Peter Oborn has taken over as managing director at commercial architect Aedas, the world’s sixth largest practice, and will spearhead its expansion drive in the USA.

Oborn replaced Ken Taylor as managing director on 1 January, he had been director responsible for the London office. Taylor is now director of the Shrewsbury office, driving growth in Kazakhstan and Russia.

Aedas is keen to make its mark in the USA this year. A spokesperson for the company said: “Aedas is in discussions with a number of prospective partners in the USA to become members of Aedas.”

The company is also looking to expand its presence in Mumbai, India, where it opened an office last year.

It is working on a 110,000 m2 office and residential development.

This month Aedas has opened an office in Edinburgh. This is its second office in Scotland; it has had an office in Glasgow for 20 years. The Edinburgh office is headed by former RMJM architect John Kinsey, who was previously project architect on the Scottish parliament.

Aedas has 20 offices across the world including Beijing, Dubai, Singapore and Warsaw.