Conceptual design of buildings

Author: Norman J., De’ath R., Carr J., Knowles G., Broadbent O., Harpin R. and Lloyd I.

Date published

8 April 2020

Price
Standard: £69.95
Member: £44.95
Student Member: £34.95
PDF
The Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers
Back to Previous

Conceptual design of buildings

Guidance

Author

Norman J., De’ath R., Carr J., Knowles G., Broadbent O., Harpin R. and Lloyd I.

Date published

8 April 2020

Author

Norman J., De’ath R., Carr J., Knowles G., Broadbent O., Harpin R. and Lloyd I.

Price

Standard: £69.95
Member: £44.95
Student Member: £34.95

PDF

A practical guide to developing conceptual design skills, helping students and graduate structural engineers transform client briefs into viable structural solutions and assess feasibility before detailed design begins.

As the starting point for every engineering project, conceptual design is fundamental to successful structural engineering. This publication helps students and graduate structural engineers develop the skills needed to interpret client briefs, create viable structural schemes and evaluate project feasibility before progressing to detailed design.  

Drawing on the expertise of seven engineering and teaching professionals, the guidance explores the conceptual design process from idea generation through to scheme development. It covers sketching, communication, site constraints, robustness, stability, element sizing and practical project outputs, supported by worked examples.  

Preview the publication's draft content page 

Downloads

Conceptual-design-of-buildings-(draft-contents-pages).pdf (.pdf, 31 kB)
Prelims-Conceptual-design.pdf (.pdf, 1.3 MB)
Review
"Very well written and easy to understand for entry level engineers. This is the first book in years that I've read every page - thank you so much!"
Yuan Wu
Senior Structural Engineer

Key features:

  • Explains the complete conceptual design process from brief to scheme development.  

  • Provides guidance on generating and communicating ideas through sketching and writing.  

  • Covers site constraints, ground conditions and feasibility considerations.  

  • Introduces robustness, stability and preliminary sizing principles.  

  • Includes worked examples to support learning and application.  

Who the book is for:

  • Student structural engineers. 

  • Graduate structural engineers. 

  • Structural engineers undertaking Initial Professional Development (IPD). 

  • Early-career design professionals. 

  • Structural engineering educators and mentors. 

  • Professionals developing conceptual design skills.  

What you will learn:

  • How to interpret and respond to a client brief.  

  • Techniques for generating and communicating conceptual design ideas.  

  • How to assess site constraints and ground conditions.  

  • Principles of structural scheme development.  

  • How to consider robustness, stability and preliminary element sizing.  

  • What information should be produced at the end of the conceptual design process.  

Additional information

Format:
Book (A4 print or PDF)
ISBN:
Print ISBN: 978-1-906335-42-7, PDF ISBN: 978-1-906335-43-4
Pages:
254
Publisher:
IStructE Ltd
Attachments:

Tags

Guidance Conceptual Design Technical Publications Panel Guides