How Mott MacDonald's buildings business is delivering with purpose

What do Wembley stadium, 101 Moorgate, the New Hospital Programme development and the Shakespeare North Playhouse have in common apart from all being iconic and innovative structures? The answer is that they are all distinct, complex building projects where Mott MacDonald played a key role in the design and delivery.  

According to Mott MacDonald managing director for buildings in UK and Europe Mark Ewen, growth in our portfolio of major buildings projects will come from the business’s ability to deliver a broad range of services in very select and distinct markets.  “Buildings are some of the most exciting and prestigious projects engineers can work on and, as a business, we have a strong legacy in delivering these schemes,” explains Mark.

Delivering with purpose

“We have a strong reputation for helping clients navigate complex issues to deliver major infrastructure projects that set new standards in quality and exceed expectations, and we bring that same approach to the building projects we work on,” Mark explains.

“As a purpose-led organisation, we have long standing expertise in delivering buildings for the health, defence, aviation, education, communities and venues markets. It's important to us to deliver projects that create a lasting impact for communities and that is something we focus on at every stage of delivery to maximise the outcomes for people and the planet.”

Mark points to his team’s recent appointment as the technical delivery partner for Places for London, which is Transport for London’s (TfL) property company. The work will help unlock the full potential of a £2bn property portfolio. It will focus on developing thriving commercial and retail spaces that support local businesses and create enhanced public realm, cycling infrastructure and pedestrian-friendly environments - in addition to exploring opportunities for new community focussed development across the city. 

Mark adds: “This is a great example of the type of large scale, purpose-led buildings work that we support our clients with. These are projects that will genuinely leave a legacy for the health, wellbeing and prosperity of people and communities.“

From master planning through to the detailed design of the most technically demanding, large-scale building projects, our teams have experience across the full building lifecycle. And the broader focus of our wider business means that we are also able to draw lessons from delivering major infrastructure projects and bring that knowledge into our buildings work too.

Turning challenges into opportunities

According to Mark, helping clients find the right solution to their needs is about more than just designing a building to cost, time or programme. “When clients come to us for a building project, it’s more than just the building itself, it’s about the wider social and environmental impact of the whole project,” says Mark. “We bring this holistic perspective and experience in integrating all the right experts to ensure we improve the project outcomes whilst simplifying delivery for our clients.”

Within the buildings business itself, there are teams specialising in structural engineering, building sciences, facades, decarbonisation and energy, technical advisory, project delivery, geotechnics, MEP and architecture. In addition, the business can draw on the wider business for other services and, as examples of this, he points to skills including transport master planning and dealing with contaminated land.

“Having these skills within the business is key to designing buildings that operate at their maximum efficiency, which is essential for clients looking to achieve net zero while also managing operational costs,” explains Mark.

Mark also believes that having access to this range of services will be essential to making complex projects simpler to deliver.  “What we’re seeing is that it’s becoming harder and harder for clients to plan projects, get them designed and then constructed,” he says. “We are known for joining the dots and taking away much of the complexity. We have the capability and knowledge to bring together those skills quickly and be agile to get complex projects off the ground on time and deliver them on programme.”

Primed for growth

Helping clients get to “a great outcome sooner” is something that inspires Mark in his day-to-day work and is an ethos shared across the team. “I want to make a difference for our clients and for society too,” he adds. “And the desire to achieve this is something that we continually get feedback from our colleagues around too.”

Mark has structured the buildings business to focus on community and commercial buildings, defence, health and major projects including airports, stations and venues. Under the new community and commercial structure Mark is supported by divisional general managers Drew Henderson and Alex Tomes in the UK with Bob Phillips covering the rest of Europe. The health and defence divisions are led by Sally Russell and Paul Harrison, respectively.

Mark is clear that his team is committed to leveraging its extensive experience and deep expertise while continuing to foster strong partnerships with clients to deliver the growth he is aiming for. “By concentrating on projects with real purpose, we aim to create lasting impacts for communities and drive sustainable growth,” he adds. “Our dedication to excellence and innovation means that as we expand our presence in the building market, we will continue to deliver with both distinction and purpose.”