The climate emergency and societal, technological, regulatory, and legislative developments are driving unprecedented change in the construction industry, and structural engineers need to be even more agile and creative to deliver designs that are safe, sustainable and buildable, whilst remaining profitable.
The 2023 e-conference saw industry leaders share their best practices to help structural engineers and all built environment professionals adapt and keep pace with the swift developments in the sector.
Watch selected presentations from the e-conference, highlighting the regulatory and business drivers for change, as well as some modern methods of design practices.
Vision for the future Sir David King, Founder and Chair, Centre for Climate Repair
Regulatory drivers for change David Cormie, Director, Arup, discusses how policy changes, from net-zero to structural safety, will shape the future of structural design and the skills demanded of the profession.
Business drivers for change Susan Mantle, Technical Director, HTS talks about how to persuade clients of the benefit of amending their briefs to deliver more adaptable, circular, and sustainable buildings for the future.
Performance based targets James Low, Global Head of Responsible Business, Mace, explores how performance-based targets are increasingly being embedded into contracts and showcase how the challenge is currently being met.
Circular economy: the Glyndebourne Pavilion Sophie Collier, Engineer, Elliott Wood, explores how the Glyndebourne Pavilion’s structure was designed to be fully demountable and reusable at the end of its life and built using reusing materials.
Circular economy: challenges of reusable concrete structures Glen Rust, R&D Engineering Leader, Laing O’Rourke, discusses some approaches to reusing concrete.
Modern methods of design: the Wembley North Eastern Lands Sarah Jane Pisciotti, Head of Design, SISK Group
provides practical examples of how adopting platform design solutions can accelerate our response to tackling the climate emergency.
Modern methods of design: innovations in the housing market Andrew Shepherd, Managing Director, TopHat, demonstrates how modular housing could be the route to addressing climate change, fuel poverty, inequality, and structural inefficiency in the market.
Modern methods of design: the componentisation approach Emily King, Director, ESS Modular, gives an overview of componentisation-based design for residential projects.
Platform design for manufacture and assembly: an overview David Clowe, Head of MMC, Turner & Townsend Real Estate, explores how the shift from a construction mindset to a manufacturing-first standpoint is affecting designers.
The future of design Trudi Sully, Impact Lead, Mott MacDonald, showcases how designing for manufacture and assembly fits within an integrated process excellence approach to realising better outcomes.
Technological drivers for change: material passports Rachel Hoolahan, Associate, Orms Architects explores how BIM and design processes could be adapted to deliver more meaningful sustainability initiatives and to provide greater value for engineers.