Llewelyn Davies Yeang sells masterplanning unit
- Published: 21 February 2008 10:54
- Author: Richard Waite
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- Last Updated: 21 February 2008 12:07
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Llewelyn Davies Yeang (LDY) has sold off its entire masterplanning team so that the practice can focus on its so-called 'deep green' eco-design strategies.
The firm has offloaded its 40-strong 'strategic and policy planning arm' for an undisclosed fee to consulting giant Tribal Group.
It will join the group's housing and regeneration unit and will be renamed Urban Studio. Tribal already owns architect Nightingale Associates.
According to LDY, the move follows months of discussions and is part of a 'strategic' streamlining exercise.
Steve Featherstone, managing director of LDY, said he hoped the move would be 'viewed as progressive'.
He added: '[The] major growth and income for us is overwhelmingly architectural commissions in the UK and overseas. [Although] the heritage of the planning practice was recognised, it largely played a support role in the company.'
Following the sale, LDY will be left with a core staff of around 100. Featherstone admits the practice will need a 'significant new injection of staff' in the coming months to deal with its increased workload, after winning more work in the last 12 months 'than in any previous year for the last 10 years'.
Among LDY's largest ongoing commissions are the Plaza of Nations development in Vancouver, Canada, and the restarted Broomfield Hospital PFI in Essex.
The future of some other projects previously belonging to the masterplanning unit, including the firm's work around Belfast and in Najaf, Iraq (AJ 02.02.06), has yet to be fully decided. It is understood that LDY and Tribal are in discussions with their clients about the 'transition'.
LDY partner and eco-architect Ken Yeang – who still has a separate office, TR Hamzah & Yeang, in his home country of Malaysia – joined forces with architectural stalwart Llewelyn Davies, then the 13th largest practice in the UK, in June 2005.
However, since officially teaming up with the firm, few schemes have emerged bearing the unmistakable Yeang trademark. One insider told the AJ that the sale would mean LDY 'could start delivering the kind of projects' expected following Yeang's arrival at the firm.
