Buro Happold joins forces with Vanguardia and Crowd Dynamics

Buro Happold is strengthening its consultancy capabilities with the acquisition of one of the world’s leading acoustics and audio-visual consultancies, Vanguardia Limited, and its subsidiary Crowd Dynamics International.

Having worked together on renowned sports and entertainment projects for more than two decades, Buro Happold and Vanguardia have delivered some of the finest venues and experiences across the globe, including, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, O2 Arena, Qatar Education City Stadium, London Stadium and The Fisht Olympic Stadium.

These venues have set a benchmark in stadium design and engineering. Buro Happold’s heritage of tackling complex engineering challenges in the built environment puts them in the perfect position to advise and design exceptional solutions for their clients.

From shrinking income – heightened by the Covid-19 pandemic – to the climate emergency and competition from other sectors for leisure time, many organisations in the sports and entertainment industries are seeking greater community or urban integration, or are looking to refresh assets to optimise the experience of their users and generate a commercial return.

Together, the Buro Happold and Vanguardia teams will work to solve these problems faced by stadium and entertainment venue owners and operators, while also improving the experience for fans.

It is a really exciting time for Buro Happold. Having worked alongside Vanguardia and Crowd Dynamics International for more than 20 years, it is a natural step to formally bring them into the wider Buro Happold portfolio. We are enhancing our collective consultancy capabilities and creating significant opportunities for our clients.

The O2 Arena, London. Image: GrownLMArg

This acquisition signals a period of rapid acceleration for our business and the industry as a whole. It increases our breadth and depth of expertise, strengthens our client consultant teams and helps to solve the complex challenges affecting stadia and entertainment venues.

It also creates a platform for the continued growth of Vanguardia – who specialise in acoustics and audio-visual technology at sports and music venues – into new and exciting sectors and markets.

Jim Griffiths, Director, Vanguardia, said:

We are all very excited by the new opportunities that now exists with our new partners, including the global reach that it gives Vanguardia and Crowd Dynamics International. This is a great opportunity for our clients and employees, and we welcome the opportunity of sharing our specialist expertise throughout Buro Happold.

The collaboration also extends from Buro Happold’s integrated engineering design, consultancy work and large-scale visioning for sports and entertainment venues, and the communities they serve. The acquisition specifically enhances our acoustics and sound engineering specialism and environmental advisory services, plus a broad range of electro-acoustic and technology offers. It also provides a fully integrated mobility consulting offer encompassing inclusive design, waste and logistics, and crowd and traffic consulting capabilities.

We believe that venues should deliver a rich, memorable and sustainable experience for their visitors, and the best possible business returns for their stakeholders. Together, Buro Happold, Vanguardia and Crowd Dynamics will drive the creation of environments that deliver experiences to generate the best possible commercial and environmental performance.

Source & imagery, courtesy: Buro Happold

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