7C built environment integrated solutions, Woods Bagot architects Australia, Architecture design office news

7C built environment integrated solutions news

26 March 2025

7C unites four future-facing brands—ERA-co (placemaking), Impact Futures (sustainability), Woods Bagot (architecture and interior design), and Customs Bureau (ultra-luxury concepts)—to provide holistic, integrated solutions for today’s increasingly complex built environment. By combining best-in-class expertise across these disciplines, 7C aims to be the most trusted and influential voice shaping the future of the built world.

TOTAL PLACE DESIGN: Woods Bagot, Era-co, Impact Futures And Customs Bureau Announced As Part Of The New 7C Network

Offering “total place design,” 7C will include four future-facing brands, providing expertise across placemaking: era-co, sustainability: impact futures, architecture and interior design: woods bagot, and ultra-luxury concepts: customs bureau.

7C placemaking, sustainability, architecture and interior design, and ultra-luxury concepts

MARCH 25, 2025, SYDNEY, AUSRALIA | Today Woods Bagot and Era-co announce a new integrated network of brands. United under a holding company named 7C, the 7C network, focusing on ‘Total Place Design,’ is a curation of best-in-class capabilities across placemaking (ERA-co), sustainability (Impact Futures), architecture and interior design (Woods Bagot), and ultra-luxury concepts (Customs Bureau), this innovative new network offers holistic and integrated solutions for an increasingly complex built environment.

The 7C network provides clients with access to a unique combination of the world’s best talent, drives interdisciplinary knowledge throughout the network and delivers shared services that contribute stronger, more integrated solutions for evolving client needs. At the helm of the newly announced 7C network is Sarah Kay. Appointed as Woods Bagot Global CEO in 2024, Kay’s role now expands to Global CEO, 7C, leading the network of brands operating from 18 global cities.

“Since 2020, we have been growing and adding complementary services towards the launch of our 7C network. The 7C network is fundamentally about solving our clients’ most complex challenges and delivering their most ambitious projects. Our ambition is to be the most trusted and influential voice shaping the future of the built world.

“As a networked set of brands, 7C can engage with more phases of our cities’ lifecycle, beyond architecture —from initial visioning, design, and sustainable development to implementation and long-term impact assessment. ERA-co, our second 7C business, has driven 42 percent compound revenue growth in its first five years. Alongside Customs Bureau, who have been working on significant projects since 2023, and our newly established Impact Futures sustainability consultancy, the 7C network also demonstrates significant growth potential – in time these new brands will make up to 20% of overall revenue,” says Kay.

“We are proudly fueling this growth through retained earnings—not external capital. By reinvesting up to 10 percent of our profits annually, we ensure controlled, strategic expansion while maintaining the highest standards of quality, ownership, and direction. Our commitment is to growth that strengthens—not compromises—the integrity of our design and advisory expertise.”

“The 7C network is strategically aligned with key industry shifts, including the rapid expansion of sustainability consulting and compliance, the evolution of urban planning towards regenerative and climate-responsive models, and the rise of hyper-luxury and experience-driven design. By embedding specialised capabilities that anticipate these trends, the 7C network is poised to lead in a rapidly changing market.”

“This alignment allows us to bring value to our clients by connecting specialist knowledge from across our network to deliver strategic outcomes and long-term impact. It’s what we call a Total Place Design mindset – teams who think more holistically and what’s best for our clients, not individual silos. Something that’s only possible given the depth and breadth of expertise sitting within each of our brands,” Kay continues.

Each company within the network represents a stand-alone entity with the ability to work directly with clients, or part of an integrated solution. Together, the 7C network intends to deliver a collective ambition to be the most trusted and influential voice for the built world.

With recent wins showcasing two or more entities within the new network, including London’s mixed-use office tower 85 Gracechurch Street (Woods Bagot and ERA-co) and mixed-used adaptive reuse development Bondi Road (Impact Futures and Woods Bagot) in Sydney, the strategy is already demonstrating its value and is designed to propel the 7C group of companies into their next phase of growth.

About 7C

7C is a wholly owned network of leading place brands, ERA-co, Impact futures, Woods Bagot and Customs Bureau. Operating from 18 global cities, we understand the complexity and challenges of our time. To generate the best possible outcomes for people and place, our brands provide visionary thinking and a holistic approach to Placemaking, Sustainability, Architecture & Design and Luxury Interior Design. Total Place Design is an integrated approach to creating transformative places. We connect specialist knowledge from across our network to deliver strategic outcomes and long-term impact.

About Woods Bagot

Woods Bagott creates Architecture for Worlds Ahead. Through architecture and design, we design places that meet the challenges and opportunities of our rapidly changing world through our commitment to exploration, impact, and community. With a global culture devoted to creativity, resilience, and purpose spanning 18 global studios, we ensure every project contributes to our client’s vision inspiring future generations. Part of the 7C network.

About ERA-co

ERA-cot are on a mission to unlock the potential of the world’s most ambitious projects, creating positive social, economic, and environmental impact for people and the places they inhabit. Placemaking is a collaborative process designed to nurture thriving communities and sustainable environments.

By decoding communities in real time, placemaking paves the way for better engagement, better decision making, and better long-term outcomes. Good placemaking unlocks shared value to generate powerful social and cultural momentum. Great placemaking however has the transformative power to advance humanity. Part of the 7C network.

About Customs Bureau

Customs Bureaut is a boutique studio creating the world’s most luxurious design & interior concepts. We believe true luxury only exists through care. Those moments when you realise that your next move, your next feeling, your next experience has been considered and crafted just for you.

Our journey is built upon our memory of such moments, creating them, exploring them, and curating entire worlds together with some of today’s most influential brands and discerning people. We are experts in moment-to-moment experience curation informed by a culturally-broad and industry-specific understanding of emerging art, design, style and culinary trends from around the world. Part of the 7C network.

About Impact Futures

Impact Futurest is a sustainability consultancy that understands how to meet the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations. Sustainable design and planning is an ever-evolving practice, informed by new understandings of climate, conservation and resource management.

We partner with our clients, other professionals, and stakeholders to deliver a response that balances a project’s needs with that of the planet. From healthcare to transit, from innovation precincts to adaptive re-use we are consulting on some of the world’s most ambitious sustainability led projects. Part of the 7C network.

Woods Bagot Architects

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