EARLIER this month the global design and engineering consultancy, Arcadis, celebrated the formal opening of its new Glasgow office. As the firm’s Glasgow Office Director, Danny Keyes, explains, a great deal of thought went into both the location and the design.

"We have a very distinctive brand and we wanted a building that would match the quality that we feel Arcadis represents. We are involved in some of the largest and most important projects around the world and, most importantly, here in Scotland," he comments.

The search for the right building began in 2016 following the rapid growth of the rail design team. "We wanted an office environment that would be welcoming for our clients, would speak to our brand values, and that would be great for staff. It had to be in the city centre and it had to be big enough to house our various teams under one roof – as well as coping with our planned expansion over the next few years," Keyes explains.

The formal opening was attended by some 60 Arcadis clients, plus the firm’s Netherlands-based CEO, Peter Oosterveer, and the UK CEO
Alan Brookes.

Oosterveer commented: "The opening of our new office demonstrates our commitment to our clients as they make a positive impact on society in Scotland, while the presence of many client representatives during the opening reflects the outstanding performance of many Arcadis employees."

Brookes added: "Arcadis is committed to improving quality of life and this is typified in Scotland with our work in the rail, roads, power, water and housing sectors."

Arcadis’s presence in Glasgow has grown rapidly. The rail design team set up in 2013, with one employee, has expanded in size to a team of 46 today, and joined the then team of six in the Buildings sector, and 20 in the Water sector. As Keyes describes, "Our teams have grown in size to a combined team of 111 working out of Glasgow across all our disciplines, covering Infrastructure and Utilities, Buildings and Environment.

"However, a good many staff are co-located with clients so we probably have around 50 to 60 people in the office at any one time. Since 2013, with a team of around 30 working out of Glasgow, we have grown our presence in Scotland to the point where we now have 226 staff employed across Scotland, with Glasgow as our largest office." He adds: "We specialise in engineering design, and consultancy, with the biggest group in Glasgow being our multi-discipline rail sector team, focused on supporting rail improvements and renewal programmes."

The rail team’s capabilities include civil, structural and highways engineering, High Voltage and Low Voltage designs, track design and Overhead Line Engineering design. "We also specialise in HV simulation modelling and 3D infrastructure modelling," he notes.

"The digital world is evolving around us and Arcadis has the agility to adapt to new ideas and develop innovative solutions. For example, we are working closely with Magnox and the School of Simulation and Visualisation at Glasgow School of Art, to explore new and more efficient ideas on how to decommission large infrastructure assets such as nuclear power plants," Keyes says.

He continues, "As a firm, Arcadis aims to improve the quality of life in all the countries and regions in which it has a presence. We strive to achieve this by delivering great outcomes for our clients and by providing the best environment for our staff."

Arcadis is also concerned with making a positive impact on the wider community. As such it engages with schools to assist pupils to realise their potential, and with local and national charities to help raise funds and provide voluntary support.

Arcadis carried out a major rebranding exercise in September 2015. "This started a journey of transformation for the firm, based on our concept of The Arcadis Way, which focuses on combining global connectivity with local capability, with the client relationship as its central point," Keyes says.

In addition to engineering design Arcadis provides project controls, risk management, project management and programming services, as well as cost management services for a wide range of clients, including the Aircraft Carrier Alliance of Babcock, BAE and Thales, Scottish Water and Scottish and Southern Energy.

The Herald:

Ken Wilkie, Partner and Head of Residential

Scottish cities must be innovative to compete

ARCADIS’ residential and commercial consulting team have been particularly busy in recent months. As Ken Wilkie, Partner and Head of Residential for Arcadis in Scotland, explains, the sector is going through a very exciting phase at present for a number of reasons.

"We are seeing strong political commitment, both in England and in Scotland, by the Westminster and Holyrood governments to tackle what has been a multi-decade housing shortage. The SNP, for example, is committed to building some 50,000 homes through the lifetime of the present Parliament, in an attempt to meet the shortfall in new home construction."

"At the same time, the US model of build-to-rent, which has been a strong feature in many major US cities for two to three decades, is finally catching on in the UK, particularly in Manchester and London, and is stimulating a lot of activity," Wilkie comments.

