Working on highly technical projects requires design teams to develop a variety of solutions, and sometimes they need those in a hurry. Syska Hennessy Group is providing those accessible solutions. The nationwide engineering firm has five California offices and 110-plus employees in the state.

“The key for us is that we have a relationship with the senior management in the firm, and they are responsive to our needs,” Stan Lew, president of RMW architecture and interiors, tells ENR about working with Syska. “Getting responsive solutions in place for our clients is key, and they are always a willing partner. Not every engineering firm is as responsive, and we really appreciate that.”

John Passanante, Syska Hennessy executive principal, credits the firm’s Strategic Vision 2025, formulated 10 years ago, and its employees in making that happen. “We didn’t want to be a one-off type of firm,” he says. “We want to build relationships with clients, get embedded in them, understand their business so we can work on solutions with them and get their repeat business.”

To even better differentiate the firm, Passanante says they made it a point to be thought leaders, willing to get to the table early with clients to present various solutions and then focus on building relationships while deepening firm expertise.

So far, that strategy has spurred continued growth in the West, where a diversity of sector expertise has seen Syska Hennessy develop a mission critical focus on data centers while continuing to grow in aviation and criminal justice. The firm reported revenue of $29.15 million in the West region in 2024, an increase of 11%.

The company’s savvy business strategy, strong bottom line and history of strong client relationships has earned Syska Hennessy Group ENR West Design Firm of the Year honors.

Syska Hennessy provided MEP engineering and technology services for Supernal’s engineering headquarters in Irvine, Calif.
Image by Garrett Rowland Photography

Strength Through Specialization

Sean Marcel, Syska Hennessy principal, says the firm’s ability to focus on so many sectors and develop expertise at a highly technical and oversized scale is linked in part to a strategic focus on creating a practice with sector leaders rather than regions. That strategy ensures each office does not work in a silo and knowledge across offices get shared.

The data center work has encouraged Syska Hennessy’s modern approach, working with clients early in the process on planning and siting before getting into designing. As clients seek more work, Marcel says Syska has trained teams to support that ask. Passanante says developing expertise throughout offices allows them to support projects no matter where they are located—and to do the work from anywhere.

“We want to build relationships with clients, get embedded in them, understand their business so we can work on solutions with them and get their repeat business.”

—John Passanante, Executive Principal, Syska Hennessy

“Being able to select teams and work across multiple offices has done really well,” Marcel says.

Lew says that his 15-year relationship with Syska has continued to grow from small to modest-size projects to multimillion-dollar projects significant in scale. A recent project in the world of “flying car companies” included a battery research lab, a research and development test center and an engineering headquarters, all in California. It allowed the two firms to get in together on a new industry.

“Ever since that time,” Lew says about the project that wrapped up in 2023, “we have been growing our presence in the field. Engineering is a big part because these are technical facilities, and we need a partner willing to work with us on coordination. As [Syska] grows and looks toward the future, we hope to do the same along with them while looking at other industries. We are excited about the future.”

The data center world is “very hot and active for us,” Passanante says, and the firm can have three offices across the country working on one data center as if they were just one office. “That enables us, if folks in a particular sector are not busy but have experience, we can leverage those folks to work.”

Developing Diversification

Also in the West, Syska has been active at Los Angeles International Airport for the past 20 years, which led to work at San Diego International Airport and airport projects at Burbank, Long Beach and San Francisco. “We are working on pretty much all the big ones right now,” Marcel says. “We have great relationships, and the right people ask for us to be on the project.”

Syska Hennessy has stayed relevant in criminal justice, civic work and health care (including life sciences) with a specific West Coast focus on higher education, everything from performing art theaters to student housing to dining halls. Syska Hennessy hasn’t strayed from its history of working with major financial intuitions on interior projects.

Being a privately held firm, the employees have a lot of care in the work, Marcel says, noting that clients have said they know that they can call and Syska employees will pick up on the first ring.

“We know this is a service industry,” Marcel says, “so we are putting people in the right position so we can deliver.”

Moving forward, Passanante knows that talent acquisition will remain a key challenge. The firm hasn’t tried to grow too fast or move toward acquisitions because it wants to keep the current culture in place. Instead, it is focusing on developing talent and expertise. Syska works with organizations to create a breadth and depth of expertise in the engineering sector. Syska has looked to develop growth in existing offices and in offices where they already have expertise.

“We want to be seen as that premier engineer, that partner for clients looking to do difficult or large-scale projects who really need technical expertise,” Marcel says. “We feel that’s where we belong.”