Efficient tall building design: challenges, opportunities and lessons

Tall buildings present complex structural and environmental design challenges. In the context of decarbonisation, tall buildings need to use materials efficiently. This lecture draws on experience from major UK projects, including 22 Bishopsgate, to illustrate how highly constrained urban sites can be unlocked through innovative engineering and close collaboration across disciplines.

The session explores how efficient structural systems are developed to optimise material use, construction delivery and overall building performance. It also examines the growing challenge of reducing embodied and operational carbon in tall buildings.

A key focus is on multidisciplinary optimisation: bringing together architecture, structural engineering, building services, facades and sustainability to deliver better-performing, lower-impact buildings.

• Efficient structural design of tall buildings: Development of structural systems that minimise material use while maintaining performance, constructability and commercial viability.

• Unlocking challenging sites: Lessons from complex UK projects, such as Bishopsgate

• Sustainability and multidisciplinary optimisation: Addressing embodied carbon and whole-life performance through integrated design across disciplines, balancing architectural ambition with environmental responsibility.

Speakers

Diego Padilla-Philipps

Diego Padilla-Philipps

Director, WSP UK

Diego is a Director of Decarbonisation and Innovation for Building Structures at WSP in the UK. He is a structural engineer with a diverse portfolio of challenging buildings in the UK and the Middle East, including 22 Bishopsgate and Principal Tower.

Chair: Miguel Martinez-Paneda

Chair: Miguel Martinez-Paneda

Principal Structural Engineer, Arup

Miguel Martinez-Paneda is a Principal Structural Engineer at Arup in London, specialising in the design and delivery of tall and technically challenging buildings worldwide including seismic and typhoon-prone regions of the world. He is a Member of the Institution of Structural Engineers and a registered Architect. Miguel collaborates with Imperial College London and other leading universities on tall building research and has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications. In 2025, he was named the Royal Academy of Engineering Young Engineer of the Year.