We shape a better world
We are an independent firm of designers, planners, engineers, consultants and technical specialists offering a broad range of professional services. Through our work, we make a positive difference in the world. We shape a better world.
Founded in 1946 with an initial focus on structural engineering, Arup first came to the world’s attention with the structural design of the Sydney Opera House, followed by its work on the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Arup has since grown into a truly multidisciplinary organisation. Most recently, its work for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing has reaffirmed its reputation for delivering innovative and sustainable designs that reinvent the built environment.
Arup brings together broad-minded individuals from a wide range of disciplines and encourages them to look beyond the constraints of their own specialisms.
This unconventional approach to design springs in part from Arup’s ownership structure. The firm is owned in trust on behalf of its staff. The result is an independence of spirit that is reflected in the firm’s work, and in its dedicated pursuit of technical excellence.
A better way
The power to influence the future of the built environment carries with it a weighty responsibility.
Many of Arup’s projects leave a legacy to subsequent generations: a legacy that outlasts any one individual. With 10,000 projects going on at any one time, Arup is doing the best possible job for current and future generations. Putting sustainability at the heart of its work is one of the ways in which Arup exerts a positive influence on the wider world. Put simply, Arup people are driven to find a better way.
Arup’s independent ownership structure gives conviction a place in its decision-making, alongside the needs of clients and commercial imperatives. The result is clear-sighted, thoughtful decisions about its priorities as a business and as a member of society.
Arup influences many people’s lives through its projects. Shaping a sustainable future – particularly through the urban environment – will be one of the greatest challenges in the 21st century. Arup is rising to the challenge: investing in research, innovating and creating better solutions for its clients and the wider world.
“…our lives are inextricably mixed up with those of our fellow human beings, and that there can be no real happiness in isolation…” Ove Arup, 1970.
A people business
Arup brings together professionals from diverse disciplines and with complementary skills, on a uniquely global scale. The depth of expertise and the sheer numbers of specialists allow Arup to take on complex, strategic projects that no other firm could have delivered. The UK’s first international high speed railway, High Speed 1, also known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, is just one example – completed on time and on budget.
Clients trust Arup’s people to question a vision as well as help to realise it. Arup’s commitment to a sustainable approach to all its projects is both enshrined in a formal sustainability policy and embraced personally by the individuals that together make up the firm. Arup’s ownership structure actively reinforces this approach and holds the firm accountable to its own people for its independent approach, and to its social and corporate responsibility.
Arup has a healthy mix of people with very different perspectives and from many cultures, working together, learning from each other and generously sharing their knowledge and ideas. International team-working is the stuff of everyday life for its people, who take advantage of the skills networks within the firm that allow easy collaboration between colleagues who may be on opposite sides of the world, but are working on the same or similar projects.
Talented people join Arup for the opportunity it provides to work on some of the world’s most exciting projects, to develop a specialism of their own or simply to find their niche. The chance to work with some of the world’s leading experts, the range of professional opportunities, and the support and freedom for innovation means that Arup remains a magnet for many of the world’s most talented engineers and designers.
Making a difference
Arup’s work in the built environment leaves a significant legacy to subsequent generations. This power, to design and influence the built environment, carries with it a responsibility to do the best possible job for current and future generations.
Putting sustainability at the heart of its projects is one of the ways in which Arup exerts a positive influence on the wider world.
Investing in research and development is another: without such investment, innovation can be stifled. Without the capacity to innovate, our ability to combat the effects of climate change and other global issues would be compromised.
Corporate responsibility is not simply a policy at Arup, but a way of w
