Business

Reuse and reimagine: Structural engineering is updating London

Engineers and non-engineers alike, take note: the 2018 Structural Awards shortlist is announced today.

As the annual highlight in the Institution of Structural Engineers calendar, the Awards celebrate the extraordinary talent and skill of the Institutions membership right across the world.

But London has stolen many of the plaudits this year.

Read more: Eyes on the skyline: The Citys eastern cluster is evolving for the future

Through the skill of structural engineers, London is continually evolving in new and innovative ways.

You may have used London Bridge Station over the past few years. The £880m refurbishment carried out alongside your travel through this hub has transformed this 1840 station.

Imagine trying to remove railway lines, insert new ones in different locations on new structural bridges – and being asked to do so without disrupting travel during the works.

This is where the skill of the structural engineer comes in.

Or, if you enjoy strolling around Selfridges, you might be surprised to learn that over the past few years the shop has been undergoing the biggest refurbishment to any department store ever undertaken anywhere in the world.

Structural engineers again ensured minimum disruption, while completely changing the structural system.

Other recent transformations include the V&A, which now has a subterranean museum 15 metres deep built alongside the main grade I and II listed buildings. Engineers had to be sure that excavation would not damage the surrounding structures in any way.

You might also have been unaware that the longest-running musical in history, Les Miserables, was able to keep going throughout extensive structural alteration works to the Queens Theatre in Soho. A unique construction process meant that the show went on.

And in our collective national drive to reuse before we think to recycle, an excellent example is the trio of gasholders near Kings Cross, which now house apartments. In a different era, developers might have torn down structures. No longer.

Structural engineers have the skills to reuse and to transform – which is why the examples above are all short-listed for Structural Awards.

But its not all about reuse. Brand new structures on the skyline of London are being recognised for structural engineering excellence, including the 47-storey aptly-named Highpoint residential block, and two tall residential towers in Stratford which were built using an entirely new 10-storey factory.

The factory sits on top of the building as it rises up, providing a covered, safer, higher-quality construction process as though the workers were in a completed building themselves. This is tremendous innovation.

You might also have noticed the 38-metre Somers Town pedestrian bridge near Kings Cross, which is wonderfully streamlined. The structural engineers have removed all steel where it is not needed, leaving behind a sleek, efficient bridge.

Projects dont need to be tall or long to capture the judges eye. An outstanding use of curved timber structure forms the new pavilion for the Herne Hill Velodrome, breathing new life into this arena.

And if you celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Dulwich Picture Gallery in its temporary pavilion, you couldnt have helped but be amazed by the impossible slenderness of the structure which covered you.

The government has dubbed 2018 the “Year of Engineering”, and nowhere is this passion for engineering more evident than in London.

The Structural Awards embrace all that is innovative in the creation of our built environment. World-leading structural engineering can be transformative to the success of all sorts of projects, from the smallest to the largest.

So if youve ever wondered what it is that structural engineers actually do, just look around our capital city.

Read more: We meet the former Nasa space engineer who has founded a lending platform

[contf]
[contfnew]

CityAM

[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]

Related Articles

Business

Pressed by COVID-19 and low oil prices, Nigeria slips into recession

africanews– Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, entered recession for the second time in...

Business

EU Reeling From Yellow Vest Protests. What Happens if There Is a Debt Crisis?

There is a lot of talk about which economic bubble will burst...

Business

EU Reeling From Yellow Vest Protests. What Happens if There Is a Debt Crisis?

There is a lot of talk about which economic bubble will burst...

Business

Till Trump do they part: Top tech firms cut ties with Huawei following US trade blacklisting

Last week, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at...