Australia-based Woods Bagot, a global architecture, interior design, and master planning firm with an office in Dallas, has appointed Sarah Kay as chief executive officer.

Woods Bagot, which operates 17 studios worldwide, said that Kay will lead the next step in Woods Bagot’s journey towards total place design, with an emphasis on how place design can positively impact society.

Kay succeeds Nik Karalis as CEO after his nine-year tenure, opening a new chapter for the firm, which was founded in 1869 in Australia.

“I feel compelled as an architect, and now as a CEO, to have a positive impact through our work,” Kay said in a statement. “As architects and place designers, we are perfectly positioned to have a positive influence on the world ahead of us. It is in fact our responsibility to have a leading voice in shaping our cities and our places with a long term, sustainable and socially responsible outlook.”

Kay has been a member of the Woods Bagot leadership group for 25 years and a director for 15 years, the firm said.

She’s a respected architect with an extensive international career spanning North America, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Kay has led and designed high-profile projects and integrated precincts across commercial, transport, residential, and culture sectors.

Most recently, Kay led Woods Bagot’s Sydney studio, a role she has also held in New York.

As CEO, Kay’s business acumen will continue to broaden Woods Bagot’s impact through its diverse specialist brands such as ERA-Co, Customs Bureau, and sustainability consulting business Global Impact Group (GIG), the firm said.

Kay said, “Woods Bagot is inherently collaborative, and I am excited and buoyed by the future that we can achieve by working together across our diverse skills and services across our industry.”

Past leadership and ongoing expansion

Karalis was appointed CEO of Woods Bagot in 2015 and under his guidance, Woods Bagot’s global net revenue increased by 33% and saw significant growth across the firms’ transport, cities and places, civic and events, health, workplace, and education and science sectors.

“This is an incredible moment in our history. Driven to reinforce our shared excellence by amplifying the power of design, Sarah’s global career, strategic mindset, business leadership, board experience, and focus on cultural inclusivity make her an incredible leader capable of driving the next chapter of Woods Bagot forward,” Karalis said.

The firm said that Kay takes the leadership role at an exceptional time in the 150-plus-year history of Woods Bagot.

The studio has cemented its reputation as a design leader internationally, while simultaneously beginning to expand its service offerings beyond the core of architecture and interior design to include brand, urban strategies, and user strategies.

Woods Bagot currently has 17 studios working across five geographic regions including Australia and New Zealand, China, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.

It employs more than 800 professionals and works across multiple sectors: aviation, cities & places, civic & events, education & science, health, hotels, mixed-use, rail, residential, retail, workplace architecture, and workplace interiors.

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