Buro Happold Adds Keenan Potter, Specialist in Vertical Transport, Facade Access

With deep experience in sustainable vertical transportation and specialized façade access for high-rise and other buildings, Potter brings global, high-profile expertise

The award-winning multi-disciplinary design firm Buro Happold has announced the addition of an internationally renowned expert in vertical transportation and facade access systems, Keenan Potter. An authoritative source on trends in tall building design and topics related to elevators, escalators, and facade access systems for building maintenance, work-at-height safety and other uses, Potter brings a track record of work on prominent supertalls and buildings with challenging shapes on several continents.

According to Buro Happold, Potter has recently joined global consultancy Buro Happold in the role of associate principal, bringing with him 25 years of experience. His portfolio of work spans North America, Europe and Asia — Potter speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese — and his leadership in these specialized disciplines is authoritative. Varied projects in his portfolio range from very tall buildings, including many with complex geometries, that are currently in design or under construction.

“We’re glad to welcome Keenan Potter and his uniquely valuable set of design and consulting skills to Buro Happold in North America,” says Ron Elad, Principal and Specialty Consulting Regional Discipline Leader of Buro Happold. “In addition to his international experience, Keenan has innovated in service delivery by integrating the façade access discipline into an exclusively vertical transportation office at the distinguished firm Lerch Bates, and he established the first foreign-owned specialty vertical transportation consultancy in China.”

A longtime resident of Seattle, Potter completed his postgraduate study at the Stanford Centre for Chinese Language, Taipei, and worked for seven years as a managing director of a multidisciplinary office in Shanghai during his 25 years in the field. About half of that time comprised involvement with leading global suppliers of façade access equipment.

Noteworthy projects that Keenan Potter has contributed to as a consultant in façade access or vertical transportation include Seattle Municipal Tower, One Museum Place in Shanghai, Taipei Sky Tower, and the Langham Roppongi in Tokyo. Based on his depth of experience and knowledge of global construction activity, Potter estimates the market for façade access and vertical transportation services exceeds $200 million in China, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and the United States alone, he says.

“I am very excited to introduce façade access and vertical transportation services to Buro Happold’s growing list of clients,” says Potter, who taps into a wide network of architects, property developers, and manufacturers. “Architects and building owner-developers need this kind of trusted advisory on a wide range of building projects, and Buro Happold’s in-house engineering and technical skills enhance the service offering while mitigating risk for our clients.”

Adds Potter, “In the U.S. market, it is my experience that architects designing high-rise buildings often engage a vertical transportation consultant very early in the design process. By establishing the building’s core size and net leasable area, the owner-developer can more accurately estimate lease income for project financing purposes.”

Cornell NYC

About BuroHappold

BuroHappold Engineering is an international, integrated engineering consultancy operating in 22 locations worldwide, with 60 partners and over 1700 employees including some of the world’s leading consulting engineers. For over 40 years we’ve been building our reputation for delivering creative, value led building and city solutions for an ever-changing world. More at www.BuroHappold.com.