INTERVIEW Turner & Townsend Korea offers construction cost management solutions

Turner & Townsend Korea President Park Jang-shik poses at his office in Seoul during an interview with The Korea Times, Jan. 30. Courtesy of Turner & Townsend Korea

Korean companies have long been unfamiliar with looking for professional cost management services when they place construction orders, as most of their projects in the past were not of a scale that warranted hiring advisory firms.

Soaring construction costs and large-scale projects to build state-of-the-art facilities, however, have also increased demand for cost management services in Korea, paving the way for Turner & Townsend Korea to seek more business opportunities.

The company specializing in construction cost management was established in 2009 as a joint venture between the Britain-headquartered Turner & Townsend and HanmiGlobal, a Korean construction project management firm.

After growing into a leading company in the Korean market, it has provided services for various mega-size projects, including the construction of LG Science Park, Shinsegae’s Starfield shopping malls and Microsoft’s data centers in Korea.

Despite such a track record, Turner & Townsend Korea President Park Jang-shik said there is still room for growth in Korea’s construction cost management market, considering the trend of global enterprises hiring cost management firms in addition to project management companies when they place construction orders.

“Systematic and efficient management of costs determines the success of a project,” he told The Korea Times in an interview. “Cost management is essential for construction projects.”

Park, who joined HanmiGlobal in 2000 as an engineer, was transferred to Turner & Townsend Korea in 2011 when HanmiGlobal sent all of its employees in charge of cost management services to the joint venture. After taking charge of sales and operations at the company, he was appointed as its president last November.

“In 2009, when HanmiGlobal Chairman Kim Jong-hoon decided to found a company specializing in construction cost management, he preferred establishing a joint venture with a renowned foreign company over setting up its own subsidiary,” Park said. “Turner & Townsend swiftly agreed to HanmiGlobal’s proposal, as both companies anticipated a synergy effect.”

HanmiGlobal Chairman Kim Jong-hoon, left, shakes hands with Turner & Townsend CEO Vincent Clancy during their meeting in this 2009 file photo. Courtesy of HanmiGlobal

He forecast that there will be a growing demand for cost management services for projects to build data centers and large shopping malls. Turner & Townsend Korea is also optimistic about the potential benefits from the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s recent move to ease regulations on the reconstruction of apartment buildings aged over 30 years.

Park, however, noted that his company seeks to offer services for a wider range of projects.

“We want to expand our presence in the market for eco-friendly projects, such as the construction of offshore wind farms,” he said. “HanmiGlobal has already managed projects to build offshore wind plants.”

With the expectation of further growth in the market, he added that his company is looking for more specialists in construction cost management, although Korea still lacks such experts. He also unveiled his company’s plan to digitalize its working process this year by adopting the Hive, Turner & Townsend’s internal cloud platform.

“As we want to receive orders repeatedly from our core clients, we will use the new system in drawing up trustworthy reports with higher qualities,” Park said. “I hope to make a company that grows more rapidly and gains the trust of clients.”