Buro Happold expands its Netherlands consultancy team

In September 2020, we founded our Dutch entity in Rotterdam. This was an important step in strengthening our global presence and expanding our service offering in the Netherlands. It also helped our mission to create a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable built environment.

Within the last year, our Rotterdam team has doubled in size and expanded their engineering and consultancy services. Sustainability still remains their core focus. The team has also begun to work on some outstanding projects in the Netherlands, Europe and elsewhere in the world.

To mark this recent anniversary, we spoke to Netherlands Office Director Dirk Visser, Senior Structural Engineer Izabela Nowak and recently appointed Partners Hubrecht van Ginneken and Xavier Crolla. They discuss their ambitions, experience and expectations for growing Buro Happold in the Netherlands.

Dirk, after spending five years with Buro Happold in London, you returned to the Netherlands to open our Rotterdam office. What is your motivation?

In the Netherlands, we find great collaborators who are like-minded to Buro Happold. They too want to create a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable world. Until now, we have been working with Dutch partners from our offices in the both UK and Europe. However, we know that we can have an even bigger impact with a local office. The past year has shown that this is true.

I am immensely proud to see our team growing. This enables us to widen the service portfolio from our Rotterdam office, which now includes structural engineering, building services (MEP), building physics and sustainability consulting. In addition, we expect to bring more consultancy services to the Netherlands soon.

As Dutchman, I was honoured to be given the opportunity to open the Rotterdam office. It also meant coming home for me and my family after living and working abroad for many years. Setting up the new office was inevitably challenging, but I have felt – and still feel – the continuous support from the practice. This trust motivates me to push harder and to deliver the best for each project that we work on in the Rotterdam office.

Dirk, what is your ambition for Buro Happold in the Netherlands over the next five years?

Although Buro Happold has existed for more than 40 years, our presence in the Netherlands is much newer. When I look back in five years time, I want to applaud my colleagues because we have broadened our engineering services to offer not only buildings, but also cities and consultancy.

In my wildest dreams, we would have grown the Dutch office to around 100 staff members, who would all bring the best of themselves to our diverse project portfolio. Our inclusive team of experts would not only be leaders in their respective fields, but also be fun to work with. They would understand the needs of our clients and end-users, whilst also prioritising sustainability on projects from concept through to completion.

I know this is a lot to ask for. However, I would sign on the dotted line now if that could make it possible!

Izabela, you joined our Rotterdam office after working with Buro Happold in Warsaw. Have you noticed any differences in comparison to your work in Warsaw?

Working in Rotterdam (and Amsterdam) is definitely a different type of work than what I was used to in Warsaw. In Rotterdam, I am now working as a consultant for our clients, whereas in Warsaw I was working to deliver the engineering designs.

In my current role as Design Coordinator and Head of Structural Engineering, I am currently supporting Rizzani de Eccher, the Italian general contractor of Y Towers in Amsterdam. This project is a mixed-use commercial development consisting of two 100m towers, with residential complexes, hotels and conference facilities, located in the heart of Amsterdam.

Projects like this have enabled me to represent Buro Happold’s values and learn how to manage multiple subcontractors around the world. I am gaining experience in a slightly different field and seeing the process I am involved in from the other side. It really helps me to understand the needs of our clients better.

In Rotterdam, everything happens very fast. It brings opportunities to improve your skills and professional development quickly. I have found the team to be very welcoming, and was given significant support and trust from the beginning.

It sounds like moving to a new office has opened up new opportunities for your career. What do you enjoy about working in Rotterdam?

Helping to shape a new office is like putting a piece of yourself into the company. You are not just an employee. Instead, you become an integral part of the company and are responsible for its growth. I have been working for Buro Happold for 10 years, and so feel deeply connected to the company. It is a very special moment for me.

However it is not the only reason to like working at the Rotterdam office. As the Rotterdam office is very small, it is much easier to stay connected with people. The individual approach makes you feel like a family. It is definitely more akin to my way of working. Collaborating with team members and our clients is what I really enjoy. I feel like it is the right place for me to progress and develop.

Another very important factor is also who you are closely working with. Dirk is a perfect example – he is inspiring, passionate, open-minded and very straightforward.

Xavier & Hubrecht, you are the newest members of our Rotterdam office. What made you join Buro Happold?

Xavier: Buro Happold has a great reputation for integrated consultancy for high-end projects. Buro Happold’s track record is immense and so contributing to this is really great. The entrepreneurship and ambitions of the practice also perfectly match my personal ambitions – developing new business that contributes to a sustainable built environment. This is achieved not with words, but by results. Most of the time this is not the easiest way, but if you succeed it is the most satisfying and rewarding.

Hubrecht: I agree with my colleague Xavier. What the two of us discussed as equally important is the culture within the firm in which this happens. Buro Happold’s culture is communicated as inclusive, based on very strong values. This is exactly what we have experienced so far. The only way to build a sustainable business is by being inclusive, leveraging differences between people, and then making use of them in a constructive and human-centric way.

What are you both looking forward to?

Hubrecht: It will not be surprising that I am looking forward to establishing a great Buro Happold practice in the Netherlands, that serves both international clients and the Dutch market. Based on my experience of working in the Netherlands, there is room for a firm like Buro Happold. Together, we can deliver high-quality work and introduce internationally developed expertise to a local market in order to solve the key challenges of today’s world.

Xavier: My background as a consultant on the one hand, but also leading and developing a practice on the other, will be beneficial for the growth of this office. In our previous job, Hubrecht and I managed a 220-person MEP and building physics practice.

I want to contribute to projects and work with clients that have a positive social impact. For instance, the life science and healthcare sectors. However, these projects should be ambitious, especially in terms of their environment impact. There is an urgent need to become a carbon-neutral society, and so our projects should contribute to this goal. We will make it happen! That is what I am really looking forward to – driving sustainable business, across the Netherlands and beyond.