A new COWI training programme titled ‘Conceptual Engineering’ is teaching engineers how to let go of the ruler and CAD programmes and embrace spontaneity.
The ultimate goal of the training is for engineers to increasingly pair up with architects as a way for them to set their mark on groundbreaking projects.
Being a part of the process from the beginning makes it more likely projects will have a more holistic approach and in the end come out better.
"Sometimes we’re afraid of going wild," says sanitation engineer Susanne Bay Alexandersen. "We don’t get into things we can’t figure out the answers to. We’re trained to think methodically and linearly, and we feel comfortable when we’re working with a safety net underneath us. But I’ve experienced how much fun and how inspiring it is to be creative."Changing marketsOver the past ten years or so, the market for engineering services has changed considerably. By 2003, customers were already seeking services regarding fire issues in the early phases of projects as a way to make sure that an architect’s vision could become reality.
Since then, new energy and acoustic requirements have emerged, as has a demand for lighting design. Most recently, sustainable construction has moved to the forefront with the construction of Copenhagen buildings Green Lighthouse and the sustainable building 4D.
Greater need to involve engineers Meanwhile, the popularity of LEED, an American system of standards for environmentally sustainable construction systems, is growing. The LEED rating system has created a greater need to involve engineers in the early stages of construction, as well as to begin thinking sustainably while the project is still on the drawing board.
Today, an architect who would previously have consulted with three or four engineers, now talks to twice as many.
"We could see that architects were looking for creative, multidisciplinary, open-minded and innovative engineers, who were abreast of what was happening in their fields" Jakob Tonsgaard, structural engineer, says. "Their image of engineers was probably one of inflexible, by-the-book types, who do things the way they’ve always done them. In some ways, that is justified – we don’t like it when things go wrong, or if we have to recalculate something."By Christina Tækker, cht@cowi.com Published: 02.07.2009
Susanne Bay AlexandersenSanitation engineer sbal@cowi.com
Jakob TonsgaardStructural engineerjato@cowi.com