What do you do / what is structural engineering?
Structural engineering first and foremost designs buildings to be safe. To make buildings safe, they are designed to stand up against exterior environmental loads ranging from hurricanes to earthquakes and rain to snow, as well as gravity loads from the weight of the structure itself and all that the building contains. Structural engineering also requires buildings be designed to be comfortable. A building may be safe, but not comfortable if it sways or vibrates to a level that makes the occupants uncomfortable.
What is your specialty?
BBM Structural specializes in many types of projects, most notably Education, Healthcare, Corporate / Office Building, Medical Office Building, Public / Municipal (Fire Stations, Emergency Operations Complexes, Public Safety Complexes), Resort / Hospitality, Correctional / Jails, Churches, Themed, Distribution & Storage Warehouses, Retail, Parking Garages, Mixed-Use, and Multi-Family Residential.
What is a structural engineer’s education path?
A person whose interests include creativity and applied mathematics may do well in a career based in structural engineering. An undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering is the minimum requirement to become a licensed structural engineer. A graduate degree focused on structural engineering is common and encouraged.
How do you integrate into the architectural team and at what point in the project do you prefer to be engaged?
As soon as the spatial design of a space by the architect begins, the structural engineer provides valuable input as to the size and spacing of the structural components required to create the space envisioned by the architect. There is typically a dynamic tension between design and cost that a structural engineer working in tandem with the architect allows the architect’s vision to become a reality. Being actively engaged early and throughout the design process with the architect and other disciplines allows this to occur.
What are some of your noteworthy projects in Central Florida?
Omni Champions Gate Resort – Champions Gate, FL
North Rosalind Residential Tower Apartments (Banner Development Radius Apartment Tower) – Downtown Orlando, FL
Valencia College; Multi-Use Facility, (Corporate Training Center), Lake Nona Campus - Orlando, FL
The Yard at Ivanhoe; Apartments, Retail & Parking Garage - Orlando, FL
AdventHealth New Bed Tower – Winter Garden, FL
Capital Plaza Office Building – Downtown Orlando, FL
Orlando Health New Hospital – Lake Mary, FL
AdventHealth; Project LEGO Health Village Clinical Research Building – Orlando, FL
Mission Space at EPCOT – Lake Buena Vista, FL
University of Central Florida; Engineering Building III – Orlando, FL
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Walt Disney World’s MGM Studios – Lake Buena Vista, FL
Valencia College | University of Central Florida; The Commons at Creative Village Student Housing - Orlando, FL
The Yard at Ivanhoe
What are some of the technologies you are incorporating in your practice and/or in the built environment?
We utilize current 3-D analysis and design software associated with BIM software to facilitate structural designs. These tools allow our engineers to be design structures to acceptable sizes and levels of movement and vibration under various loading conditions whose sources range from people walking across floors to hurricanes, earthquakes and floods.