What if the future of low‑carbon construction was already being built nearly 40 years ago? At Hooke Park in Dorset, experimental timber structures from the 1980s were quietly testing ideas that now sit at the heart of modern structural engineering: local materials, minimal processing, short supply chains and low embodied carbon. Built from forest thinnings and green roundwood, these projects challenged conventional timber practice - adapting engineering to the material rather than forcing the material to fit predefined systems. Decades on, their performance, durability and environmental logic feel strikingly current. Hooke Park is a living prototype for regenerative design - showing how place, material and structural ingenuity can align to create resilient, low‑impact buildings. Read more about what these early experiments can still teach us today - https://buro.im/3PCHhgK Images: Architectural Association #BuroHappold #BuiltEnvironment #TimberEngineering #LowCarbonDesign #RegenerativeMaterials #StructuralEngineering
Buro Happold
Construction
Bath, England 291,114 followers
Engineering | Design | Advisory
About us
We are an international, integrated consultancy of engineers, designers and advisers. For over 45 years, we have built an unrivalled reputation by delivering creative, value-led solutions for the benefit of people, places and planet. Described by our clients as 'passionate', 'innovative' and 'collaborative', Buro Happold is synonymous with the delivery of exceptionally complex projects on every continent, working with the world's leading architectural practices and organisations, such as the United Nations, UNESCO and C40 Cities. Through our global community of driven, world-leading engineering, advisory and design professionals, we are acting to address major challenges in an ever-evolving world.
- Website
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http://www.burohappold.com
External link for Buro Happold
- Industry
- Construction
- Company size
- 1,001-5,000 employees
- Headquarters
- Bath, England
- Type
- Partnership
- Founded
- 1976
- Specialties
- Cities, Infrastructure, Consultancy, Advisory, Engineering, Structural engineering, Building services (MEP) engineering, Facade engineering, Building performance, Asset consultancy, Social value consulting, ESG consulting, Analytics, Acoustic engineering, Bridge engineering and civil structures, Audio visual consulting, Building performance, Building retrofit, Sustainability consulting, Energy consulting, Water engineering, Environmental consultancy, Climate change adaption and resilience, Covid-19 adaption advisory services, Digital, Design project management, Fire engineering, Ground engineering, Inclusive design, Heritage buildings, Strategic planning, Security and technology, Risk and resilience, Economics, People movement, Transport and mobility, Tall buildings, Stranded assets, Waste management and logistics, Timber engineering, Tensile structures, Venue performance rating, Health, wellbeing and productivity, Visualisation, Organisation transformation, Higher education consulting, and Arts, Culture and Heritage
Locations
Employees at Buro Happold
Updates
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How can large-scale urban development deliver climate neutrality and climate resilience at the same time? At Blankenburger Süden in Berlin, one of the city’s most significant urban extensions, we applied our Climate Proofing methodology to help answer exactly that question. Developed through the UP2030 HE Horizon Europe project, Climate Proofing is a structured approach to integrate climate mitigation, climate adaptation and co-creation into the earliest stages of urban planning. At Blankenburger Süden, this meant testing planning scenarios, modelling microclimatic performance and balancing operational, embodied and mobility-related emissions from the outset. Our team developed spatial recommendations for: • renewable energy integration • timber construction • green-blue infrastructure • heat island mitigation • integrated stormwater management Scenario testing demonstrated that an ambitious “pioneer pathway” could deliver a climate-positive overall balance, with findings now feeding directly into the ongoing masterplanning process and dialogue with the Berlin Senate. Blankenburger Süden shows how climate-proofing urban development can turn strategic climate targets into concrete, place-based decisions – laying the foundation for neighbourhoods that are resilient, liveable and future-ready. Learn more in our Climate Proofing Handbook: https://buro.im/4tcrRh2 #ClimateProofing #UrbanResilience #ClimateNeutrality #UP2030 #HorizonEurope #SustainableCities #UrbanPlanning #Berlin #BlankenburgerSüden #BuroHappold
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Hidden within 350 acres of Dorset woodland, Hooke Park is not just a collection of buildings - it’s nearly four decades of experimentation, making and learning, grown directly from the forest itself. Since the mid‑1980s, Hooke Park has brought together engineers, architects, students and foresters to explore what happens when you design with the material a site provides. Using green roundwood thinnings, minimal processing and inventive structural thinking, early projects conceived with Sir Ted Happold, Frei Otto and Ahrends, Burton & Koralek (now ABK Architects) challenged assumptions about what timber could do and how low‑impact construction might really work. From the pioneering Prototype House and Training Workshop to later additions by Edward Cullinan Architects (now Cullinan Studio), Invisible Studio and the Architectural Association, the campus has evolved into a landscape‑scale laboratory. It’s a place where structures double as classrooms, durability is proven through time, and low‑carbon principles are embedded long before the language to describe them existed. Explore the story behind Hooke Park - https://buro.im/4v2PtpV Images: Architectural Association #BuiltEnvironment #HookePark #TimberEngineering #StructuralEngineering #BuroHappold
