Global engineering consultancy Black & White Engineering has opened its first Australian office in Melbourne, part of an APAC expansion driven by rising demand for data centre design and infrastructure delivery across the region.
The Melbourne office is the company's first permanent presence in Australia and marks a significant expansion from its existing Singapore and Malaysia operations. The business expects APAC headcount to grow by 165 percent between 2025 and 2026, with a projected 316 percent increase by 2029 as project delivery scales to meet contracted work.
Underlying the growth is a straightforward market dynamic: data centre capacity requirements across Asia-Pacific continue to outpace what existing delivery teams can support. Black & White Engineering — a consultancy specialising in mission-critical buildings and infrastructure — positions itself at the design and delivery stage rather than as an operator, taking on site due diligence, feasibility work, power and connectivity assessment, and engineering design management.
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.
The geographic footprint now includes Johor Bahru in Malaysia, where the company is supporting live data centre projects, alongside an engineering team in Kuala Lumpur, and a growing presence in Singapore. Chief Operating Officer Stephen Tode relocated from Dubai to Singapore earlier this year, becoming the first C-suite executive permanently based in APAC. He is also serving as Area Director for the region while holding his Group role.
Kevin Miller joined recently as Regional Data Centre Director, APAC, adding senior technical leadership to a team that has been scaling primarily through delivery engineers and design managers. The Melbourne office will initially focus on a core engineering team with design management capacity, with recruitment ongoing.
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.
Black & White's business model — consultancy rather than contracting or operations — allows it to move earlier in the project lifecycle, advising on site selection and feasibility before committing to detailed design. The company sees earlier engagement as a structural advantage as clients face longer lead times for power connections and planning approvals.
