Former HOK director James Berry has joined Woods Bagot to spearhead the firm’s push into the education market.
The practice, which has offices around the globe including New York, Dubai and Hong Kong, has around 60 staff at its sole UK office on Oxford Street in central London.
Berry, who began work this week, joins as public, transportation and institutional director and will sit on the practice’s executive board, and said education work represented a major target.
“Even though things will probably get trimmed next year [after the election], education is still going to be big,” he said. “At the moment we do a limited amount in the UK.”
Berry will also look at increasing the firm’s work in the transport sector – particularly in rail and air.
The firm wants to increase its work on the UK’s railways where a number of station projects are planned over the next few years including revamps of mainline stations for Network Rail.
Berry is a former design director on BAA’s Heathrow Terminal Five and added that Woods Bagot will also look at airport work– although he said this will be confined to projects overseas.
Berry said he expects to spend up to 40% of his time abroad, mainly on transport and infrastructure jobs.
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