Looking back at 2023….

9 January 2024

It’s been another remarkable year at Eckersley O’Callaghan, marked by celebration. With many projects around the globe reaching significant milestones, we continue to grow year on year, passing 100 staff in London, 160 globally. We also added Brazil, Iceland and Azerbaijan to our worldwide project portfolio. As we look back at 2023, we reflect on the achievements of our 11 global offices.

Project Completions
In response to the industry-wide shift towards sustainable structures, our iconic projects that completed this year have garnered widespread acclaim. The Black and White Building with Waugh Thistleton and New Temple Complex with James Gorst Architects both received a plethora of award wins and shortlists for their innovative use of structural timber frames. In the US, Mass Timber 1 with Michael Green Architecture, features a Closed Cavity Facade incorporating timber blinds in the cavity. In Greece we provided facade engineering for the retrofit of Piraeus Tower, giving life back to the tallest building in Pireaus, which has sat as a degrading shell for several decades. Back in the UK, our Tower Hamlets Town Hall project with AHMM saw the restoration of the historical structure in Whitechapel. Down the road in Shoreditch, Norton Folgate recently completed, and comprises six buildings designed by four architects including both new build and existing structures.

The challenges of 2023 inspired our team to push the boundaries of innovation, resulting in ground-breaking projects. Standing 195m tall, Two Taikoo Place has a 15m high podium at its base which features the world’s tallest prestressed rod, a full-height glass facade and the first large deflection glass facade in Hong Kong. At CERN we created a “floating” walkway bridge by removing as much of the steelwork as possible and using the glass floorplate as a rigid diaphragm. In Asia, SKP Chengdu is a new state-of-the-art shopping mall in China. We worked closely with Sybarite and designed the intricate facade elements and structural glass features.

Project Progression Updates
Alongside completed builds, we’ve had many projects reach significant milestones this year. Following a long period of time in design, Atlassian Central in Sydney has finally broken ground on site and we’re excited to see the progress that will be made in 2024. In Hong Kong, The Banquet Hall at the top of The Henderson topped out, with its 600m2 skylight structure at the top of the tower almost complete. TUMO Convergence Centre has also started on site in Armenia; the 200m long rectangular tube-like structure with 30m cantilevers projecting over the Hrazdan River Gorge. Olympia – London, UNESCO HQ – Paris and Athena – Gurugram all continue on site and are beginning to resemble their final forms. And lastly, in Australia, our Sydney team have recently started work on 101 Albert Street, a development ascribing a subtropical character that will create a distinctive urban marker in the heart of Brisbane city.

Significant New Consultancy Services
We launched a new team to provide Facade Access and Maintenance (FAM) consultancy, led by Director Ollie Rigg. We deepened our Applied Sustainability, R&D, Diagnostics and Digital Design consultancy capabilities.

Celebrating Excellence
The work we’ve done in 2023 stands as a testament to our commitment to excellence, with an abundance of awards recognising our achievements. At the Society of Facade Engineering (SFE) Awards, The Black & White Building was named ‘Innovative UK Project of the Year’ while Mass Timber 1 earned the title of ‘Innovative International Project of the Year’. The Engineering Award at the Building Beauty Awards, hosted by The Royal Fine Art Commission Trust, was awarded to the Woolbeding Glasshouse. New Temple Complex won the Gold Award at the Wood Awards, while The Black and White Building won awards in the Sustainability and Commercial & Leisure categories. Atlassian Central won the overall award in the Future Project category at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Awards in Singapore. At the Structural Timber Awards, New Temple Complex received three awards, including the pinnacle award Winner of Winners, Low Carbon Project of the Year and Contractor of the Year. While The Black and White Building won Commercial Project of the Year and Solid Wood Project of the Year.

Recognising Dedication
Our team’s dedication to excellence and the built environment has not gone unnoticed, securing three prestigious awards. At the SFE Awards, Rocco Boselli won ‘Young Façade Engineer of the Year’. Emiliano Adam Cerutti was announced ‘Graduate Engineer of the Year’ at the CN Workforce Awards. Lastly, Ailish Hendry received ‘Young Marketer of the Year’ at the Construction Marketing Awards 2023.

Notable Events
Throughout the year, our calendar unfolded with numerous activities, offering moments of connection for our employees, clients, and collaborators. Alongside our annual London client party, we hosted our first client event in Hong Kong: Cofounders Drinks and Canapés. Attendees enjoyed an evening with unique EOC-themed cocktails, British-Chinese food and bespoke mahjong. Our global offices each enjoyed celebrating at their annual Christmas parties and office trips, with our London team being lucky enough to visit Woolbeding Gardens and New Temple Complex. A proud sponsor of SheCanEngineer, we attended the event for the second consecutive year, reinforcing our commitment to supporting Women in Engineering. In December, we exhibited our first 3D model of Atlassian Central at ‘Engineers Create’ run by The Engineering Club. It was also our third year taking part in The Gingerbread City, which can still be attended at Westfield White City. Our logo graced the big screens of Piccadilly Circus in December, a pleasant surprise for all of Central London to see.

Building Responsibly
As we look ahead into 2024 and beyond, our journey is marked not only by projects and individual triumphs, but also by our steadfast commitment to sustainability. In early 2023, we released our Sustainability Brochure, ‘From Urgency to Action’. The publication delves into our vision to advance economic, social and environmental wellbeing through our sustainability engineering services. We also started our retrofit series: Enhancing the Potential of Adaptive Re-use. This series covers typical considerations involved in working with existing structures. From new building massing to the field testing of foundation typologies; through case studies we will explore the nuances of reimagining spaces, current policies and barriers to change, and the technical challenges we must overcome with adaptive re-use.