Arup Group Limited
TypePrivate
IndustryDesign, Engineering, Architecture and Business consultation
Founded1 April 1946 (1946-04-01)
Headquarters
London
,
England
Number of locations
94 offices in 34 countries (2023)
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Alan Belfield (Chair)
Tristram Carfrae (Deputy Chair)
Dervilla Mitchell (Deputy Chair)
ServicesConsultancy services
RevenueIncrease £1.9 billion (2022)[1]
Decrease £50.9 million (2022)[1]
Decrease £18.3 million (2022)[1]
Total assetsIncrease £1558.9 million (2022)[1]
Number of employees
Increase 17,208 (2022)[1]
SubsidiariesOve Arup & Partners International Ltd, Arup Associates Ltd, and others.
Websitewww.arup.com

Arup (officially Arup Group Limited) is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London that provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment. It employs about 17,000 people in over 90 offices across 35 countries,[2] and has participated in projects in over 160 countries.[3][4]

Arup was established in 1946 by Sir Ove Arup as Ove N. Arup Consulting Engineers. Through its involvement in high-profile projects such as the Sydney Opera House, it became well known for undertaking complex and challenging projects.[5] In 1970, Arup stepped down from actively leading the company, setting out the principles which have continued to guide its operation.[5]

Arup's ownership is structured as a trust[6] whose beneficiaries are its employees, past and present, who receive a share of its operating profit each year.[7][8]

History

Founding the firm

The company was founded in London in 1946 as Ove N. Arup Consulting Engineers by Sir Ove Arup. Arup had established himself in the 1930s as an expert in reinforced concrete, known for projects such as the Penguin Pool at London Zoo.[9] According to the architectural author Ian Volner, Arup's vision when establishing the company came out of a combination of his wartime experiences and a progressive-minded philosophy broadly aligning with early modernism, was for the organisation to be a force for peace and social betterment in the postwar world.[5] To this end, it would employ professionals of diverse disciplines that could work together to produce projects of greater quality than was achievable by them working in isolation, a concept known as 'Total Design'.[5][10][11]

Early years

As the company grew, Arup spurned the common practice amongst its rivals of acquiring other companies; instead, it pursued natural growth, opening up new offices at locations where the potential for work had been identified.[5]

During 1963, together with the architect Philip Dowson, a new division of the company, Arup Associates, was formed.[12]

Within 25 years of its establishment, the firm had become well known for its design work for the built environment,[13][14] acquiring a reputation for its competence at undertaking projects that were structurally and/or logistically complex.[5] Arup himself worked on multiple projects during the firm's early years, including the Sydney Opera House, where he was lead engineer, and which author Peter Jones credited with launching Arup into the premier league of engineering consultancies.[15][16] The Opera House was the first application of computer calculations to an engineering project, using the Ferranti Pegasus computer to generate models.[17]

During Arup's lifetime, the company would also work on high-profile projects such as the 'inside-out' Centre Pompidou with Rogers & Piano, and the HSBC headquarters with Norman Foster & Partners.[18][19]

The Key Speech

1970 was a particularly transformative year for the firm; 24 years after founding the company, Arup opted to retire from actively leading the company. At the time, the firm (then Ove Arup & Partners) was made up of several independent practices spread across the globe, so prior to his departure, Arup delivered his 'Key Speech' on 9 July in Winchester to all his partners from the various practices.[20] The speech set out the aims of the firm and identified the principles of governance by which they might be achieved. These included quality of work, total architecture, humane organisation, straight and honorable dealings, social usefulness, and the reasonable prosperity of its members.[5]

Arup's philosophy work on influential projects was the subject of a dedicated retrospective at the V&A Museum in 2016.[21]

Operations

Picture of an office building.
An office building occupied by Arup in the Dublin Docklands.

