Structural designer Tristram Carfrae RDI FREng, former Deputy Chair of Arup, will tomorrow receive one of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s highest accolades, the Sir Frank Whittle Medal, in recognition of his inspirational approach to design, his remarkable structures and his leadership in structural engineering.
Tristram’s talent is widely recognised, as demonstrated by his collaborations with some of the UK’s most important architects including Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, Michael Hopkins and Thomas Heatherwick. From Kuwait International Airport Terminal and London’s iconic Lloyd’s Building to the MacRobert Award winning ‘Water Cube’ aquatics centre for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he has masterminded some of the most intriguing engineering projects of the last half century.
He has worked extensively in Australia, on projects including Brisbane’s Kurilpa Bridge, the world’s first tensegrity (floating compression) bridge, and the roof of the new Sydney Football Stadium, which uses half the steel of its predecessor.
But his magnum opus is a structure of staggering complexity, which will finally be finished in two years’ time, more than 140 years after construction started. Tristram and his team at Arup are using digital fabrication and modern methods of construction to help complete Antoni Gaudi’s masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Only 60% of the structure had been built by 2014 and through techniques including prefabricated prestressed stone panels the remainder of the structure is due to be completed by 2026, the centenary of Gaudí’s death. La Sagrada Familia will then become the tallest church in the world.
Nominating Tristram for the Sir Frank Whittle Medal, William F Baker FREng, partner at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP, says:
“Tristram Carfrae is one of the world’s greatest structural engineers, who bridges technical excellence and design with thoughtfulness and creativity. His work demonstrates a lifelong commitment to creating structures that are beautiful, elegant, efficient and sustainable. He is a role model who epitomizes structural engineering at its best.”
Dame Dervilla Mitchell DBE FREng, Director and former Deputy Chair of Arup, says:
“As the go-to structural engineer within our organisation, Tristram is an inspiration to all regardless of their discipline, a leader advancing our organisation through a focus on quality and excellence, utilising digital methods and enabling sustainable development in all our work. The Sir Frank Whittle Medal is a prestigious recognition of his pioneering engineering contribution for the benefit of society.”
Academy President Dr John Lazar (L) presents the Sir Frank Whittle Medal to Tristram Carfrae. Credit: Rob Lacey
Notes for editors
- Named after Britain’s jet engine genius, the Sir Frank Whittle Medal is awarded to an engineer resident in the UK whose outstanding and sustained achievements have had a profound impact on their engineering discipline.
- Tristram Carfrae was Arup’s Deputy Chair from 2014 to 2024. He is also one of 60 Arup Fellows (out of a global staff of 20,000). This honours those who have significantly contributed to the firm’s reputation for excellence in innovation and design and designates him as a leader with the role of ensuring this continues. In 2006 he was appointed as a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce and in 2018 he was appointed Master of the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry. He is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. In 2014 he was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal by the Institution of Structural Engineers and in 2018 he became only the fourth Briton to receive the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering's International Award of Merit in Structural Engineering.
- About Arup: Dedicated to sustainable development, Arup is a collective of 20,000 designers, advisors and experts working across 140 countries. Founded to strive for humanity and excellence in everything that we do, we collaborate with our clients and partners, using imagination, technology and rigour to shape a better world.
- The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone. In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public. Together we’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.
For more information please contact:Jane Sutton at the Royal Academy of Engineering; Tel. 020 7766 0636; email: [email protected].