BDC Structural Engineering Ltd

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BDC Structural Engineering Ltd

We are a small design consultancy with very diverse experience. We take pride in all projects regardless of size or prestige. No job is too big or too small.

We provide a design service for all size projects and in all kinds of materials.

16/10/2026

"Putting people's dreams first" probably sounds a bit sentimental for a structural engineer, but there's a reason it's stuck with us.

Behind pretty much every drawing that comes through the office, someone is trying to achieve something. It might be their dream home, a business expanding into a new building or an organisation trying to improve a space for its community.

Our job isn't to be the people who tell them all the reasons they can't do it.

It's to understand what they're trying to achieve and work out how they can do it safely and sensibly.

That's always been the bit of engineering I've enjoyed most - solving the problem rather than creating another one.

13/10/2026

Old buildings don't generally make life easy for structural engineers.

They've been altered, repaired and added to over decades - sometimes centuries - and quite often what you find when you start opening things up isn't quite what anyone expected.

But that's also why I enjoy working on them.

With somewhere like Ashton Court Gate House, you're not trying to turn an old building into a new one. You're trying to understand how it was built, retain what makes it special and make the interventions it needs to keep doing its job for many more years.

Sometimes the best bit of structural engineering is the bit nobody can see when you've finished.

09/10/2026

We've talked about solar panels quite a bit recently, mainly because more and more people are putting them onto existing buildings.

They're a great idea, but there is one fairly important part of the installation sitting underneath them - the roof.

Most roofs may well be absolutely fine, but "probably fine" isn't really an engineering calculation. The age of the roof, its construction, condition and any alterations that have been made over the years can all make a difference.

If you're investing in solar, it's worth checking the structure that's going to be supporting that investment first.

06/10/2026

Retail projects aren't necessarily the ones people get most excited about when you tell them you're a structural engineer, but they're actually a really good example of where engineering has to be practical.

We've worked on schemes for the likes of Lidl and Co-op over the years, and there's usually a programme that isn't moving, plenty of other trades to coordinate with and very little appetite for an engineering solution that causes everyone else a headache.

That's where experience counts.

The cleverest engineering solution isn't always the most complicated one. Quite often it's the one that works, can actually be built and lets everybody else get on with their job.

02/10/2026

There are some projects you drive past years later and still think, "We worked on that."

We The Curious in Bristol is one of those for me.

It's easy when you're buried in calculations and drawings to forget that these eventually become places thousands of people will actually use. They'll take their children there, meet friends there and probably never give the structure holding it all together a second thought.

And that's exactly how it should be.

It's always nice to work on a recognisable building, but knowing it's become part of people's experience of Bristol makes this one particularly satisfying.

29/09/2026

I've always had a soft spot for oak framed buildings.

They look simple when they're finished, which is probably the sign of a good one, but there's a lot going on behind that simplicity. The spans, joints and loads all need to work while still allowing the timber frame to look like the timber frame the architect or client actually wanted.

That's the challenge I enjoy. Nobody wants a beautiful oak frame that's been engineered to within an inch of its life and ends up looking like an industrial unit.

Get the engineering right and most people will never notice it.

Which, strangely enough, is usually the point.

25/09/2026

Some projects make you think a little harder from the start, and Gould Road in Salcombe was definitely one of them.

With an eco home, the structural design can't really be treated as a separate part of the project. The architecture, materials, sustainability ambitions and structure all need to work together, otherwise you end up compromising one to make another work.

That's why getting an engineer involved early can make such a difference on this type of build. It's much easier to find the right solution while ideas are still being developed than trying to engineer around decisions that have already been made.

And when the location looks like this, you definitely want to get it right.

22/09/2026

I've had a slightly strange career when you look back at it.

Before BDC I was designing turbine test cell enclosures for Rolls-Royce, and before that I worked on brewery and food processing plants. These days I could be looking at an oak framed building in the morning and someone's loft conversion in the afternoon.

But I think that's actually been quite useful. You learn very quickly that there's rarely only one way to solve an engineering problem.

It also means when someone rings me and says, "I've got a slightly unusual one for you..." they're normally the jobs that get my attention.

18/09/2026

2 very different projects - same level of detail.

I said this a while ago and I still stand by it: "We pride ourselves on giving every job the same attention and interest, regardless of size or prestige."

Because ultimately, the person knocking a wall out of their house cares just as much about their project as the developer building something worth millions.

The numbers might be different and the drawings might be considerably bigger, but the responsibility isn't.

If we've agreed to do the job, it deserves to be done properly.

15/09/2026

One of the things I still enjoy about this job is that you never quite know what's going to land on the desk next.

One day we might be looking at a commercial unit, the next someone wants to open up the back of their house, and then we're onto a school or community building. They're completely different projects with completely different challenges, but ultimately the job is the same - work out what the client is trying to achieve and find a sensible way of making the structure work around it.

After 23 years, I think the variety is probably one of the reasons I still enjoy doing it.

Address

Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00
Thursday	09:00 - 17:00
Friday	09:00 - 17:00

Website

http://www.bdc-structures.co.uk/

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