Black & White opens Melbourne office as APAC grows

Black & White Engineering has opened an office in Melbourne and expanded its operations in Singapore and Malaysia, marking its first permanent office in Australia.

Chief Operating Officer Stephen Tode has relocated from Dubai to Singapore, giving the business its first permanently APAC-based C-suite leader. Alongside his group role, he is overseeing regional operations as Area Director for APAC, including Singapore.

The expansion follows rising demand for data centre infrastructure across Asia-Pacific, with clients seeking support on design, project delivery, site due diligence, power availability and feasibility work.

The Melbourne office will initially support a core engineering team, alongside design management and project functions, with recruitment under way as local operations grow. The Australian base is intended to support both domestic work and projects across the wider region.

In South East Asia, Black & White has established a presence in Johor Bahru to support live data centre projects and is continuing to build a front-end engineering team in Kuala Lumpur. It is also adding staff in Singapore.

The company expects its APAC headcount to increase by 165% between 2025 and 2026, with projected growth of about 316% by 2029 as it scales delivery across the region.

Regional growth

The expansion comes as data centre construction activity increases across APAC, driven by rising capacity requirements, tighter delivery schedules and more complex technical demands. Black & White is also becoming involved earlier in projects, including work related to site selection and early feasibility assessments.

That earlier-stage work includes reviews of power availability, connectivity and planning considerations, which have become more important as operators and developers try to bring new sites into service more quickly.

Black & White has also appointed Kevin Miller as Regional Data Centre Director, APAC, strengthening its management team in the region. His appointment adds to the senior leadership presence as the consultancy broadens its data centre work.

The company employs more than 1,000 people across its international office network and focuses on data centres and other critical building infrastructure projects in several global markets.

Tode said his move to Singapore reflects the scale of the opportunity in the region. "I'm pleased to be based in Singapore again at a point where the business is expanding across APAC. The region continues to see strong demand, and the focus is on supporting that growth while providing the right environment for our teams and maintaining consistent delivery for clients as we scale."

Clive Smith, Head of Design Management at Black & White Engineering APAC, said the Melbourne opening is intended to address a gap in local delivery support. "We have opened in Melbourne to support growing demand across the APAC data centre market and to establish a presence in a location where there is a clear need for additional delivery capability.

"Establishing a presence in-country is central to how we are building the business across APAC. It allows us to support clients earlier in the project lifecycle and scale delivery capability in line with project requirements."

Miller said the region remains one of the busiest markets for data centre development. "Black & White's focus on mission critical design, combined with its international footprint, creates a strong platform to support clients across APAC.

"My background spans electrical engineering, IT security and data centre design, and the focus is on helping clients respond to increasing scale and complexity, including the impact of AI on infrastructure.

"APAC remains one of the most active data centre markets globally, with strong demand for delivery capability that can keep pace with that growth."