In 1928, Paul Wessel Deerns and Dirk Houtman junior founded a partnership by the name of Houtman & Deerns. An engineering consultancy was quite a novelty in those days. Paul Wessel Deerns was a visionary, and a highly innovative one at that. Following the death of his partner, in 1930, Paul Wessel Deerns continued the firm by himself.
| After having been inoperative during WWII, the firm grew exponentially after the war. It became specialised in a number of specific market segments, including health care, energy supply, hotels, and the development of residential and office buildings. As aviation started booming, in the early 1960’s, Deerns also focused on Schiphol Airport. Soon, airports around the world were included in the firm’s client base. | |
| 2020 | Deerns head office moves from Rijswijk to The Hague |
| 2018 | Deerns celebrates its 90th anniversary |
| 2018 | Start of the firm’s largest project programme to date: technical upgrading services for the Kuwait Airport |
| 2018 | Partnership starts with Lifeplan Technical Solutions, India |
| 2017 | Partnership starts with M&E Engineers, New Jersey (USA) |
| 2016 - 2017 | Deerns goes through difficult years resulting from a combination of major setbacks; closes/transfers offices; recovers health in 2018 |
| 2016 | Deerns initiates ‘bGrid’, an IT company that provides integrated Smart Building solutions using an open platform |
| 2014 | Deerns designs the MEP system for the most sustainable office building in the world at the time & 'first' smart building (The Edge, Amsterdam) |
| 2014 | Deerns develops a new partnership in São Paulo, together with the Brazilian firm Sistenge, ‘Deerns Brasil’ |
| 2014 | Deerns opens an office in Istanbul, Turkey (closed 2017) |
| 2013 | Deerns takes over the activities of Ibinser, Spain |
| 2013 | German business units of Schmidt Reuter, P2B and Scheer, are completely incorporated in the Deerns Group, continuing by the name Deerns Deutschland |
| 2013 | Take-over of Scheer Beratende Ingenieure in Stuttgart |
| 2013 | Deerns sets up a small office in Antwerp, Belgium (transferred to Flemish partner firm Ingenium (Bruges) in 2017) |
| 2012 | Take-over of Hilson Moran Italia spa. |
| 2012 | Deerns restructures from Dutch-oriented ‘Deerns Raadgevende Ingenieurs B.V. into internationally oriented ‘Deerns Groep BV’ with ‘Deerns Nederland’ as one of its National Offices; sets up two-tier governance with an external Supervisory Board |
| 2011 | Deerns opens an office in London |
| 2010 | Deerns is one of the first engineering firms to use Building Information Modelling, BIM |
| 2010 | Deerns opens a office in Paris |
| 2009 | Opening of an office in the USA (initially Phoenix, AZ, then Denver, CO; closed 2017) |
| 2006 | Start activities for largest airport project at the time: Abu Dhabi Airport |
| 2004 | Take-over of Schmidt Reuter, Cologne, Germany |
| 2001 | Deerns starts Planungsgruppe Berlin Brandenburg |
| 2000 | Deerns continues to grow its international business projects |
| 1987 | First climate façade designed |
| 1985 | Deerns develops 'Ides': integrated design system |
| 1984 | The firm changes its name into Deerns raadgevende ingenieurs b.v. |
| 1978 | Deerns celebrates its 50th anniversary |
| 1966 | Paul Wessel Deerns retires |
| 1956 | First projects abroad: Greece and Turkey |
| 1952 | The firm changes its name into Adviesbureau P.W. Deerns |
| 1951 | The consultancy changes its name into: Deerns Consulterende Ingenieurs N.V. |
| 1928 | Foundation of ‘bureau voor technisch advies’ Houtman & Deerns |