Arup is an employee-owned business, with all staff owning a stake in the company and part of a global profit share.[22]

By 2013, Arup was operating 90 offices across 60 countries around the world.[5] These offices are elaborately interconnected by shared internet-based collaborative working packages and communication systems that can, where required, enable a single project to be worked on by multiple offices across a seamless, 24-hour working cycle. However, it is more common for individual offices to specialise in working on an assigned subsection of a project rather than continuously exchanging.[5]

The BBC Television and RIBA documentary The Brits who Built the Modern World highlighted Arup's collaboration with architects and described Arup as "the engineering firm which Lord Norman Foster and his peers Lord Richard Rogers, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, Sir Michael Hopkins and Sir Terry Farrell most frequently relied upon."[23]

The firm has published an annual sustainability report since 2008, and is involved in several projects around the world aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions,[24] such as Dongtan Eco-City, which is planned to be zero waste,[25] and the High Speed 2 Interchange Station, which is the first railway station in the world to achieve BREEAM 'outstanding certification.[26]

Arup also runs community engagement programmes comprising initiatives to combat homelessness,[27] improve sanitation in disaster relief programmes,[28] and disaster recovery after earthquakes.[29] They also engage in partnerships with governments, NGOs, think tanks, and other advocacy groups.[30][31]

Notable projects

Angel of the North
Coventry Cathedral, showing the new building by Arup in the background.

Africa

North America

Asia

CCTV Headquarters in Beijing's central business district nearing completion (August 2008).
Marina Bay Sands – Singapore

Australia

Sydney Opera House
Kurilpa Bridge, Brisbane

Europe

Millennium Bridge in London

Sports

Arup had its own sports division, specialising in designing, consulting and structural engineering for sporting facilities such as stadia.[36] Many of Arup's modern stadia are designed with a contemporary, distinctive edge and the company strives to revolutionise stadium architecture and performance.[36] For instance, the Bird's Nest Stadium for the 2008 Olympics was complimented for its striking architectural appearance[37] and the City of Manchester Stadium for the 2002 Commonwealth Games has stairless entry to the upper tiers through circular ramps outside the stadium.[36] The most notable stadium projects led by Arup remain the City of Manchester Stadium (2002), Allianz Arena (2005), Beijing National Stadium (2008), Donbass Arena (2009) and the Singapore Sports Hub (2014).

Awards

Awards to group

The firm is consistently placed amongst top performers in Corporate and Social Responsibility rankings such as the ACCSR.[38]

Arup's multidisciplinary sports venue design and engineering scope on the Singapore Sports Hub won the 2013 World Architecture Festival Award in the Future Projects, Leisure Category.[39]

Casa da Música

The Casa da Música, Oporto, designed by Arup and Office for Metropolitan Architecture was nominated for the 2007 Stirling Prize.[40]

Arup's work with The Druk White Lotus School, Ladakh, won them Large Consultancy Firm of the Year 2003 at the British Consultants and Construction Bureau – International Expertise Awards, 2003 building on their triple win at the 2002 World Architecture Awards.[41]

Arup was awarded the Worldaware Award for Innovation for its Vawtex air system in Harare International School.[42]

Arup won the Gold Medal for Architecture at the National Eisteddfod of Wales of 1998 for their work on the Control Techniques Research and Development HQ, in Newtown, Powys.[43]

Arup Fire has won the Fire Safety Engineering Design award four times since its creation in 2001.[44] The 2001 inaugural award was won for Arup's contribution to the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, the world's largest greenhouse. In 2004, the design for London's City Hall was appointed joint winner. In 2005, the Temple Mills Eurostar Depot won. The 2006 winning entry was for Amethyst House, a nine-storey building with an atrium from the ground to the top, in Manchester, UK.[45]

Arup was Royal Town Planning Institute Consultancy of the year in 2008.[46]

Arup was awarded the 2010 Live Design Excellence Award for Theatre Design for the integrated theatre and acoustic team's design for the new Jerome Robbins Theatre, created for Mikhail Baryshnikov and The Wooster Group.[47]

The Evelyn Grace Academy, London designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and Arup won the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2011.[48]

Arup was named Tunnel Design Firm of the Year at the 2012 ITA AITES International Tunnelling Awards.[49]

Arup was awarded Infrastructure Architect of the Year at the 2020 Architect of the Year Awards.[50]

Arup was awarded Britains Most Admired Company 2021 by Management Today[51]

Awards to Arup employees

Barbara Lane, associate director with Arup, won the Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal in 2008[52] for her outstanding contribution to British engineering on design of structures for fire.

Fellows

Arup Fellow is a lifelong honorary title awarded to selected honorary individuals in the firm. It acknowledges the highest design and technical achievements of people, not only within the firm, but also in the industry as a whole. They are considered role models who possess world-class expertise who put theory into effective practice.

