Arcadis, the Dutch-headquartered design, engineering and consultancy group, plans to sell off the majority of its architecture business. The company announced the move on 28 September as part of a wider strategic reset, The Architects’ Journal reports.
In its 2027-2029 strategy, titled Arcadis’ Reset: Focused Growth, Sustainable Value, the group says that divesting most of its architecture arm, along with its business in China, will improve its operating profit margin.
What it means for UK architects
The AJ understands Arcadis is actively looking for a buyer for its UK architecture business. The ARB register lists more than 100 architects working for the company, which has offices on Fenchurch Street and in Farringdon in London, and architects in Manchester, Brighton and Cardiff. It is not yet clear how many jobs could be affected.
Arcadis presents the sale as a change of ownership and structure, not a cut in headcount. A spokesperson said the architecture business, once independent, should stay closely allied with the group, and that UK architects will continue working on healthcare, education, defence, transit and large mixed-use projects in the meantime, with a dedicated focus on design.
Falling turnover and a long acquisition history
The latest accounts for the UK architecture business, covering 2024, show turnover of £7.5m, down 52.4 percent from £15.7m the year before. Gross profit fell from £7.9m to £3.5m, and the net margin before tax went from 11.26 percent to minus 10.56 percent.
The architecture arm was assembled through acquisitions. Arcadis bought RTKL in 2007 and Callison in 2014, merging them as CallisonRTKL in 2015, then acquired IBI Group in 2022 and combined its buildings business with CallisonRTKL to form the Architecture and Urbanism division. Recent UK work includes an HS2 viaduct with Moxon, housing at Station Hill in Reading with Gensler, the Corkfield development in Birmingham, City Suites II in Manchester, a SEND school in Tooting and the Gorton Hub in east Manchester.
For architects working inside large multidisciplinary groups, the sale is a reminder that the ownership of a studio can change even while its design work carries on.
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