In conversation with Wolf Mangelsdorf

In this Q&A interview, we speak to Buro Happold’s Global Head of Design, Technology and Innovation Wolf Mangelsdorf. In his role, Wolf ensures the highest level of design and technology methodologies across the practice.

What are you most excited about in your new role as Global Head of Design, Technology and Innovation and what do you hope to accomplish?

Buro Happold has a reputation for creative and innovative design-led projects, as well as
our cutting-edge work with technology. So, I’m excited to be taking on the role of Global
Head of Design, Technology and Innovation.

We have so many inquisitive and imaginative minds within the company. I can tap into this talent and unleash it. Whilst it’s challenging to start a position afresh, it’s a great opportunity to shape and develop the role based on my vision that’s been driving my career.

Wolf Mangelsdorf, Global Head of Design, Technology and Innovation, Buro Happold

Our computational engineering capabilities across the practice are built on the concept of our Computational Collective. It’s all about co-creation and mass participation — with around a third of our employees actively involved. I’m bringing the same concept to design and innovation.

I want everyone to feel confident to put forward their ideas regardless of their seniority or title. Innovation isn’t the responsibility of a select team; it happens because someone has a good idea or discovers a problem that needs solving. This is what we want to encourage and drive. But in order to turn our innovative thinking into outcomes, I’ve set up a management process that allows us to do that in a structured way.

For this, I’m creating an ‘Innovator Network’ which focuses on strengthening and driving our culture of innovation. We already have some initiatives and forums in place, such as Urban C:Lab (a cross practice development programme) and the Young Engineers Forum and I am building on that. We will use these to encourage those who have a knack for innovation at an early stage in their career and providing them with tools to develop this further to carry into the practice.

In the same spirit, I’m forming a collective of design leaders that’s open to everyone in the practice. Both The Innovator Network and the Design Leaders are supported by a small steering group, working closely with me to set the direction, define what success looks like, and guide the collectives.

However, co-creation and mass participation extends far beyond these constructs. Every region across the globe has a Design, Technology Innovation Board sponsor whom I meet with quarterly. Together with the Global Discipline Leaders and the Technology Board, we establish what our drivers and goals are in each region and align our agendas across the practice.

What does design, innovation and technology mean to you?

For me, design is the application of creative thinking to an engineering problem. Establishing what needs solving – challenging it, exploring it and ultimately making it better. it. It’s about the creative process that shapes something from nothing.

We start off with a blank piece of earth and when we’re finished, there’s a fantastic building in its place. Of course, it’s not always a building, sometimes it’s infrastructure, a city or even a process.

This may be a building, a city, a campus or even a strategy or a process. What makes Buro Happold so special is that we don’t see our role as just to make something work. We’re there to engage with our clients and collaborators and apply our creativity and engineering expertise so we can help shape that final outcome.

Innovation has similarities, and overlaps with design, but there’s a subtle difference. It’s about having our eyes open to what’s happening within the industry and beginning
to look for solutions that haven’t even presented themselves yet. Sometimes it’s
also about studying current processes and questioning whether we can do it differently.

Technology is the enabler that allows us to do things differently, or to do different things all together. This is often a driver of innovation in itself.

Wolf Mangelsdorf, Global Head of Design, Technology and Innovation, Buro Happold

What are some of the challenges Buro Happold faces across the business?

We’re acting in increasingly competitive markets, and so ensuring we stand out from our competitors is a challenge we face everywhere. There’s a downward pressure on fees, and so we need to be able to show the value that we can bring to a client’s project.

Value doesn’t come from designing the most beautiful project or delivering it on the cheapest budget. It comes from approaching and working with our clients in an engaging way. That’s where we really shine.

What opportunities or challenges have been presented by the Covid-19 pandemic?

There’s concern about how growth will be impacted as we emerge from the pandemic, but I believe there’s also a huge opportunity here to drive real change. Over the past several years, questions of how we work and live have come to the fore, especially in relation to the climate and biodiversity crisis.

I’ve been lucky enough to have worked with pretty much all of our teams across the world. Surprisingly, working remotely has somehow made us all much more connected across different disciplines and offices. The more we embrace that, the more we can pull people
together with the right skills to produce something special, irrespective of where they are in the world. Our only remaining challenge is being in different time zones.

All of this features highly in our global strategic goals. We’re in a fantastic position to lead the charge on the climate emergency by identifying and discussing these issues with our clients, and of course, presenting them with solutions.

Describe a dream project

I’ve worked on some of the world’s most incredible projects, from Zaha Hadid’s City of Dreams development in Macau to London’s Battersea Power Station. A dream project? It’s probably one where we can challenge our views and perceptions to find innovative solutions.