In the Eastern Ontario region, we are pleased to announce that Walter Gaudet, OAA, MRAIC, LEED AP BD+C, has joined HDR as a managing principal with a focus on business development. He is part of a leadership team with Ingrid Felso, principal, operations Eastern Canada, and Jason-Emery Groen, director of design.

“Being here in the region, I know there are many opportunities for HDR to grow the business,” Felso says. “I look forward to having such a strong business development leader to help make us a premier firm in our region.”

In his role, Gaudet will broaden HDR’s community presence, expand our reach across market sectors, and raise our profile as a top-tier global architecture company in the region. He will work directly with our global program directors in healthcare, science and technology, recreation, commercial, retail, government, and defense to build a strong and sustainable business platform in Eastern Ontario as part of HDR’s “One Canada.”

In his 18-year career, Gaudet has held senior roles with firms as small as five and as large as 1,000 in business development, conceptual and technical design, and project and office management. At his most recent firm, he focused on top- and bottom-line growth based upon a proactive, action-based—and very successful—approach to client engagement. This involved strategic planning, a thoughtful process, value assessment, pursuit intelligence, and market differentiation.

He considers his top skills to be accountability, collaboration, and communication, as well as his ability to develop, energize, and motivate high-performing teams.

You can connect with Gaudet via email and on LinkedIn.

HDR has more than 1,450 architecture employees working in offices in six countries who provide complete design, engineering, planning and consulting services across the United States, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Australia, and the People’s Republic of China.

HDR has partnered with clients to shape communities and push the boundaries of what’s possible since 1917. We specialize in engineering, architecture, environmental, and construction services. With nearly 10,000 employees in more than 225 locations around the world, we think global and act local.

HDR’s recent acquisition of CEI Architecture in British Columbia reinforces HDR’s coast-to-coast presence. CEI was founded in 1996, and has approximately 70 employees located in British Columbia. Its main office is in Vancouver, with additional offices in Victoria and Penticton, as well as Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta. HDR’s presence in the Canadian market began in 2002; currently more than 170 employees are based in offices throughout the country.