Surbana Jurong acquires green design firm Atelier Ten

Atelier Ten, the design firm behind the spiky shading system that gives The Esplanade its durian-like appearance, announced yesterday that it will be added to the Surbana Jurong Group.

The London-headquartered environmental design consultancy will be Surbana Jurong's ninth member company, bringing along some 30 years of experience in sustainable solutions.

Surbana Jurong said in a statement yesterday the move completes its portfolio of services as it increasingly focuses on sustainability.

Surbana Jurong, an urban and infrastructure design consultancy headquartered here, was formed five years ago. Its broad expertise covers architecture, design, engineering, facilities management and security services.

The firm has worked with the Housing Board to build more than a million homes here and created masterplans in more than 30 countries. It has 16,500 employees based in more than 120 offices in over 40 countries.

Prior to the acquisition, Surbana Jurong and Atelier Ten had collaborated on a number of projects here over the last decade. These include the indoor forests at Jewel Changi Airport and the ecologically sustainable rejuvenation project in Mandai.

Atelier Ten also worked on the two glass and steel cooled conservatories at Gardens by the Bay, in partnership with British architecture firm WilkinsonEyre and landscape architecture firm Grant Associates.

Its other notable projects include Google's headquarters in London and the Royal National Theatre in London, where it replaced the central heating and cooling plant with an absorption cooling system and ground source heat pumps to achieve carbon savings of 30 per cent.

Atelier Ten founding director Patrick Bellew said the union is an opportunity to drive towards a more sustainable world. "The synergies and opportunities that joining this group presents for the team here at Atelier Ten, and for our clients and collaborators, are enormous," he said.

Surbana Jurong group chief executive Wong Heang Fine said the addition of Atelier Ten to its portfolio will help boost the designing of "high-performance, sustainable buildings and smart infrastructure 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," he said.