The current fellows, as of November 2019, are:[53]

  • Davar Abi-Zadeh
  • Michael Beaven
  • Peter Burnton
  • David Caiden
  • Helen Campbell
  • Tristram Carfrae
  • Vincent Cheng
  • Alice Chow
  • Sam Chow
  • Geoffrey Tai
  • Mark Chown
  • Fiona Cousins
  • Jo da Silva OBE
  • Graham Dodd
  • Ian Feltham
  • Mark Fletcher
  • Marianne Foley
  • Ian Gardner
  • Craig Gibbons
  • Peter Gist
  • Mike Glover OBE
  • Richard Greer
  • Alistair Guthrie
  • Goman Ho
  • Richard Hornby
  • Jon Hurt
  • Naeem Hussain
  • Paul Johnson
  • Peter Johnson
  • Florence Lam
  • Barbara Lane
  • Wilfred Lau
  • Chris Luebkeman
  • Erin McConahey
  • Rory McGowan
  • Alisdair McGregor
  • Tateo Nakajima
  • Duncan Nicholson
  • Nick O'Riordan
  • Raj Patel
  • Mahadev Raman
  • Rudi Scheuermann
  • Andy Sedgwick
  • Brian Simpson OBE
  • Paul Sloman
  • Malcolm Smith
  • Richard Sturt
  • Tim Suen
  • Corinne Swain OBE (d. 2020)[54]
  • Tony Vidago
  • Regine Weston
  • Michael Willford
  • Atila Zekioglu

Notable alumni and current staff

Companies under Arup Group

  • Oasys Ltd, established in 1976 as the software house of Arup, providing engineering software for structural, geotechnical and pedestrian movement simulation/analysis software.
  • Neuron Digital Group, established in 2022 with Venturous Group, providing digital solutions for building assets.