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Buro Happold is delighted to welcome eleven new Partners into our global partnership. This move brings the total number of Buro Happold Partners globally to 113 and features nine new Partners in the UK, one in Europe and one in the Middle East. As we celebrate our 50th anniversary this year, these additions to our partnership mark an exciting step in shaping the next chapter of our firm, driving additional growth and focus on our future direction. Our new Partners reflect the depth and diversity of expertise across the business: 💪 Strengthening regional leadership in the Middle East and Europe 🏢 Expanding capabilities across design, structures, sustainability and multidisciplinary collaboration in the UK 🖥️ Advancing innovation through digital and AI leadership in our Technology team Together, they represent the talent, ambition and collaborative spirit that drive Buro Happold forward. Please join us in congratulating: Gavin Loy ,Gençay Tatlıdamak, Agnieszka Szymczyk, Anna Woodeson, Carol Reid, John Edgell, Michael Keverne, Simon Downing, Tom Newby, Wayne Early and Dr. Al Fisher. We look forward to the impact they will make as we continue to grow, innovate and deliver exceptional work around the world. #BuroHappold #Partners #BuroHappoldAdvisory
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This was Buro Happold’s moment to remember where we came from. Yesterday, our offices across the globe celebrated our 50th anniversary in diverse ways that both reflect different office cultures and reinforce our togetherness, both within our teams, but across our global network. From pie and chips in Manchester to model making in Munich, perfume-making in Riyadh and cake and cocktails in Bath, each person felt a sense of belonging to this unique and wonderful firm. This is where careers are forged, relationships formed, and legacies are created. Happy birthday Buro Happold. Looking forward to another 50 years of possibilities. #BH50years
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This is a story about Ted Happold, about his fellow seven founding Partners, and about the ideals of courage, care, and sense of adventure on which Buro Happold was formed. It is also about the people who supported Ted on this journey and the challenges they faced in establishing the practice, the complex problems they solved, and the transformational projects they created. This is a story about the unique values Ted and our founding Partners held dear that continue to be upheld in how we work today. For 50 years, Buro Happold has been transforming our buildings and cities. If Ted were alive today, he would be immensely proud of what our people continue to achieve, with the humour, generosity and shared endeavour that has always animated Buro Happold. Watch our story of origin unfold here. #BH50years
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"All of us are different, that’s why we chose to be together. It is out of the different skills, the different bodies of knowledge we have, that the quality of what we do really comes through." - Sir Edmund ‘Ted’ Happold Fifty years ago this week, Edmund Frank Ley Happold took a leap of faith, founding an engineering practice in the Georgian city of Bath, UK. Guided by Ted’s charisma, intellect and deep belief in a fair world built on equality, collaboration and trust, Buro Happold was born. What began as a workforce of seven is now a business with over 3,500 employees in 37 different locations across the globe. Today, our people come together to celebrate our origins. Together, we celebrate our journey so far, alongside the values that continue to guide us: responsibility, curiosity, courage and belonging. Discover how we shape cities, transform spaces and create a better world for people, places and the planet. https://buro.im/4tNijtW The story of how it all began is coming soon. Watch this space. #BH50years
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Welcome to this month’s Buro Happold newsletter. In this edition, we share stories across our global practice, from client experience and circular design to sustainability delivery, social impact and policy insight. As we mark our fiftieth year, these pieces reflect our collaboration, technical excellence and commitment to shaping a more sustainable, resilient and equitable future. #BuroHappold #Engineering #Consultancy #Advisory #BuiltEnvironment #Construction #Newsletter #BH50Years
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Buro Happold reposted this
How do you make 900 feet of concrete float across Wilshire Boulevard? We spent a decade collaborating with Atelier Peter Zumthor to figure that out for the David Geffen Galleries at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). As Collaborating Architect and Structural Engineer, we focused on how the building performs—particularly under seismic loads. Sandwiched between two concrete slabs, the structure is supported by an internal web of post-tensioned cables and seven large piers. There are no visible columns or trusses; the span rests on a system of base isolators that allow the building to move during an earthquake. The building reads as one continuous volume, which meant more than 100 concrete pours, each one coordinated to tight tolerances. At ground level, 3.5 acres of park space bring the museum back into the city. The David Geffen Galleries open to members on April 19, with a public opening on May 4. For a deeper look at the project's impact, read Michael Kimmelman’s latest review in The New York Times below. More → bit.ly/4cIVt0u 📷: Ema Peter and Iwan Baan, courtesy of LACMA
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What does it take to unlock a truly people-centred mobility system in a rapidly growing city like Riyadh? Saudi Arabia is at a pivotal moment. Vision 2030 is driving extraordinary transformation across the Kingdom, and mobility sits at the core of that ambition. Public appetite for change is real. But large-scale investment alone rarely changes how people move. Closing the gap between infrastructure ambition and street-level reality requires something more nuanced: a ‘missing middle’ of integrated planning that connects governance, public realm comfort, walkability and first/last mile solutions. In a city facing extreme heat, rapid population growth and a predominantly young demographic whose mobility habits are still forming, the window to get this right is now. Our transport and mobility experts explore the levers that can turn Riyadh’s mobility investment into everyday, liveable change. Read our full insight: https://buro.im/4mVwURo