What WAA does

WAA+ (Williams Asselin Ackaoui) is a Montreal-headquartered landscape architecture, urban design, and urban planning firm founded in 1986. The practice operates from four offices in Montreal (Canada), Shanghai (China), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), and Jakarta (Indonesia), delivering projects spanning heritage conservation, public parks, institutional campuses, commercial and residential developments, and large-scale urban planning across Canada, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, France, and Lebanon.

The firm's offering consists of three core professional services — Landscape Architecture, Urban Design, and Urban Planning — delivered by in-house teams of designers rather than via any software platform, API, or productized technology. WAA+ differentiates through domain specializations including heritage park rehabilitation (e.g., Fuxing Park in Shanghai), ecological water management using reconstructed wetlands (Jean Doré Beach with 100,000+ aquatic plants filtering swimming water), climate-adaptive design across diverse geographies (Quebec winters, Shanghai summers, coastal Malaysia), and integration of indigenous cultures and native species into urban landscapes. The firm does not hold patents, trademarks, or technology certifications beyond project-specific credentials such as LEED on the Campus Bell project for Bell Canada.

WAA+ monetizes through project-based professional services commissions secured directly from government agencies (Cities of Montreal and Québec, Shanghai Garden Administration Bureau, Verdun Borough), real estate and hospitality developers (Capitaland, Shui On Land, Guocoland, One & Only Desaru), and educational institutions (McGill University). Pricing is not publicly disclosed; the firm markets primarily through its website portfolio and organic social media (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn) rather than paid acquisition. The firm is privately held with no disclosed funding rounds, parent company, or institutional investors, operating as a bootstrapped professional services practice.

Name

WAA

Legal name

WAA+

Website

https://waa-ap.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

WAA+ is a Montreal-based landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm founded in 1986, operating from offices in Canada, China, Malaysia, and Indonesia. It serves governments, real estate developers, hospitality operators, and educational institutions with heritage, ecological, and climate-adaptive design projects.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Montreal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

WAA+ (Williams Asselin Ackaoui) is a professional services firm providing landscape architecture, urban design, and urban planning services from concept through construction administration. The firm delivers site analysis, master planning, design development, and construction documentation for parks, gardens, public spaces, institutional campuses, and mixed-use developments across diverse climates and geographies.

Product overview

WAA+ (Williams Asselin Ackaoui) is a professional services firm offering an integrated suite of landscape architecture, urban design, and urban planning services. The firm operates as a single, unified practice rather than a platform with discrete modules. Their portfolio spans heritage conservation, parks and gardens, institutional campuses, commercial and residential developments, and urban planning projects. The firm does not offer software products, APIs, or technology platforms—all offerings are professional design and planning consulting services delivered through their team of landscape architects, urban designers, and planners.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Landscape Architecture Services Professional landscape architecture services including site analysis, master planning, design development, and construction documentation for parks, gardens, institutional landscapes, and outdoor spaces for government, real estate, and institutional clients.
• Urban Design Services Urban design services encompassing public space design, streetscape improvements, and integrated landscape planning for urban environments, including promenades, urban beaches, and mixed-use districts.
• Urban Planning Services Strategic urban planning services including land use planning, development guidelines, and comprehensive planning for sustainable communities and large-scale master-planned developments.

Quantifiable outcome

• Jean Doré Beach features 100,000+ aquatic plants filtering water naturally without chemicals
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SWA Group: SWA is a leading landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm with a comparable international portfolio of large-scale public realm, waterfront, and resort projects. It is the closest direct peer in terms of service mix, project scale, and global client base.
• OLIN: OLIN is a landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm with similar practice areas to WAA+. Both firms emphasize integrated design across landscape, ecology, and urban systems for institutional and public clients.
• MIG (Moore Iacofano Goltsman): MIG is a planning, design, and communications firm with a strong landscape architecture and public engagement practice. It is comparable in service mix and focus on civic and community-oriented landscape projects.
• James Corner Field Operations: Field Operations is a high-profile landscape architecture and urban design studio known for iconic public space projects. It is comparable in service offering and project ambition to WAA+, particularly for large civic and waterfront commissions.
• Sasaki Associates: Sasaki is a multi-disciplinary design practice offering landscape architecture, urban planning, and urban design services globally. Its work on large urban regeneration, campus, and waterfront projects mirrors WAA+'s practice and international delivery model.
• PWP Landscape Architecture: PWP is a landscape architecture and urban design firm specializing in waterfronts, parks, and public space. Its project types and emphasis on civic-scale commissions are closely aligned with WAA+'s practice.

Emerging players

• ASPECT Studios: ASPECT Studios is an international landscape architecture practice with strong Asia-Pacific presence, similar to WAA+. It is a credible peer for waterfront, urban regeneration, and large public realm projects across the region.

Broad incumbents

• Arup: Arup is a global engineering and design firm whose landscape and urban design teams compete for integrated city-shaping commissions. It is broader in scope than WAA+ but overlaps on resilience, waterfront, and large mixed-use developments.
• AECOM: AECOM is a global infrastructure consultancy with a large landscape architecture practice. It competes with WAA+ on mega-scale public realm and master planning projects but offers a much broader multidisciplinary service bundle.
• SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill): SOM is a large global architecture and engineering firm with integrated urban design and landscape capabilities. It competes with WAA+ for master planning and large mixed-use commissions but operates at significantly greater scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WAAinternational
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/waa-international
• Instagraminstagram.com/waa__ap

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WAA