A Red Deer architectural and interior design firm continues to strengthen its Alberta presence by merging with a Calgary firm.
After almost a year in the works, Group2 Architecture Interior Design and Quinn Young Architects announced their merger on Wednesday.
The merge positions the firm for a strengthened foothold in the Calgary and Western Canadian marketplace. Group2 has offices in Red Deer, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Calgary. Quinn Young was created almost 30 years ago in Calgary.
Craig Webber, principal of Group2, said the Red Deer firm initially expanded on its own in Calgary about eight years ago. Then, about four years ago, it expanded into the Edmonton market by merging with Barry Johns Architecture Ltd. Through this merger, Group 2 was able to expand more rapidly thanks to the depth of staff, as well as having existing clients already in place, Webber said. The success in Edmonton made the Red Deer firm look to a like-minded organization in Calgary.
“There is sort of a trend in the marketplace for the jobs to be awarded to larger firms and clients to be looking for firms with greater depth of experience,” said Webber. “We found in the Edmonton marketplace that we had a 100 per cent increase in our net revenue in three years. And so it really opened up some doors and opportunities and attracted talented staff.”
Strengths that bring the firms together include both firms’ extensive portfolios in education and recreation, says Sheldon Quinn, a founding principal of Quinn Young Architects.
Quinn Young brings extensive background in sustainable design and broad experience with commercial clients. Group2 provides leadership in Building Information Modeling (BIM), which is done in three-dimensional computer models.
The name of the company will remain as Group2QYA until clients realize that the same staff and connections are there, Webber said.
“And then we’ll slowly transition the name to be just Group2,” said Webber.
Both offices in Edmonton and Saskatoon are known as Group2.
The firm will have about 30 staff in Red Deer, 31 in Calgary, 19 in Edmonton and four in Saskatoon. Group2’s office in Saskatoon was opened about 18 months ago.
ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com