Surbana Jurong buys into Jewel Changi designer

Singapore

SURBANA Jurong group has snapped up London's Atelier Ten - better known as the building designers behind Changi's Jewel and Gardens by the Bay - as the group ups its focus on projects that are built with environmental sustainability in mind.

The acquisition of a majority stake in Atelier Ten will see the award-winning environmental design consultancy join Surbana Jurong group as a distinct member company; it will continue to operate as an independent brand within the Surbana Jurong group of companies.

Plans to add Atelier Ten to the group started two years ago and is part of Surbana Jurong's growth strategy of deepening their core capabilities, building their value chain of specialist consulting skills, expanding their talent pool and extending their market reach, said the group.

This mutually beneficial opportunity will also provide better access to and knowledge sharing across markets, strengthening Surbana Jurong's presence in the US and European markets and Atelier Ten's involvement in Asia.

Wong Heang Fine, Surbana Jurong group chief executive officer, said: "Today's announcement demonstrates Surbana Jurong's commitment to help clients design high-performance, sustainable buildings and smart infrastructures that conserve energy and resources. With every project, we are spurred by the challenge of doing more with less. Together with Atelier Ten, we can unlock even greater value from our sustainability solutions.

"This transformative expansion will ensure we play an integral role in creating sustainable built environments, further increase the group's relevance and enable us to forge a better future for the world."

The two companies' relationship spans over a decade. They worked on Jewel Changi Airport, which has one of the world's largest air-conditioned gardens. Among the services provided for this project were strategic environmental design, analytical consultancy and conceptual services engineering.

Atelier Ten has 300 employees across 11 offices worldwide, including the USA, UK, Australia and Singapore.

Notable projects include Gardens by the Bay where the environmental design embeds both building scale and city scale circular economy principles and the Royal National Theatre in London, where the replacement of the central heating and cooling plant with absorption cooling system and ground source heat pumps achieved carbon savings of 30 per cent.

The company, together with the National University of Singapore, has also been appointed by Public Utilities Board to carry out environmental and microclimate studies and help determine the feasibility of harvesting solar energy through floating solar systems.