MWR Appoints Smith + Andersen for MOON Smart Cities Projects

Toronto, Canada - Moon World Resorts (MWR) has named Smith + Andersen as the mechanical, electrical and integrated systems engineer for every MOON Smart City masterplan, with the Canadian firm also advising on sustainable design through its Footprint practice.

Smith + Andersen, which MWR describes as one of Canada’s largest privately owned integrated engineering firms, will pair its core engineering with expertise in security, communications, lighting, audiovisual, intelligent systems and building automation. MWR said in the announcement that bringing these disciplines together would produce destinations that are coordinated, efficient, resilient and high-performing.

Douglas Smith, a Principal at the firm, leads the engagement. He has 42 years of experience on complex, high-profile developments in Canada and abroad, which the developer said matches MOON’s scale, technical ambition and global reach.

He specialises in mechanical systems as well as geothermal and sustainable design, and has worked on transport schemes, high-rise and mixed-use buildings and mission-critical facilities. The company said his expertise is not limited to those areas.

His Canadian portfolio includes Toronto’s Union Station and Terminal 1 at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ). It also covers Block 2 in Ottawa, Vancouver’s Pacific Centre Redevelopment, Edmonton’s Showcase District, 160 Front Street and The HUB at 30 Bay Street.

Outside Canada, Smith has delivered work in Riyadh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Astana and Almaty. In Austria, he led the bid for a spherical park on a large scale with a range of amenities.

Working alongside MWR’s global development team, the firm will lead coordinated engineering and sustainable design across the full MOON masterplan. Its brief runs from the Sphere and the AAA commercial destinations around it to 24 luxury residential buildings and the elevated office spaces within them.

MWR said the firm would turn its architectural vision into efficient, intelligent and resilient environments.

Every MOON development sits within a 556-acre masterplan and is anchored by what the company calls the world’s largest true Sphere. MWR conceives each one as a Building of Global Significance. On one site it brings luxury residences and AAA commercial real estate together with hospitality, attractions and entertainment, as well as education, technology and longevity + wellbeing.

The developer said delivering the concept needs advanced engineering, intelligent building technology and design leadership driven by sustainability. It described this as a mandate well suited to Smith + Andersen’s integrated expertise and its record on complex, high-performance environments.

Sandra G. Matthews, Co-Founder and President of Moon World Resorts, said: “MOON relies on systems performing flawlessly, invisibly and sustainably for many decades. Smith + Andersen will deliver the technical precision, integrated expertise and international experience required to deliver at scale. Douglas and his team believed in MOON from the outset, and their disciplined, collaborative approach mirrors MWR’s ambition.”

She added: “Their engineering and sustainable design leadership will do more than support MOON, it will help shape its performance, resilience and long-term success.”

Douglas Smith, Principal of Smith + Andersen, said: “Our role is to integrate complex systems so seamlessly that guests experience only comfort, reliability and wonder.”

He added: “Delivering that performance at this scale demands deep expertise, disciplined coordination and a shared commitment to innovation. It is an exceptional engineering challenge and exactly the kind of opportunity our teams are built for.”

Smith + Andersen was founded in 1965 and has 12 offices across Canada. Toronto-based MWR received the 2026 AHEAD award for best “New Concept” in the Americas, and says MOON developments will rise across Africa, Europe, Oceania, the Middle East, North and South America, and East, South and Southeast Asia.