Seminal projects from the last 60 years that still influence how we design as engineers today
Reflections: how has engineering changed?
This year, we're celebrating the 60th birthday of our practice, which Max founded in his Camden home back in 1966. We've been busy capturing our projects, culture and our people's most insightful thoughts. In this film, we asked some of our most experienced engineers to reflect on how innovation has changed our profession.
Stay tuned for more films celebrating our practice's 60th birthday.
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The way we work as engineers has changed dramatically in recent years, driven by rapid advances in technology. From the way we communicate and collaborate to production speed, these developments have brought both opportunities and challenges.
Has innovation fuelled progress or increased pressure? Is change always a good thing?
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Revisit an early hand-drawn design - the Alexandra Road Housing Estate
An early project for Max was the Alexandra Road Housing Estate for Camden Council in Swiss Cottage, completed in 1978. He teamed up with the architect Neave Brown, and they won a competition to provide over 500 new homes, a school and a community centre. The estate backs onto the busiest railway line in the country, so the building was insulated with double walls and windows, and its foundations were mounted on rubber pads to absorb vibration. The building itself is also an acoustic barrier from the railway noise, while its orientation embraces "free" heat and daylight from the sun. Max's design included an innovative heating system comprising pipes embedded in the structural concrete walls. This approach was devised to solve problems of uniform heating, to answer Camden’s brief of the heating being “as economical as possible”, and to hide the heating. It was the first post-war housing estate to become listed.
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Alexandra Road Estate
