Commercial + Office

Lean design is a fundamental part of the Walsh DNA. We find the most cost-effective structural solution for commercial developments whilst not inhibiting architectural form, the usability of the space for the occupiers or it’s sustainability credentials.

At the outset of commercial projects, detailed initial design option studies are developed allowing budgets to be established for comparison. These design options will include typical floor details, sizing for vertical elements, preliminary foundation details, steel weights, realistic rebar quantities and building methods including off-site and modern methods of construction. We also review the additional implications of these designs including embodied carbon, construction logistics and procurement considerations. From this optioneering, the optimum scheme can be adopted.

Our experience of grid layouts, construction materials and construction techniques provides our clients with budget and programme savings.

Walsh take pride on being practical engineers and have a proven track record working with main contractors and trade contractors with a focus on buildability. This enables us to provide sound advice as soon as we join a project and “de-risk” it at the earliest stage. Such advice includes reviewing complex strategies and issues but also the smallest of details and elements as often these can provide the biggest returns. Our proactive approach and robust designs at each stage allow for realistic cost plans to assess viability of the emerging design. Walsh do not believe in over engineering or unnecessary conservatism.

Our communication skills and ability to work as a key member of the wider design team is what sets us apart. As passionate engineers, we think beyond our own engineering discipline and ensure that the right questions have been asked. We engage with all stakeholders including those required for third party approvals at the appropriate stage to assess and incorporate any specific changes to the design approach.

With geotechnical, civil and structural engineering disciplines under one roof, we are able to share our experience in-house and take a collaborative approach to our client projects from an early stage. This includes collaborating with other members of your design and engineering team where we have only been appointed for a single engineering discipline.

We look at all aspects of your project and ensure that our designs are value engineered as standard ensuring every element from groundworks to completion is coordinated and has added-value thereby providing early cost certainty and sustainability benefits.

Where you choose Walsh for multiple disciplines, we can offer significant cost savings which are achieved through the ready flow of information in-house and eliminating duplication of effort.

The return to work post-Covid has fundamentally altered the employee employer relationship and the need for high-quality, flexible workspace with internal and external communal areas and a focus on wellness is high on the corporate agenda. Structural efficiency that allows the kind flexible open plan floor space that supports such workspace is therefore in high demand and we help clients to balance this requirement against the carbon intensive nature of larger spans and fewer columns. We can also guide the team through the cost and embodied carbon implications of designing for future flexibility, adaptation and extension.