Architecture firm BIG adds in-house engineering department

Dive Brief:

Denmark-based Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has started its own engineering division, according to Dezeen.
BIG Engineering, the company said, will allow technology to be introduced into the design process from the beginning rather than midstream from an outside source.
Adding engineers to the BIG team will also help streamline a connection between architects and engineers. Ingels said the firm had already seen positive results by adding the technical perspective early on.

Dive Insight:

BIG is nothing if not innovative, so there's no doubt the architecture firm will be able to amp up its edgy creations with the addition of an in-house engineering unit. BIG said the new division will also work with its BIG Ideas research group, which helped develop the concept behind Copenhagen's Bakke Waste-to-Energy Plant.

BIG has also made an impact on U.S. architecture. The firm is behind the 670 Mesquit high-density project in Los Angeles — one that developers were trying to push through in case voters passed the failed Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, which would have placed a two-year moratorium on the zoning required to build those megadevelopments. Now that Los Angeles residents have rejected the measure, the two-skyscraper development in the L.A. Arts District has a smoother approval path in front of it

On the East Coast, BIG is behind one of the 26-acre Hudson Yards towers, The Spiral. The $3.2 billion mixed-use skyscraper draws its name from the winding landscaped terraces that will encircle the structure starting at the seventh floor. The building will offer almost 3 million square feet of space, including 27,000 square feet of retail on the lower floors.

BIG has also designed a new Washington Redskins stadium, although the team has years to go before its FedEx Field lease is up and has not selected a new location (see a video of the design here). The architecture firm's reimagining of an NFL stadium features a semi-transparent gameplay area and a moat surrounding the entire venue, allowing year-round visitors to kayak, surf or ice skate depending on the weather.