Arup has over 60 years experience in delivering the most challenging and iconic building structures worldwide.
From the Sydney Opera House to Centre Pompidou in Paris to CCTV in Beijing, the firm's highly-skilled structural engineers understand not only structural theory but all the processes of design and construction. Arup solutions make the most ambitious structures buildable.
The ability to design buildings to be stable, strong, stiff and durable under all their imposed conditions while using materials economically is the essence of structural engineering.
Core challenges
Structural engineers combine loads (gravity, wind, seismic), materials and geometry; they are proficient at the mathematics that connects them.
Arup teams are skilled in designing structures of economy and elegance to realise architects' and clients' ambitions; 30 St Mary Axe in London is an example of such a project. Developing new systems, or sometimes using new materials, enable reduced construction costs and greater sustainability in operation.
Strong forces
All buildings move, whatever their form. In some parts of the world with earthquakes or high winds, and in tall buildings or long-span structures, movements can be excessive. However such movements can be eliminated by Arup's advanced damping systems to both maximise the usable floor space and give enhanced occupant comfort.
Arup has world-leading specialists in designing structures for sites of seismic activity and high winds. The firm has a long track record of designing tall buildings such as Two International Finance Centre in Hong Kong and has pioneered structural solutions for public amenities including hospitals and the San Francisco Federal Building, USA.
Material refinements
At its best, structural engineering delivers buildings aligned with the client's values, the end users needs and the architects' vision while using the fewest resources possible. Promoting greater sustainability can also be met by reusing or recycling materials and influencing occupant behaviour and not just by minimising the weight of the structure. Pioneering use of innovative materials such as high-strength concrete, carbon fibre and recyclable plastics are also techniques that Arup uses.
The challenge for the structural engineer is nearly always to minimise the resources required for the structure while meeting the brief and the acknowledged values of the project. Reconciling these ambitions can be done in very different ways. For example, China's National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) with its overtly steel-intensive structure became a muscular symbol for the 2008 Beijing Olympics whereas its neighbour the National Aquatics Centre (Water Cube) demonstrated a contrasting set of structural engineering solutions with the use of lightweight materials.