Façade Engineering Summer Placement London 2024

From helping shape entire cities to adapting infrastructure to deal with the climate emergency, a career at Buro Happold presents the chance to make a difference. This is an exciting opportunity to join our Façades team for an 8 week summer placement.

Here at Buro Happold expect the exceptional

From the projects you will work on to the clients we work with. From career-defining opportunities to an inclusive and diverse practice where we all contribute to a more equitable world. From our reputation to our relationships. Wherever your Buro Happold career takes you, it’ll be anything but ordinary.

What is Façade Engineering?

The quality of the 'skin' of your building is about much more than achieving the aesthetic vision, it's about buildability, efficiency and long-term sustainability.

What makes a façade function properly? Apart from the obvious, like weather resistance, airtightness and making sure it doesn't fall off the building, a big consideration is the energy impact on the building itself. An efficient, buildable façade makes for a better building and we work constantly to provide more efficient skins.

A thorough knowledge of the way in which façades are constructed means a client can trust us with a project from concept design, through to 'nuts and bolts' of construction, during the operation and maintenance of the façade and all the way through to consideration of refurbishment/re-purposing options. Whether this is for an intricate design such as for the Louvre, Abu Dhabi, or the grandeur of Hamad International Airport, Qatar with vertical glass façade systems more than 25 metres in height, we apply engineering rigour.

What sort of projects would I work on?

Whiteleys Redevelopment, London - This interesting multi-use project in a Grade II listed building combines the design of large precast and glazing systems with specialist advice to historic facades. The strength of our advice for both new build and conservation allowed us to support the Client in important planning discussions and to develop innovative glazing solutions that will be a benchmark in years to come for conservation projects. Our team is also closely advising the client in the assessment and monitoring of the historic fabric during construction. This will ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy the significance of the building for years to come.

Bee’ah Headquarters, UAE  - Dedicated to enabling an environmentally responsible future for the region, Bee’ah advocates revolutionary strategies for utilising renewable energy sources and setting benchmarks for sustainability. The organisation’s new headquarters needed to embody their ethos and vision. Formed to evoke the impression of intersecting sand dunes, the awe-inspiring building features a sweeping curved exterior. By using our previous knowledge of geometrically complex buildings, such as Glasgow Museum of Transport in Scotland, and City of Dreams in Macau, we were able to apply our expertise to realise this striking long span structure. The result draws comparisons with an enormous three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, featuring a system of parallel structural steel ribs that were prefabricated off site. This approach meant that the components could be easily transported and then assembled using typical skills and equipment found on any construction site.

About you

Ideally, the candidate will be studying towards a degree or master’s level in a relevant discipline, for example, Environmental Sciences, Waste Management, Logistics, Behavioural Sciences, Geography or Sustainable Development. However, relevant academic achievement will need to be matched with a demonstration of a candidate’s passion and enthusiasm for the better management of materials and waste.

In addition, a candidate could demonstrate skills and knowledge in:

• Awareness of key environmental issues affecting building operations
• Understanding of construction sector and ability to interpret engineering and planning drawings
• Proficient in handling Excel spreadsheets and standard office software
• Pro-active attitude in regard to project work and in the support of other job leaders
• Being aware of timetables for their own deliverables and maintaining good relationships with other stakeholders inside and outside the company
• We support hybrid working however as a professional at the start of their career journey we actively encourage and support working from the office, learning from peers and engaging workplace face to face conversations, workshops and problem sharing. Candidates would be expected to be in the preferred office four days per week.

Which degree could I be studying towards?

• Architecture Engineering
• Façade Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Structural Engineering
• Sustainability
• Building Physics
• Architecture
• Building Surveying

What would I do?

• Assist in developing jobs technically from initial client ideas, using various materials such as: aluminium, steel, concrete, stone, glass and timber. Understand architectural component detail design including aesthetics.
• Deliver work in a timely and technically competent manner.
• Increase your awareness of basic weather performance issues, basic building physics including ventilation, solar gain control, thermal insulation and glare control.
• Develop your experience of the practical aspects of handling and fabricating typical cladding materials.
• Understand the design life of various façade components and materials and have the opportunity to inspect existing buildings to understand what failure or a defect looks like.
• Hone your understanding of international standards and building codes. (For example, British Standards, Eurocodes, International Building Code, UBC, Aluminium Design Manual, Australian and NZ standards, ASTM Standards, Saudi Building Code.)
• Work with other teams and gain an awareness of the problems and constraints of the other major design disciplines such as Architectural, Structures, Building Services/MEP, Fire Engineering, Acoustics, and computer modelling.
• Develop strong design leadership on façade issues to the rest of the Client's design team.
• Maintain good client relations throughout the job.
• Improve your competency across various software such as Autodesk Robot, STAAD, Strand, SAP2000, MEPLA and Therm.

Whats in it for you

A plethora of interesting and challenging projects to stretch your professional skills, a friendly and close knit team, flexible working and a competitive reward package. The opportunity to work on multidisciplinary projects aside a range of specialist engineers, scientists and designers both within Buro Happold and our collaborators.

Application process

The recruitment timeline can vary depending on the role and team you are applying to. Successful applications are progressed to interview stage within 2-3 months from the closing date of the advert. We will endeavour to keep you informed throughout the time that your application is being considered, however, due to the volume of applications received and the size of our team, we are not able to respond to individual requests for status updates.

Please see our Early Careers Candidate Pack for further guidance and information.

This is a paid role for current university students for an 8-week placement taking place during Summer 2024. Exact dates can be flexible depending on candidate and team availability.

The annual salary for this placement will be £25,643 in our London office, in-line with the UK Real Living Wage.

If you are experiencing problems with your application submission, please contact earlycareers@burohappold.com.