Building structures
For the owners and developers of large, complex physical assets across sectors such as transport, aviation, sports venues, health and defence, it is increasingly crucial that the building’s structures are engineered to be efficient, safe and sustainable.
The past decade has seen great changes in the field of structural engineering. The rapid advancement of technology has generated a pressing need for cutting-edge digital skills, while building codes and standards have become ever more complex and exacting.
And as the climate crisis intensifies, innovative approaches to sustainable design are becoming essential to reduce embodied and operational carbon.
What can we do for you?
Our 800-strong global structural engineering team offers unparalleled expertise in building types that require long span, geometrically complex structural solutions.
Efficient structures
We open new frontiers for building efficiency by using advanced software to push the boundaries of what is possible and produce better, leaner, more cost-effective designs.
Sustainable structures
Maximising the utilisation of building structures and components reduces projects’ climate impact. By creating designs that use less heavy material, and by strengthening structures only where they need to be strengthened, we generate the most responsible possible embodied carbon solutions. We also consider adaptive reuse of structural elements, futureproofing them so that they can live on after their current use has expired.
Improve resilience
Our engineers understand the detailed interactions between building components when they are placed under stress, and the provisions needed to make buildings safe and prolong their lifespan in the face of threats such as climate events, earthquakes and fire.
Holistic solutions
Our structural engineers work together with experts from other disciplines such as facades, building services and fire engineering to produce holistic solutions. We understand that when delivering grand, impressive structures, it is often in the detail that both efficiencies and innovative measures to combat emerging risks are to be found.
Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, London, UK. As one of BAA’s first-tier integrated suppliers, we were the design engineer for the £4.2 billion project’s sub-structures and foundations.
Engineering safe and efficient building structures
Our experienced specialists in structural engineering use deep digital capability and technical expertise to design buildings and structures that are useful, cost-effective, attractive, sustainable and strong.
Our experience
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Anfield stadium main stand redevelopment, Liverpool, UKWe carried out static analysis and dynamic pedestrian modelling for the redevelopment of Liverpool Football Club’s iconic Anfield stadium to add 8500 seats. Using our in-house pedestrian modelling software tool STEPS, we undertook a detailed study of how people would move around under various scenarios. We identified potential problem areas, leading to the redesign of vomitories and reconsideration of the proposed capacity as well as the repositioning of retail outlets.
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Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, QC, CanadaThe Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) is the biggest public-private partnership project in Canadian history. We were retained as the Independent Certifier for the construction phase, responsible for checking the compliance of the facility against the clients’ requirements.
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Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, London, UKAs one of BAA’s first-tier integrated suppliers, we were the design engineer for the £4.2bn project’s substructures and foundations. This complex job involved working under one of the world’s busiest airports, with the challenges of extremely shallow depth and having to pass under existing utilities – and at one point running only 3m above the Heathrow Express rail link tunnels. Our designers made substantial time and cost savings in temporary works through close teamwork with the civils contractor. The method led to programme savings of over 30 weeks as well as improved site safety.
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Mosaic Stadium, Regina, CanadaWe were the concept designer, responsible for engineering, quantity surveying, and architecture for the new Saskatchewan Roughriders football stadium.
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Seascape, Auckland, New ZealandStanding 187m high, Seascape is the country’s tallest residential tower. Our role covered all aspects of structural, mechanical, electrical, hydraulic and facade engineering. One of the requirements of the project is for every apartment to have a clear view of the Waitemata Harbour. Together with the architects, we designed a structure that had no stability elements on the north elevation. Instead, a mega-frame on the east, west and south elevations provides the building’s solidity. Building sway caused by wind and potentially earthquakes is controlled by a bespoke viscous damping system. Dampers are distributed throughout the building’s structural frame, hidden from view between its inner and outer walls. The solution resulted in no loss of floor area. Our integrated solution enabled us to optimise the entire building design, resulting in a structure where all components work harmoniously together to perform efficiently.
Intelligent Content
Intelligent Content provides a managed library of information-rich, parametric BIM objects that can be reused instead of recreated, and optimised with each successive use. A team of experts creates and quality-checks all objects, reducing model development time and enabling the rapid prototyping of designs.
