WHO WE ARE
With over 40 years’ experience, we have been involved in some of the most influential and innovative projects around the world. As a practice of engineers, consultants and advisers in all aspects of built
environments, we are inspired by how we can achieve better outcomes.
Our global capability offers consultancy services for better decisions from the start, digital technology that delivers genuine value and engineering design for challenging projects.
Buro Happold helps develop built environments that are better for people, places and planet. In the words of our founder Ted Happold, our resounding principle is to “touch the earth lightly” because every environment in which we live, work, move and socialise shares equity with the planet. We value human wellbeing, embrace mutual responsibility and understand that a sustainable future is intrinsic to the economic and social impact of our work.
OUR STORY
From a small business start-up in a townhouse office in Bath in 1976 to a leading international business with nearly 2,000 employees (450 of which are based in our Bath office), Buro Happold has always been a practice with unlimited ambition. With such a significant presence in the South West,
It is no surprise that we have delivered some of the region’s best-known projects, including work for Dyson, the Eden Project, Wessex Water, and the Universities of Bristol and Exeter.
Our Bath office has also delivered some of the most challenging and highly regarded projects in the world, from Louvre in Abu Dhabi to the Highline in New York, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London and the Jewel at Changi Airport in Singapore. Each one a testament to pushing innovative engineering and design solutions to realise better outcomes.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Bath Abbey Footprint Project, UK
Developing innovations and finding solutions is at the core of everything we do, internationally and locally such as the Bath Abbey Footprint Project.
As one of the most visited places in the South West, Bath Abbey welcomes over 420,000 visitors annually. With parts of the Abbey dating back to the 16th Century, significant renovation projects have been undertaken in an effort to secure the future of this historically important building.
We identified that the city’s hot spring water presented an ideal opportunity to provide the Abbey with a sustainable heating system, but the water is technically difficult to use in practice. After plenty of analysis and lots of studies, our team proposed a solution to allow the Abbey to use water from the hot springs for the heating system.
The Abbey’s floor has over 8,500 burials beneath it, many of which have started to collapse, making the floor structurally unstable. The building’s 100-year-old heating system was also starting to fail. Our engineers are stabilising the floor, designing new heating and refurbishing the vaults below ground floor level to expand the Abbey’s facilities.
This £20 million project will protect the historical building into the future, preserving this World Heritage Site and allowing it to continue to attract thousands of visitors every year.
LA Countrywide Sustainability Plan, US
Over 5,000 miles from Bath, Buro Happold led the development of the first-ever Countywide Sustainability Plan for Los Angeles County. This comprehensive plan leverages critical resources and systems across the county, the largest and most complex county in the United States with over 10 million residents and 88 incorporated cities.
Over the 18-month effort, Buro Happold in partnership with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) worked closely with civic leadership and community stakeholders to develop an inclusive vision and actionable roadmap for a healthy and vital region.
The time to act is now
As a business and as engineers and consultants, we are working together with clients, collaborators, and our communities towards a net-zero carbon world; our greatest challenge and opportunity as we strive to deliver solutions with a sense of economy for our planet and its resources.
