Burt Hill Opens Office in India.

WASHINGTON -- Burt Hill announced that the firm has opened an office in Ahmedabad, India offering architecture, engineering, and design services.

"India represents a tremendous growth market," said Peter Moriarty, Burt Hill's president/CEO. "We designed the headquarters for Jindal Steel in Mumbai in the mid-nineties and have looked for the right time and opportunity to return to work in India. We recently signed a contract with Claris Life Sciences and it is our goal to find and do work for other global companies in India. Gujarat, where Admedabad is located, is the largest manufacturing state in India, and is attracting many pharmaceutical and biomedical companies, like Claris."

India is the world's second largest country and its largest democracy and has a rapidly growing economy. India's gross domestic product increased 9.2% in the first quarter 2006-07. The GDP growth was led mainly by the fast rising industrial production and growth in the services sector.

"Most architecture firms enter a foreign market hoping to cherry pick mega-projects without making a commitment to the market," said Moriarty. "We are establishing a permanent presence in India and have senior people willing to spend the time to develop the market." Jayesh Hariyani, AIA, a long-time Burt Hill employee and a native of India, is the director of the Ahmedabad office.

Burt Hill is a large architecture and engineering firm with offices in Ahmedabad, India; Philadelphia, Butler, State College, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, DC; Cleveland, Ohio; and Dubai, UAE. The firm's clients represent nearly every facet of the economy, including multinational corporations, real estate developers, nonprofit institutions, healthcare providers, colleges and universities, technology and biotechnology companies, government institutions and individuals. The firm provides a wide range of services including architecture, engineering, interior design, landscape and research, with particular expertise in sustainable design, technology integration, and energy management. For more information, visit the firm's web site at http://www.burthill.com.