Heavyweights join Populous global ops fold

Article posted by Coliseum, February 2^nd, 2026

Image: Populous

The leading design and architecture practice Populous has announced the appointment of two new global roles that expand its operational capacity around the world.

‘Populous’ stated that Gavin Houldin has joined the practice as the Global Chief Operating Officer focusing on strengthening global operations by standardizing systems and processes, leading integration efforts for acquisitions and optimizing business and project performance. He will report to Bruce Miller, Populous Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chair.

Populous is a global architectural and design practice with regional headquarters in Kansas City (US), London (UK) and Brisbane (Australia) specializing in sports facilities, arenas and convention centers as well as in the planning and design of major special events.

‘Populous’ further stated that Gavin has joined Populous from Arcadis where he served as the Senior Vice-President and Operations Director for their global Places business in North America leading a team of over 600 in the Americas and an additional 250 in global excellence centers across India, the Philippines and Romania. Prior to that he held senior leadership positions at AECOM in both Africa and the United States. He brings deep expertise in global operations, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) integration and driving performance across large, multidisciplinary teams.

Amsterdam (Netherland)-based Arcadis is a leading global partner delivering transformative projects with businesses, Cities and industries. With 36,000 people active in more than 30 countries they bring together the best minds from around the world to deliver intelligent products and solutions that address the challenges of climate, energy security and diversification and livable Cities.

Dallas (US)-based AECOM is the global infrastructure leader committed to delivering a better world. As a trusted professional services firm powered by deep technical abilities they solve their clients’ complex challenges in water, environment, energy, transportation, and buildings.

Commented Bruce Miller, CEO and Chair of Populous, “With his extensive experience in architecture, engineering and project-based professional services Gavin brings a collaborative, people-centric leadership style and a focus on design excellence and client service. His proven track record in scaling businesses through organic growth and M&A integration, coupled with strong commercial acumen and strategic thinking, make him ideally suited to help drive Populous into our next phase of growth and innovation.”

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Teryn Hightower has also joined Populous as the Head of Global M&A Integration responsible for creating and leading a disciplined global integration strategy for Populous acquisitions.

Teryn joins Populous from Accenture where she spent more than seven years leading post-merger integration within Corporate Development focused on aligning strategy, operations, systems and teams, to deliver against long-term business objectives.

Dublin 2 (Ireland)-based Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading businesses, Governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth, and enhance citizen services – creating tangible value at speed and scale.

Populous announced the acquisition of the aviation design firm Fentress Architects in June 2025 to create Fentress Studios significantly broadening the scope and scale of services that Populous offers to its clients across the globe.

Both roles are based in the United States but will be fully global in scope working across the firm’s regional headquarters in Kansas City, London and Brisbane and the 34 Populous studios around the world.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

Watch 500+ member-exclusive videos with valuable tips for your venue