Ramboll

Rambøll Group A/S, also known as "Ramboll", is a Danish multinational architecture, engineering, and consulting company. In the past 25 years, the company has expanded from being a business mainly focused on the Nordic region, to having offices in more than 35 countries, with around 18,000 employees working on projects across the world. Much of the company's activity is centred on Europe, North America, but also in emerging markets.

Rambøll Group A/S

Type	Private
Industry	Architecture Engineering Consultancy
Founded	Copenhagen, Denmark (1945)
Founder	Børge Johannes Rambøll and Johan Georg Hannemann
Headquarters	Copenhagen , Denmark
Key people	Jens-Peter Saul, CEO^[1]
Revenue	DKK 16,000 million (2022)^[2]
Net income	DKK 937 million (2022)^[2]
Owner	Rambøll Foundation ^[3]
Number of employees	18,000+ (2022)^[4]
Website	ramboll.com

The company's main work and solutions are for clients in the Buildings, Transport, Energy, Environment & Health, Water, Management Consulting, and Architecture & Landscape sectors.

History

1945–1991: Foundation and initial growth

Ramboll was founded in October 1945 as "Rambøll & Hannemann" in Copenhagen by Børge Johannes Rambøll (1911-2009) and Johan Georg Hannemann (1907-1980). Both had worked and studied at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Their first projects included a design for the roof of a clothing factory, and the 'Ballongyngen' ride at Tivoli Gardens theme park in Copenhagen.^[5] They won major contracts with the Danish broadcast engineering services (‘Radioingeniørtjenesten’) to erect broadcast towers in Denmark and Norway after 1950. This led to work with high-tension-line towers for power plants, as well as with the Norwegian telephone directorate. In addition to offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus, a branch was opened in Oslo in 1976.^[5]

1991–2003: Expansion in the Nordic region

In 1991 the company merged with "B. Højlund Rasmussen A/S" to form "Rambøll, Hannemann & Højlund A/S".^[5] A further merger with Scandiaconsult in 2003 made the company the largest consulting engineering firm in the Nordic region.

2003–present: International growth

IIn 2006 the company acquired Storvik & Co in Norway.^[6]

n the summer of 2007, Ramboll broadened its geographical presence by acquiring the UK based engineering firm Whitbybird (that, at the time of acquisition) employed 680 people and had offices throughout the UK and in Italy, India and the United Arab Emirates. In April 2008, Ramboll's presence in India was strengthened by acquiring the Indian telecom design company ImIsoft.^[2]

That was followed by another significant expansion of the company's business into architecture and design, by the acquisitions of Henning Larsen and Web Structures, in 2020-2021.

In August 2007 Ramboll bought privately owned UK based engineering firm Whitbybird. At the time of the acquisition Whitbybird employed 680 people, with offices throughout the UK and in Italy, India and the United Arab Emirates, making this the largest acquisition made by the Ramboll Group since the merger with Scandiaconsult in 2003.^[7]

In March 2011 Ramboll bought privately owned UK based engineering firm Gifford. Gifford also has offices around the world.^[8]

Also in March 2011, Ramboll acquired the power engineering section of DONG Energy (now Ørsted A/S), DONG Energy Power.^[9]

Later that year in July 2011, Ramboll Informatik was divested to the Danish IT company KMD.

In 2014 Ramboll acquired US-based global consultancy, ENVIRON, adding more than 1,500 environmental and health science specialists in 21 countries.

In 2018 Ramboll acquired North American engineering and design consultancy OBG (formally O'Brien & Gere), adding 950 consultants to Ramboll's North American presence. As of January 1, 2019, Ramboll Americas consists of engineering and science experts in Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States.

A major expansion of Ramboll's competence and presence in the Americas took place with the acquisition of engineering consulting firms ENVIRON in 2014, and O'Brien & Gere in 2019.

In December 2019, Ramboll announced the acquisition of Henning Larsen Architects, effective on 2 January 2020.^[10]

In August 2023, Ramboll announced the acquisition of the german Consultancy firm civity Management Consultants^[11]

Ownership

All shares in Ramboll Group A/S are owned by the Ramboll Foundation (approx. 96.9% of the shares).The remainder are owned by Ramboll employees and Ramboll Group A/S.^[12]

Organisation

Ramboll Group A/S includes a number of primary business units within Markets and Geographies spanning the EU and US, and with branches and offices in 35 countries.

