IBI Group Inc. is a Canadian-based architecture, engineering, planning, and technology firm operating from over 60 offices in 12 countries across the world.[1]
Founded in 1974 in Toronto, Canada, IBI Group has since been ranked as one of the largest architecture or architecture/engineering firms in the world: in 2011 it ranked 4th or 6th (depending on the methodology used);[2] in 2016 it was ranked as the 8th largest architecture firm (with 836 fee-earning architects) by BD Online;[3] and in 2016 its United States operations were ranked by ArchDaily as the 13th largest architecture firm in the USA.[4]
As of 2022, IBI Group has approximately 3,400 employees and more than 60 offices located across six continents.[5][6] IBI Group's consulting services business is concentrated in three practice areas: Intelligence, Buildings and Infrastructure. By integrating productivity tools, processes and technology innovations developed through IBI's Intelligence practice, the company has been able to drive incremental growth in its traditional Buildings and Infrastructures practices, while generating more efficient results for IBI clients.[1]
On September 27, 2022, it was acquired by Arcadis.[7]
History
The IBI Group was founded in Toronto by nine partners to provide professional planning and design services for urban development and transportation projects.
The firm merged with Robbie/Young + Wright Architects to become Robbie Young + Wright / IBI Group Architects, with noted Toronto architect Rod Robbie as chairman emeritus.[8] In 2004 the firm became a publicly owned entity through the formation of the IBI Income Fund. In 2010 the Fund was converted to a corporation, IBI Group Inc.[9]
The firm's name was derived from the last initials of its two founding principals, Neal Irwin and Phil Beinhaker.[10] The firm has rebranded itself, stating the IBI stands for "Intelligence, Buildings, and Infrastructure."[11]
In September 2022, IBI Group was acquired by Arcadis.[12][13]
Major acquisitions
Since 2000 the firm has expanded through mergers and acquisitions of consulting firms in multiple locations. Some have been folded into the IBI Group brand and others have maintained a distinct identity.[9] The major acquisitions below are listed in chronological order.
Cumming Cockburn
In 2004, IBI Group acquired the Ontario architecture and consulting firm Cumming Cockburn, as well as its subsidiaries CCL Consultants and Marshall Cumming & Associates.[14]
Vancouver office
The Vancouver office expanded through the 2005 merger of Hancock Bruckner, Eng + Wright; Lawrence Doyle Architects; and Young + Wright Architects.[9][15]
Grey-Noble & Grey-Noble
In 2005 the Newmarket, Ontario-based architectural firm of Grey-Noble & Grey-Noble was acquired.[16]
Thomas Blurock Architects
In 2006 the Costa Mesa, California-based educational project-focused firm of Thomas Blurock Architects was acquired and incorporated.[17][18]
Page+Steele
In 2008 the Toronto-based firm of Page+Steele, Architects was acquired and operates as Page+Steele/IBI Group.
Gruzen Samton Architects
In 2009 the New York City based firm of Gruzen Samton Architects, Planners & Interior Designers was acquired. The firm was founded in 1936 and operates as IBI Group.[19][20]
Group Architects
In 2009 the small Toronto-based firm of Group Architects was acquired. IBI relocated and redistributed its team to a new location and the company and presence dissolved entirely through the following years.[clarification needed]
In 2011, the Quebec-based firm of Cardinal Hardy merged with Beinhaker Architecte (within the IBI Group), and became known as Cardinal Hardy Beinhaker Architecte. Groupe Cardinal Hardy merged into the IBI Group. Three years later, in late 2014, it was sold to Montreal-based architecture group Lemay.[26]
Carol R. Johnson Associates
In 2011 the Boston based landscape architecture firm Carol R. Johnson Associates was acquired.[27]
Bay Architects
In 2011 the Houston, Texas-based firm of Bay Architects was acquired.[28]
Taylor Young
In 2012, Taylor Young, a United Kingdom-based architectural and master-planning practice headquartered in Cheshire and with offices in Liverpool and London, was acquired.[29]
IBI Group acquired HotSpot in June 2022 for $5.74 million. Founded in 2013, HotSpot allows users to pay for municipal parking from their phones, or pay for and receive real-time updates about bus services, as well as order and pay for taxis.[38]
CurbIQ
CurbIQ is IBI Group's curbside management tool intended to allow municipalities and mobility companies to manage curbside operations by digitizing their regulation.[39][40] It was created as a result of IBI Group's Curbside Management Strategy created for the City of Toronto for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games.
Curb Viewer - map-based visualization tool allows municipalities to visualise their existing curbside regulations.
Curb Manager - simplified GIS platform for municipalities to efficiently manage their curbside by adding, removing, or modifying curbside regulations.
Curb Analyzer - quantifies the designations of curb spaces to provide city planners with trends on their usage
Curb Rules API - to allow transportation network companies, such as ridesharing applications, and commercial vehicle dispatches, to add information about curbside regulations to their own applications.
CurbIQ was used to launch a SENATOR pilot project in Dublin, Ireland that aimed to create a new logistics system to improve the city's transportation network in 2022.[41]
IBI Group announced on July 18, 2022, that it has entered into an agreement with the Dutch design, engineering and management consulting company Arcadis to "acquire all issued and outstanding shares" for $19.50 per share, a thirty percent premium on the day's closing price.[44] The approximately $873 million acquisition was finalised in September 2022 after a shareholder vote.[45][46]
