Building services engineering

Integrating expertise in mechanical, electrical and public health engineering, we design the systems that support buildings and create a delightful environment for the people who use them.

We create, design and implement efficient, effective and elegant systems and infrastructure for ventilation, heating and cooling, lighting and all the other systems a building needs. But we also use these systems to create stimulating, healthy and productive environments.

Creating delightful buildings

As a result, we can help owners and architects realise their visions and take the design of a building beyond efficient – making it truly delightful. Great building services design transforms an office, residential, arts or building from an efficient machine into an inspiring environment.

It’s an approach we’ve taken successfully for many years, as our pioneering work on the Lloyd’s of London building shows. More recently, our building services engineering for BskyB Harlequin 1 HQ helped to create an award-winning, naturally lit, naturally ventilated environment for the broadcaster.

Meeting global challenges

Different areas of the world present very different challenges for building services engineers. For example, although natural ventilation might be a good solution for a data centre in the temperate climate of the UK, it wouldn’t be a good idea in the heat of the Middle East.

We draw on our global expertise to create the best possible building for the local environment, as we did for US client Citigroup’s new data centre in Frankfurt, Germany. Here we achieved a 72% reduction in energy use and a 30% reduction in water consumption to create the first LEED Platinum data centre in the world.

Many of our building services engineers have worked around the world during their careers at Arup, forging teams in our offices into a connected community of expertise. Our networks ensure that, wherever in the world they are, our clients always benefit from the latest thinking.

Drawing on our international experience we are helping our clients with ‘Back to the Workplace’ strategies, creating a welcoming, healthy and safe environment as we return to our daily lives.

A creative approach

Indeed, fresh thinking helps us deliver even the most complex projects extraordinarily well for our clients, whether they’re architects or building owners. Advanced analysis enables us to confound convention and find solutions for seemingly impossible problems – such as how to keep a Qatar sports stadium cool in a sustainable way.

With a reputation for innovative design and technical solutions, we’re continuing to focus on effective, efficient designs. Adopting building information modelling (BIM) for all projects will enable us to deliver our projects even more effectively.

It’s this attention to detail, combined with our breadth of skills, that leads clients to choose Arup for building services engineering on some of the world’s seminal buildings – including the recently opened Shard in London.