Building on its strategy of establishing globally scaled lines of business that enable it to build world-class teams across each of its divisions, AESG, a specialist consultancy, engineering, and advisory firm, has announced the appointment of Siebrandus Wichers to the position of Global Director of Facades. Drawing from his established expertise and prominent role in the global facades industry, Wichers will look to grow AESG’s portfolio of high-end, complex facade design and engineering projects. He will also work to deepen the synergy between the Facades team and other AESG divisions to help clients realise the full value of the company’s unique multi-disciplinary approach and to further the company’s leadership in emerging trends such as net-zero developments.
AESG CEO Saeed Al Abbar said: “Having successfully delivered facade consultancy services for iconic projects throughout the Middle East, the UK and Europe, AESG is now looking to build on its momentum. We see tremendous opportunity in the rapidly maturing net-zero space, the integration of façade and fire engineering and in the application of advanced digital technologies and algorithm-driven design in facades.”
“As part of our global expansion strategy, AESG is focused on attracting global industry leaders such as Siebrandus Wichers, to further strengthen our organisation’s value proposition. His expertise encompasses all areas of the façade industry and spans the full project life cycle: from concept design to 3D detailed development and on-site execution of bespoke envelope systems for iconic, high-value projects. Wichers’ vision of engineering excellence combined with his integrated computational design approach and practical construction experience perfectly aligns with our commitment to leading best in class engineering”, said Al Abbar.
Wichers believes AESG’s integrated consultancy and net-zero approach is well suited to respond to current investment strategies of governments towards smart cities and green energy
With AESG set to double the headcount of its Facades division within the year, Wichers has clearly outlined his growth strategy for the months ahead. Within the Middle East, he intends to capitalise on iconic developments arising from ambitious regional initiatives. In the UK market, he sees value in a greater focus on recladding works based on AESG’s multi-disciplinary approach while simultaneously targeting new complex design and build envelope projects. Finally, in the Asia-Pacific region, Wichers believes AESG’s integrated consultancy and net-zero approach is well suited to respond to current investment strategies of governments towards smart cities and green energy. Through these efforts, Wichers will look to drive clients’ digitalisation strategies forward by advocating the utilisation of AESG’s data management platform, Data+. Using this platform, Wichers intends to offer a framework during the project design stage to AEGS’s clients to allow for continuous façade asset monitoring during the full project development process and thereafter.
“We see tremendous opportunity in the rapidly maturing net-zero space, the integration of façade and fire engineering and in the application of advanced digital technologies and algorithm-driven design in facades”
Over an illustrious career spanning two decades, Siebrandus Wichers has worked in many countries in North America, Europe and Asia, holding senior leadership positions at several large-scale architectural, engineering and design & build specialist contractor firms. His portfolio of reputed projects includes Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort (Singapore), National Stadium (Singapore) – world’s largest free-spanning dome, Louis Vuitton Flagship Store (Hong Kong International Airport), Khalifa Tennis Stadium (Doha, Qatar), Yitzhak Rabin Museum (Tel Aviv, Israel), Terminal 2 (Hong Kong International Airport), K11 Musea (Victoria Dockside, Hong Kong), and the Parramatta Civic Centre (Sydney, Australia).
As he now takes up the prominent role in AESG’s global leadership team, Wichers said, “It is an exciting time to join a dynamic organisation that has a clear strategy to establish itself as a leading global consultancy. By increasing AESG’s façade consultancy services throughout the project lifecycle stages, with a focus on parametric design, prefabrication, safety by design and supervision, and by furthering the synergy between Facades and other disciplines such as Sustainability and Fire Life Safety, I see potential to expand AESG’s footprint across each of our markets, focus on achieving the highest global standards across our project portfolio and maximise asset value for our clients.”