Build-to-rent projects are particularly attractive to institutions and pension funds, who take a medium to long term view of returns. As such new funding models are emerging to reflect the difference between the short term returns offered to developers focused on building housing units for sale, and the longer time frames required by the build-to-rent model.

This model shouldn’t be confused with "buy-to-let" which is all about private owners letting out a flat or a house. These are multi-tenant, purpose built and purpose designed properties requiring a fresh approach. Arcadis, Wilkie says, has been in the forefront of helping clients to understand and respond to the emerging demand for build-to-rent, with innovative design solutions.

"It seems certain that we will see the skyline of Manchester, in particular, transformed over the next five or six years with the amount of build-to-let that is going up there. Young graduates coming out of university are accustomed to renting student accommodation and as they take up positions with local firms they want to continue with the flexibility afforded by the rental model. This dynamic will continue to generate strong demand for rented accommodation," he notes.

The shortage of Grade A commercial offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh continues to be a major feature of the commercial office market. However, Wilkie points out that a number of major and mid-sized companies are now either actively looking to relocate some or all of their activities out of the South East of England into the major regional cities.

In this respect, Edinburgh and Glasgow are competing against the likes of Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds. "The war for talent in London is playing a big part in prompting these relocations. Companies want to move to university towns and they want to find buildings that suit the current generation of Millennials. They want offices that follow the trend set by Google and Microsoft, that suit flexible, collaborative working, and we are helping clients to define innovative solutions," he says.

"We are doing a lot of work, changing the shape and style of offices and the way they work. The modern trend is to size an office for around 75% of the total staff numbers, recognising the preference of many employees for a greater degree of out-of-office or home working. The old open-plan cubby-hole office approach is also undergoing a complete rethink," he notes.

Wilkie points out that it is important for everyone to recognise that residential and commercial property developments have a tremendous positive impact on the overall economy. There is no doubt that the construction sector generally is struggling with a skills shortage as many skilled tradespeople head towards retirement, while Brexit concerns are hindering bringing in overseas talent. However, Wilkie points out that the industry as a whole is moving more and more towards modular construction.

"Within the next five to ten years we will be building in a completely different way to the way we build today. We are playing our part to help clients bring that future into being."

The Herald:

Company plans ahead for sustainable success

As a global design and consultancy firm working on major projects around the world, Arcadis is well placed to provide advice and consultancy services to city authorities across a range of issues, from sustainability to town planning and transport.

"Our speciality is helping our city clients to develop the natural and built environment," says Graham Hill, Arcadis City Executive for Scotland. "One key example would be the management and development of a city’s water resources. We are doing a huge amount of work with Scottish Water, for example, on natural resiliency measures, water distribution and storage in Edinburgh and Glasgow. For flood alleviation in Moray, we have completed a major project protecting homes around Elgin, Forres and Rothes," he explains.

Arcadis has also been active in helping councils to plan cycling routes and ways of connecting people to public transport via establishing new cycle routes and paths. It has worked closely with Aberdeenshire Council on the Council’s cycleways programme across the region. The decontamination of industrial land across Scotland has also been a major theme.

"Housing is a vitally important factor for cities, both from the point of view of resiliency, giving the city continuity over time, so the next generation is not forced to leave to seek work and accommodation, and from the standpoint of the city’s economy and attractiveness. We recently prepared a report, for example, that shows that the economic benefit to a city for each new home built works out at around £316,000," Hill says.

Arcadis is not itself a house builder. Instead it is frequently called upon by a council, or a developer or funder, at a very early stage in the planning of a major development or in the construction of a city masterplan. "We advise our clients on the optimum way of achieving the outcomes they have set for themselves," Hill says.

So, before a council goes out to tender, it might go to Arcadis for an overarching view of the project. "We also do a lot of work for funders lending money on major home development projects. We help them protect their interests. We make sure that all the risks involved are properly managed and that the contracts make sense," Hill notes.

City authorities are always concerned about traffic flows to and within their borders. Arcadis has been involved with a number of major transport projects across Scotland, including the Shotts electrification project and Queensferry crossing.