London


London:
the adapting city

London’s enduring success has been built on the diversity and energy of its people, and its ability to embrace change. The pace of change is accelerating, and this brings multiple threats and opportunities.

To continue to thrive, London needs to draw further on the expertise and innovation of its people. We see this in the built environment and infrastructure that helps move the city forward, and enables its residents and visitors to work, rest and play.

Challenges for the UKs capital city are extensive. Adequate and affordable housing, safe and healthy streets, changing workplaces and high streets are all key concerns, as is retaining London’s premier status for education, culture, sport and events. These challenges are made more complex when considering rapidly evolving planning regimes, land assembly, construction cost, supply and skills shortages, climate change and the need to create resilient infrastructure in transit, power and IT.

All this brings opportunity for innovative practices.

MEET THE TEAM

Buro Happold’s vision of London

Buro Happold’s aim is to be innovative, with a focus on achievable and beneficial outcomes. We are a diverse community of engineers, environmentalists, strategic planners, economists and specialist building advisors who provide a golden thread of our thinking from strategic planning and viability, to masterplanning and building level projects, and delivery at all levels of client vision, complexity and scale. We seek to be integrated solution providers, working with our clients and collaborators to provide economically beneficial, sustainable and inclusive outcomes.

We are advocates of working in partnership, recognising the whole is greater than the sum of all parts and seeking performance led interventions for the end users and communities we’re proud to live among. We embrace technology where it helps clients build in a quicker, safer and cheaper way. Technology is the enabler; we focus on integrated design approaches that maximise viability, minimise delivery risk and ensure sustainability and inclusivity remain at the core of what we provide.

We recognise the need to adapt to change in London, ensuring our skills and offering remain relevant. With adaption, we help our clients stretch the art of the possible to repurpose their assets and to expand our collective capabilities in workplaces, life sciences and across the spectrum of commercial and urban development. Beyond projects, we also help our clients meet their key ESG targets around decarbonisation and climate change.

Our work in London

We have practiced engineering design and multidisciplinary consulting in London for over 30 years on a significant portfolio of projects at all scales. With nearly 600 staff based in London, we work for a diverse range of private and public sector clients across multiple areas, particularly in commercial residential, office, hospitality, retail, education, culture, sport, events and life sciences.

While we have been very fortunate to have delivered many of London’s landmarks, from Battersea Power Station to the Millennium Dome, we are equally proud of our ability to support our clients in achieving their aims across a significant portfolio of commercial work in this city, at all scales of ambition. Our commitment to London is clear – and we can offer you more than you may think.

  • Carpenters Land Bridge
  • City of London Climate Adaptation
  • Insights into London 2021
  • Salisbury Square Development

areas of expertise

Repurposing existing buildings

Digital design

Sustainability

Digital placemaking

Environment

Fire and high rise buildings

London is a thriving hub pushing the boundaries of engineering and design innovation. We help our clients stretch the art of the possibility of repurposing their assets and expanding our collective capabilities in the residential, workspace, civic, cultural and leisure sectors.

Justin Phillips, London Office Director

IN focus

Stratford Waterfront

Stratford Waterfront forms the lynchpin of a new cultural and educational district in Queen Elizabeth Park (QEOP), the former home of the London 2012 Olympics. The area is undergoing an extraordinary transformation to become a £1.1bn cultural powerhouse. Inspired by the South Bank, the new quarter, East Bank, will be a rich treasure trove of cultural institutions and attractions.

This project builds on our ongoing relationship with the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), which began with the design of the Olympic Park and stadium, and continued through legacy planning into masterplanning and the current transformation of the site.

Spanning a broad range of specialisms from across the business, the multidisciplinary Buro Happold team worked alongside architects to develop the masterplan for Stratford Waterfront’s East Bank. The site will contain new venues for Sadler’s Wells, London College of Fashion, the BBC and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Explore more of our work using the buttons below.

What our clients say

Imperial College


Buro Happold are really good on lab projects, and everything else we build is easier than that, so also well within their capabilities.
We have good relationships with individuals in Buro Happold, and that isn’t just at project management level, but extends to our engineers talking well with their engineers on a day-to-day level.

Richard Garfield, Senior Project Manager, Imperial College London

Allies & Morrison


The reason we work with Buro Happold is because they have incredibly good people. The Buro Happold recruitment strategy is to get the best people, and it shows.
The sustainability aspect of their work is now much more fundamental; it is the foundation of all their decisions.

Alex Wraight, Partner, Allies & Morrison