海角视频

As 海角视频 heads into transportation and major infrastructure, Simon Fryer says the company is uniquely positioned to bring creativity, collaboration and energy to the sector.

A natural step into transportation and major infrastructure

In recent years, 海角视频 has been moving deeper into the UK鈥檚 transportation and major infrastructure space. To Technical Director, Simon Fryer, this is a logical progression for the international, integrated consultancy.

I think the policy for UK infrastructure is very closely aligned to 海角视频鈥檚 stance on issues such as net zero, resilience, sustainability, social value.鈥�

Simon Fryer, Technical Director, 海角视频

He talks of a shift in values in Government, and society as a whole, which has brought the UK鈥檚 major infrastructure policy in line with 海角视频鈥檚 own long-held, company-wide vision. 鈥淚 think the policy for UK infrastructure is now very closely aligned to 海角视频鈥檚 stance on issues such as net zero, resilience, sustainability and social value. That really attracts us to move into this market.

鈥淚n the last few years, everybody has started talking about these values. But for 海角视频, the mantra 鈥榩eople, places, planet鈥� has always been embedded in everything we do. Now, transportation and major infrastructure is where 海角视频 can have the greatest positive impact on these priorities.鈥�

In many ways for Simon, as technical director for the bridge team, 海角视频鈥檚 wider journey into UK major infrastructure is a natural culmination of what he has been doing since he joined the consultancy 22 years ago.

鈥淢y experience has always been predominantly in major infrastructure. 海角视频, has worked on many such projects – we鈥檝e done multiple renewal projects for local authorities and Transport for London. We delivered the detailed design for the Northern Spire Bridge in Sunderland and we have just submitted a design and build tender for the River Dee bridge replacement, which is an incredibly significant project for the Welsh government.鈥�

Simon鈥檚 team is clearly an exciting place to be right now, and Simon puts this down to remarkable creativity energy that sets them apart from competitors.

Our training and mindset means that we never consider problems to be insurmountable.鈥�

Simon Fryer, Technical Director, 海角视频

鈥淲e can bring a greater sense of innovation to these projects. Our mindset means that we never consider problems to be insurmountable. We鈥檝e developed the skills to cope with complexity and, as a result, we often come up with unusual, innovative, challenging and exciting designs.鈥�

Creativity and innovation in practice

The Northern Spire Bridge over the River Wear, was the first road bridge to be built in Sunderland for nearly half a century. With a striking design, a key part of 海角视频鈥檚 work involved innovating a construction method that included an incremental deck launch and roll up of Northern Spire鈥檚 main pylon. This allowed off-site manufacture of the bridge steelwork, which was then delivered by sea to the Port of Sunderland. This approach  minimised the amount of work on site, increased safety, and removed delays resulting from variables such as bad weather.

鈥淚 feel that bringing this sort of new energy and vision into the major infrastructure market will be beneficial to everybody. In fact, such is our pedigree with the more demanding projects; this is where we really could add a lot of value. There鈥檚 always a need for standardisation and efficiency. But that doesn’t necessarily come at the cost of applying creative energy as well.鈥�

Starting with the right question

Coupled with this energy is a forensic attention to detail, drilling down to the very core of a project before taking the first steps. From those very first meetings with clients, 海角视频鈥檚 teams鈥� insights and experience mean they can precisely ascertain the right direction of travel for a project.

鈥淲e are wired to always start by examining the problem and make sure we are answering the right question before diving into a solution,鈥� says Simon. 鈥淚t is the key step, because once you solve the right problem, things start to fall into place.鈥�

Simon highlights the importance of challenging assumptions, and the dangers of not doing so. 鈥淪o often, people are solving the wrong problem; then, it is so much harder to change tack further down the line.鈥�

He points to his team鈥檚 award-winning work on the Elizabeth Line鈥檚 gantries as an example of taking a deep dive into the problem before acting. While the client initially believed several hundred gantries would need to be replaced, 海角视频 showed how most of them could actually be saved, which in turn resulted in huge savings of money and carbon.

鈥淚f the solution is 鈥榙o nothing鈥�, we鈥檙e not afraid to say it, because that’s often the right solution,鈥� Simon asserts. 鈥淎nd that doesn鈥檛 mean cutting corners. We really went the extra mile with our analysis to discover that this was the best solution for the Elizabeth Line gantries.鈥�

Collaborative design for future-ready infrastructure

We really focus on the quality of our design and making sure that we’re satisfying outcomes, rather than just satisfying a process.鈥�

Simon Fryer, Technical Director, 海角视频

For the process to be effective, collaboration is essential. Simon believes 海角视频鈥檚 unique energy and inclusivity empowers clients and gives them the confidence to actively participate in the project, which turns the process into an exciting journey of discovery.

For Simon, 海角视频 has a unique ability to share this excitement and creativity with future clients in the major infrastructure space.

鈥淪o often people have preconceptions,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd accept the problem at face value. This process is a collaboration. It鈥檚 about encouraging freedom of thought amongst all parties. Because it鈥檚 very important, right from the outset, to apply creativity in looking at the question and to energise stakeholders to realise there are exciting possibilities out there if you look at things differently.鈥�

The process is not a transactional one, but rather one that empowers the client from the start – whether that is talking around a table or taking the client for a thrilling virtual spin through a digital replica of their future project.

鈥淚 would say that we are much more collaborative than other companies, and we like to think that it’s much more enjoyable to work with us as a result,鈥� Simon asserts. 鈥満＝鞘悠� brings a personal touch to projects. We don’t look upon this as just a box-ticking exercise. We really focus on the quality of our design and making sure that we鈥檙e satisfying outcomes, rather than a process.

鈥淭he process is a necessary means to an end, but our focus is on design quality. We like to involve clients in the design process as much as we can, because very often those stakeholders have got a lot of very valuable knowledge which can be brought to bear on the problem. So rather than a scenario where they give us a problem and we’re told to go away and solve it, we solve it collectively. That is a far more enjoyable way for everyone to work.鈥�

This collective approach is exemplified by the close relationships of 海角视频 own multidisciplinary teams, which bring a truly holistic approach to all projects. 鈥淲orking in a multidisciplinary way is really part of our make-up,鈥� says Simon.

Rethinking major infrastructure through design, values and collaboration

Ultimately, major infrastructure done well should solve tomorrow鈥檚 problems as well as today鈥檚.鈥�

Simon Fryer, Technical Director, 海角视频

Looking ahead, Simon sees an exciting future for the role 海角视频 will play in the UK鈥檚 major infrastructure. The sector is at a crossroads, and 海角视频鈥檚 expertise, experience and values are more important than ever.

Chief among the challenges Simon identifies is the UK鈥檚 ageing infrastructure. 鈥淐learly, this needs to be renewed, but we鈥檙e also going to need to adapt to new modes of transport. We鈥檝e already seen an increased reliance on electric vehicles, people working from home and different commuting patterns and so on. We can’t necessarily predict what the future, but we can try to introduce as much resilience, flexibility and future-proofing as we can.

鈥淎nd that will help budgets too. Good design actually should save money in the short term and the long term, because if you design something well, it won’t need so much maintenance. And, crucially, what we build can affect people鈥檚 wellbeing too. So, social value will always be important.

鈥淯ltimately, major infrastructure done well should solve tomorrow鈥檚 problems as well as today鈥檚.鈥