Several staff have left to form other companies, often with significant parallels with Arup.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Arup Financial statements 2022". arup.com. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  2. ↑ "Arup Financial Statements 2022 - Arup". www.arup.com. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  3. ↑ "The history of Arup - Arup". www.arup.com. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  4. ↑ "How Arup Became The Go-To Firm for Architecture's Most Ambitious Projects". ArchDaily. 16 September 2013. Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Volner, Ian (16 September 2013). "How Arup Became The Go-To Firm for Architecture's Most Ambitious Projects". archdaily.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  6. ↑ Corporate Report 2008, section 23 (Report). The Arup Group. p. 19. Arup Group Ltd is owned by the Ove Arup Partnership Employee Trust, the Ove Arup Partnership Charitable Trust and the Arup Service Trust.
  7. ↑ "Arup Structure". The Arup Group. Archived from the original on 1 November 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  8. ↑ Odoi, Antoinette (20 August 2007). "Firms owned by staff have beaten the FTSE all-share". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  9. ↑ "V&A · Engineering the Penguin Pool at London Zoo". Victoria and Albert Museum. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  10. ↑ "Arup Associates". historicengland.org.uk. 15 June 2018. Archived from the original on 13 June 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  11. ↑ Alexandra Wynne (3 August 2016). "Arup's total design legacy". New Civil Engineer. Archived from the original on 13 June 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  12. ↑ "Sir Philip Dowson - obituary". www.telegraph.co.uk. 14 September 2014. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  13. ↑ Ove Arup & Partners 1946–1986. London: Academy Editions. 1986. ISBN 0-85670-898-4.
  14. ↑ Campbell, Peter; Allan, John; Ahrends, Peter; Zunz, Jack; Morreau, Patrick (1995). Ove Arup 1895–1988. London: Institution of Civil Engineers. ISBN 0-7277-2066-X.
  15. ↑ Jones, Peter (2006). Ove Arup, Master Builder of the Twentieth Century. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11296-2.
  16. ↑ Hunt, Tony (October 2001). "Utzon's Sphere: Sydney Opera House—How It Was Designed and Built—Review". EMAP Architecture, Gale Group. Archived from the original on 19 December 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
  17. ↑ "V&A · Computers and the Sydney Opera House". Victoria and Albert Museum. Archived from the original on 14 September 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  18. ↑ "Centre Pompidou: high-tech architecture's inside-out landmark". Dezeen. 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  19. ↑ "The construction of the HSBC building in Hong Kong – The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group". industrialhistoryhk.org. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  20. ↑ "Ove Arup Key Speech - Arup". www.arup.com. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  21. ↑ "V&A · Engineering the World: Ove Arup and the Philosophy of Total Design - Exhibition at South Kensington". Victoria and Albert Museum. Archived from the original on 14 September 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  22. ↑ Easen, Nick (3 November 2019). "Employee ownership: how Arup's CFO stays ahead of the curve". Raconteur. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  23. ↑ "The Politics of Power". The Brits who Built the Modern World. London. 27 February 2014. BBC Four. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  24. ↑ Earley, Katharine (16 May 2013). "Arup: sustainability shapes every project". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  25. ↑ "Dongtan Eco-City in China designed by Arup - Verdict Designbuild". www.designbuild-network.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  26. ↑ Marshall2020-08-28T06:00:00+01:00, Jordan. "Arup's HS2 Interchange station approved". Building Design. Archived from the original on 28 January 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ↑ "Arup Partnership". Habitat for Humanity Australia. 16 September 2021. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  28. ↑ "WaterAid joins forces with Arup | WaterAid Australia". www.wateraid.org. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  29. ↑ "Generous UK donors can be proud of post-tsunami reconstruction | Disasters Emergency Committee". www.dec.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  30. ↑ "LocalGov.co.uk - Your authority on UK local government - Government appoints Arup-led consortium for £3.6bn Towns Fund delivery". www.localgov.co.uk. 15 June 2020. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  31. ↑ UCL (15 July 2009). "UCL signs agreement with Arup". UCL News. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  32. ↑ "High Roller Observation Wheel". London: Arup. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  33. ↑ Alshangiti, Mohammed. "Link to press release - project overview". Company website. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021.
  34. ↑ "The Singapore Flyer and design of Giant Observation Wheels"Brendon McNiven & Pat Dallard, IStructE Asia-Pacific Forum on Structural Engineering: Innovations in Structural Engineering, Singapore, 2 – 3 November 2007
  35. ↑ "Ahmed Adnan Saygun Arts Centre". arup.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  36. 1 2 3 "Arup Sport". arup.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  37. ↑ Rayner, Gordon (7 August 2008). "Beijing Olympics: The Bird's Nest stadium". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  38. ↑ "Australia's CSR Top 10". Pro Bono Australia. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  39. ↑ Basulto, David (3 October 2013). "Winners of the World Architecture Festival 2013". archdaily.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  40. ↑ "Stirling prize 2007". The Guardian. 26 July 2007. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  41. ↑ "World Architecture Awards" (Press release). Arup. 5 August 2002. Archived from the original on 10 March 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
  42. ↑ "The Worldaware Award for Innovation". Worldaware. 2002. Archived from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
  43. ↑ "Gold Medal for Architecture". National Eisteddfod of Wales. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021.
  44. ↑ "Innovation key to FSE Design Award winners". FSE: Fire Safety Engineering. 15 November 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
  45. ↑ "Fire Safety Engineering Design Awards". Arup. 8 November 2006. Archived from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2007.
  46. ↑ "Arup success at the RTPI Awards". The Arup Group. 17 February 2009. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  47. ↑ "Live Design's Excellence in Live Design Award (Theatre)". Live Design/Penton Media. 2010. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  48. ↑ Griffiths, Alyn (1 October 2011). "Evelyn Grace Academy by Zaha Hadid Architects wins RIBA Stirling Prize". dezeen.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  49. ↑ Maloney, Rebecca (11 December 2012). "Arup named Tunnel Design Firm of 2012". The Arup Group. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  50. ↑ Wright, Sarah (26 October 2020). "Arup named 'Infrastructure Architect of the Year' 2020". The Arup Group. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  51. ↑ "Arup revealed as Britain's Most Admired Company". www.managementtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  52. ↑ "Less is more for fire protection". Royal Academy of Engineering. 5 June 2008. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  53. ↑ "Arup Fellows". arup.com. 11 November 2019. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  54. ↑ Sue Manns, "Presidential team continues to raise profile of planning", RTPI, 17 March 2020 Archived 26 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 31 March 2020
  55. ↑ Bevan, Robert (8 June 2016). "Ove Arup: the man who made engineering creative". www.standard.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  56. ↑ Harwood, Elain (2 January 2019). "Sir Jack Zunz obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  57. ↑ Glancey, Jonathan (5 September 2014). "Sir Philip Dowson obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  58. ↑ "Povl Ahm". the Times. 4 June 2005. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  59. ↑ Sharpe, Dennis (23 October 2011). "OBITUARY: Professor Sir Edmund Happold". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 December 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
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