Management

 

Head office in Ørestad, Copenhagen, Denmark

Ramboll's management comprises the Group Board of Directors, the Group Executive Board, the Group Leadership Team, and Corporate Management. The Board of Directors is responsible for management of Ramboll Group A/S; while the Executive Board is responsible for day-to-day operation of Ramboll Group A/S..^[13]

Business units

• Denmark
• Sweden
• Norway
• Finland
• Germany
• UK
• Americas
• Asia-Pacific
• Management Consulting
• Energy
• Architecture & Landscape
• Environment & Health
• Water
• Buildings
• Transport

Large scale projects

 

Satellite image of the Oresund Bridge.

Ramboll is involved in many international large-scale projects. They have for instance had a key role in the work on the Oresund Bridge (1995–1999), connecting Copenhagen, Denmark with Malmö, Sweden.^[14] The bridge is one of the most important infrastructures in Denmark. The international European route E20 runs across the bridge, as does the Oresund Railway Line.

 

Ramboll supports ESO during the construction of the E-ELT.^[15]

They were also involved in the planning and construction of the Great Belt Bridge (1988–1998).^[16] This bridge connects Halsskov on Zealand with Knudshoved on Funen, 18 kilometres to its west, a two-track railway and a four-lane motorway had to be built, aligned via the small islet Sprogø in the middle of the Great Belt.

 

The Copenhagen Opera House 2005

Ramboll was the leading engineer on the new Royal Danish Opera, The Copenhagen Opera House.^[17] As the lead consultant on the project, Ramboll delivered engineering design, fire & safety, project management, structural engineering, geophysical engineering, geotechnical engineering, HVAC engineering, electrical engineering, bridge engineering, traffic engineering, traffic planning and traffic safety services.^[18] This was carried out between 2001 and 2004.

A characteristic feature of the Opera building is the gigantic roof covering the entire building stretching all the way to the harbour front. Measuring 158 metres x 90 metres, the Opera roof is one of the largest roof constructions in the world. The innovative design of the roof, which Ramboll has projected in cooperation with Henning Larsen Architects, was the reason for the Opera winning "The 2008 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award". The Committee that selected the Opera as the winner complimented the design of the roof and the use of bridge construction principles. These principles provide strength, stability and stiffness to the 43-metre-long roof all the way from the columns of the foyer to the furthest corner of the roof.^[18]

Ramboll were the structural engineers for the new Tate Modern extension, opened on 17 June 2016 in London, the world's most visited museum of modern art.

Ramboll is currently working on several projects concerning linking the infrastructure of the Nordic countries.^[19] Among these are projects under the Trans-European Networks and the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link, the world's longest immersed tunnel.

 

The Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link (green) and the Gedser-Rostock bridge (orange) in the Danish-German motorway system

Internationally, Ramboll has also marked itself by being involved in projects such as Chicago Lakeside Development, Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center in Saudi Arabia, and the new National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo.

References

1. "Group Executive Board - Ramboll Group". ramboll.com. 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
2. "Annual Results 2022". Ramboll. September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
3. "Foundation Ownership". Rambøll. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
4. "Ramboll - Who we are". ramboll.com. 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
5. "Ramboll's history". Ramboll. April 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
6. "Storvik & Co AS blir en del av Rambøll" (Press release). Rambøll Norge. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
7. Choueke, Mark (12 August 2007). . London: The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
8. Choueke, Mark (29 March 2011). . London: Gifford.uk.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
9. . dbdh.dk. 31 March 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
10. "Henning Larsen and Ramboll join forces" (Press release). Ramboll Group. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
11. "Ramboll acquires civity Management Consultants to boost transport sector impact - Ramboll group". www.ramboll.com (in German). Retrieved 25 September 2023.
12. "Ramboll annual report 2022". Ramboll. September 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
13. "Ramboll website". Ramboll Group. 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
14. . 2000. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 4 July 2007.
15. "Consultancy Contract for E-ELT Dome and Main Structure Awarded". ESO Announcement. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
16. "Contracts under EU-tender". 2000. Retrieved 4 July 2007.
17. "THE ROYAL DANISH OPERA". 2005. Retrieved 6 July 2007.
18. "Copenhagen Opera House". Ramboll. September 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
19. "E39". 2006. Retrieved 4 July 2007.

External links

• The Ramboll Group homepage
• The Ramboll Foundation homepage

55°37′38.52″N 12°34′45.37″E / 55.6273667°N 12.5792694°E / 55.6273667; 12.5792694