"For Foster + Partners, this new partnership is an important step in the evolution of the practice and will encourage further growth and innovation while maintaining its distinctive culture".
Foster + Partners.
The financial sum paid for the shares, and the size of the stakes, remains undisclosed according to the UK outlet Building Design, who first reported the news.
Going forward, the practice’s existing partners will remain as long-term shareholders, retaining the balance of the equity between the Foster family and Hennick. Norman Foster to remain executive chairman, while all present partners will remain in their roles. The firm’s existing leadership team will also retain day-to-day operational responsibility.
Towards the end of last year, they started to explore long-term structures for the practice that would respond to the challenges and opportunities of growth. The partnership received unanimous support from the firm’s partners at a recent general shareholders meeting. In a statement, Foster + Partners say the sale of shares will allow the practice to expand beyond its current 180 partners
The studio was one of the leading proponents of high-tech architecture, completing significant projects including the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Headquarters in Hong Kong and the Sainsbury Centre art gallery, Stansted Airport and the Renault Distribution Centre in the UK.
It is currently the UK's largest architecture studio, employing 1,500 people in 14 studios around the world.
The studio has won the Stirling Prize, three times. It won for the Imperial War Museum in Duxford in 1998, 30 St Mary Axe skyscraper in 2004 and most recently for Bloomberg's European HQ in 2018.
The firm has announced a series of new projects over recent months, including the Museo del Prado expansion in Spain, the winning scheme for Guangming Hub in China or the Alibaba’s new HQ in China.
Hennick & Company, meanwhile, holds significant equity in real estate company Colliers International and property firm FirstService Corporation, among other professional services, financial services, manufacturing businesses, and real estate properties.
