Milwaukee-based Quorum Architects Inc. has acquired Elm Grove-based TWP Architecture Ltd. from Steve Peterman and John Curran. The transaction closed Dec. 29 for an undisclosed price.
TWP has six employees, five of whom will join Quorum at its 10,000-square-foot office at 3112 W. Highland Blvd. in the integration. The Elm Grove TWP office will be closed, and its temporary employee contracts were ended as of Dec. 31.
Peterman and Curran will remain with Quorum, though Peterman plans to retire in May, said Allyson Nemec, principal architect at Quorum. The Milwaukee firm now has 26 employees.
Nemec said it made sense for the two firms to combine because their specialties are complementary. TWP, which was called Torke Wirth Pujara Ltd. until 2007, specializes in clinical and medical, office, religious, financial and industrial architecture, and frequently completes new, freestanding spaces. Quorum, on the other hand, has a niche in existing building and urban site reuse, specializing in multifamily housing, educational and office renovation, conversion and some new construction.
“We have a lot of shared core values in design and client interaction, but we have different focus areas,” Nemec said, adding the TWP staff shares a lot of the same workplace values and firm culture.
Quorum, which also has added five new employee positions over the past year, is in the process of renovating its office space to add more collaborative areas and accommodate its growth, Nemec said. It has no other immediate growth plans, and will focus on integrating the two companies over the next year.
In collaboration with Ayres Associates, Quorum Architects was chosen last week to design a new public plaza on Milwaukee’s Inner Harbor at the end of Greenfield Avenue.
