 2005 merger of Hancock Bruckner, Eng + Wright; Lawrence Doyle Architects; and Young + Wright Architects.

Grey-Noble & Grey-Noble

In 2005 the

Newmarket, Ontario Newmarket ( 2021 population: 87,942) is a town and regional seat of the Regional Municipality of York in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is part of Greater Toronto in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The name stems from th ...

-based architectural firm of Grey-Noble & Grey-Noble was acquired.

Thomas Blurock Architects

In 2006 the

Costa Mesa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge of th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

-based educational project-focused firm of Thomas Blurock Architects was acquired and incorporated.

Page+Steele

In 2008 the Toronto-based firm of Page+Steele, Architects was acquired and operates as Page+Steele/IBI Group.

Gruzen Samton Architects

In 2009 the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

based firm of Gruzen Samton Architects, Planners & Interior Designers was acquired. The firm was founded in 1936 and operates as IBI Group.

Stevens Group Architects

In 2009 the Toronto-based firm of Stevens Group Architects was acquired.

BFGC Architects Planners

In 2009, BFGC Architects Planners, with offices in Bakersfield,

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...

and

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

, was acquired.

Nightingale Architects

In 2010, Nightingale Architects, with four offices in the United Kingdom, including in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, was acquired.

Dull Olson Weekes Architects

In 2010, IBI acquired the

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

-based firm of Dull Olson Weekes Architects, a regional specialist in the design of educational facilities with offices in Portland and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. It has received multiple awards for its work, including the CEFPI/A4LE James D. MacConnell Award for excellence in design and planning, in 2009 for the Rosa Parks School and Community Campus at New Columbia,in 2014 for Trillium Creek Primary School, and in 2020 as a finalist for Mary Lyon Elementary School. The firm operates as IBI Group Architects.

Cardinal Hardy Architectes

In 2011, the

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

-based firm of Cardinal Hardy merged with Beinhaker Architecte (within the IBI Group), and became known as Cardinal Hardy Beinhaker Architecte. Groupe Cardinal Hardy merged into the IBI Group. Three years later, in late 2014, it was sold to Montreal-based Lemay.

Carol R. Johnson Associates

In 2011 the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

based landscape architecture firm Carol R. Johnson Associates was acquired.

Bay Architects

In 2011 the

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, Texas-based firm of Bay Architects was acquired.

Taylor Young

In 2012, Taylor Young, a United Kingdom-based architectural and master-planning practice headquartered in Cheshire and with offices in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and London, was acquired.

M-E Companies

In 2012, M-E Companies, an

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

-based engineering firm with offices in Westerville,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and Canton was acquired.

Aspyr

IBI acquired the British Columbia-based Aspyr Engineering on September 3, 2019.

Cole Engineering Group

IBI acquired the Cole Engineering Group on December 1, 2020.

Projects

The following are a selection of notable projects:IBI Group Texas projects
Retrieved 2016-09-16 *

41 Cooper Square 41 Cooper Square, designed by architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis, is a nine-story, academic center that houses the Albert Nerken School of Engineering with additional spaces for the humanities, art, and architecture departments in the newest additi ...

, New York City * BC Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver (with Henriquez Partners Architects) *Benxi New City,

Benxi Benxi (, ) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, south-southeast of the provincial capital Shenyang. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,326,018 (1,709,538 in 2010) whom 809,655 ...

, China *Delta Hotel, Toronto *

Diamond Ranch High School Diamond Ranch High School (or DRHS) is a high school that serves students from Diamond Bar and Phillips Ranch, California, United States, and is operated by the Pomona Unified School District (PUSD) in Pomona, California. Diamond Ranch's athletic ...

(executive architect); Pomona, California * École secondaire catholique Père-Philippe-Lamarche, Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario *Ericsson R&D Complex, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina *

Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (2016) The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, also known as the 520 Bridge and officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, carries Washington State Route 520 across Lake Washington from Seattle to its eastern suburbs. The floating span is th ...

Franklin High School (Portland, Oregon) Franklin High School (formally Benjamin Franklin High School) is a public high school in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is located in central southeast Portland in the South Tabor neighborhood. History Founded in 1914, Franklin is Port ...

renovation * Heschel School - Ronald P. Stanton Campus, New York City *

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

- Travel demand management program *Oceanside Dolphin Hotel, San Diego *Optegra Eye Hospital, London *Parq Hotel and Casino, Vancouver *

Pioneer Village station Pioneer Village is a subway station on the Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway. It is located under the intersection of Northwest Gate and Steeles Avenue, at the city boundaries of Toronto and Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. A Toronto Trans ...

, Toronto * Rosa Parks School and Community Campus at New Columbia *

Queen Elizabeth University Hospital The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) is a 1,677-bed acute hospital located in Govan, in the south-west of Glasgow, Scotland. The hospital is built on the site of the former Southern General Hospital and opened at the end of April 2015. ...

, Glasgow *

Ridgeview High School (Redmond, Oregon) Ridgeview High School is a public high school located in Redmond, Oregon, United States. Opened in 2012, it is the second high school in the Redmond School District. In athletics the school is a 5A team in the Oregon School Activities Associatio ...

Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow The Royal Hospital for Children is a 256-bed hospital specialising in paediatric healthcare for children and young people up to the age of their 16th birthday. The hospital is part of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and is built on the s ...

* Sabine Pass K-12 School *

San Jacinto College San Jacinto College is a public community college in the Greater Houston with its campuses in Pasadena and Houston, Texas. Established in 1961, San Jacinto College originally consisted of the independent school districts (ISD) of Channelview, ...

Maritime Center, Houston *

Sandy High School Sandy High School (formerly known as Sandy Union High School) is a public high school in the northwest United States, located in Sandy, Oregon, east of Portland. Originally located in a two-story schoolhouse in 1917, the high school was given its ...

, Sandy, Oregon * School of One, New York City * Stuyvesant High School, New York City *

Victoria Park station (Toronto) Victoria Park is a station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway system. It is located at 777 Victoria Park Avenue, one block north of Danforth Avenue in Scarborough. The station can be accessed by pedestrians directly from Victoria P ...

transit station renovation * Trillium Creek Primary School *88 Scott Street, Toronto

References

External links

IBI Group corporate structure (see page 7)
{{Authority control 2022 mergers and acquisitions Architecture firms of Canada Architecture firms of the United States Companies based in Toronto Architecture firms based in Oregon Engineering consulting firms Companies formerly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange