Pell Frischmann
Pell Frischmann is responsible for some of the most innovative building projects in the UK and around the world, as Tushar Prabhu reveals
Excellence through innovation
Pell Frischmann is responsible for some of the most innovative building projects in the UK and around the world, as Tushar Prabhu reveals
Pell Frischmann is a 1200-strong private practice of multi-disciplinary consulting engineers operating both in the UK and internationally in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Born as a structural design practice in 1926, the firm has grown to offer engineering services in all areas of construction including buildings, highways, railways, water, power, telecommunications and the environment.
Pell Frischmann aims to satisfy its clients with superior quality, integrity, value and service. Its innovative approach to engineering design is renowned and the company certainly lives up to its tagline of ‘excellence through innovation’.
Last time we spoke to Tushar Prabhu, main board director for Pell Frischmann, the business had recently been awarded the Queen’s Award for Export in the Queens Birthday Honours list 2006 for its work in Iraq.
Tushar comments: “We have been heavily involved in the rebuilding of Iraq, which has been ravaged by war, playing an active role in the rehabilitation and construction of bases for the Iraqi security forces, police stations, border control stations, fire stations, courthouses and prisons. We have worked very hard to give the Iraqi people the infrastructure to improve their lives both now and in the future.”
He continues: “Winning the Queens Award was very important to us and we have now been able to increase our presence within the country. We have recently been awarded a project to design a master plan, which will look at the redevelopment of the key city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq over the next ten years. The plan will anticipate how the city needs to grow and what kind of infrastructure is required in this time frame.”
Pell Frischmann is also currently involved in numerous high profile projects in parts of Asia and the Middle East. “We are currently working on a huge project in Abu Dhabi called the Al Raha Beach development, which will run over the next ten years. Engineers in our UK offices have been involved with the project through our subsidiary Conseco International. We have been awarded a large part of the project, which looks at the hospitality, the marina and the lifestyles of the local community. This project is a very prestigious part of the overall development of the Abu Dhabi shoreline,” Tushar comments.
He continues: “We have also recently announced that we are going to be involved with the Abu Dhabi ‘Lagoons’ project. As a result of these projects, our presence in this area is growing rapidly and we now have approximately 150 people over there.”
Tushar adds: “In India we are involved with the master planning, infrastructure development and architectural services for the Delhi airport. We have now also been asked to design a master plan for an area of land of approximately 200 acres, which is next to the airport. This development project will provide hotels, offices and retail space on the site, which will cover a vast amount of space.
“We are also currently undertaking two major projects in Mumbai, India, for road development and traffic control re-development. We are the main consultants for the government here and we will be developing a programme for improving the traffic flow across 240 junctions throughout the city of Mumbai. This will involve ensuring the flow of traffic through the city network is as efficient as possible. To achieve this, we will be using complex traffic management software, based on algorithms devised in the UK by the Transport Research Laboratory and in Australia by Sydney University and now widely used throughout the world. We will also be reviewing for the World Bank, the overall condition of the roads and pavements throughout the city and advising on their improvements by instituting a sophisticated Pavement Management and Maintenance System,” Tushar concludes.
Another country with significant growth prospects for Pell Frischmann is Romania, as Tushar explains: “Here we have been selected as the prime consultants for a project to look at about 240 million euros worth of water supply projects and sewerage in five different counties throughout Romania. This is the largest project of its kind in the country and is currently looking at basic water supply systems in the country. The idea is to look at the rural supply systems and see how they can be upgraded.”
He adds: “We have had a significant amount of growth in the Abu Dhabi, Indian and Romanian markets recently and we believe that there is still plenty of opportunity in the future. The challenge here is to ensure that we can meet customer demands and maintain the quality of work that we have become known for.”
Looking to the future, one of the biggest challenges the company will be facing is sustainability and that way in which it incorporates this into its daily business. Pell Frischmann believes sustainability is about providing the best outcomes for both human and natural environments now as well as the future. Tushar explains: “Sustainability, for us, isn’t just about ticking a green box. We want to incorporate it into everything we do. We are taking this very seriously and we are making substantial changes to the way we work and design. Moreover, we are mindful of clients’ aspirations and the need to understand and meet their objectives.”
He continues: “A project, which highlights our focus on sustainability is our work with South West Water (SWW). Here, we were asked to do assess the overall operations of the utility, and in order to gauge SWW’s carbon footprint. Of course, it was crucial to considered not only the energy used by utility operations but we also looked at the energy used during construction periods, which is almost continuous process in the water industry.”
Pell Frischmann is continually adapting to a modern working environment, now undertaking larger projects, with global forces and using low-cost and high-cost centres to try and deliver services to its customers. Tushar concludes: “Looking to the future, we are confident that we are soon to be appointed to one of the largest land regeneration, building and defence projects in the UK – this should be confirmed in the very near future so watch this space!”