Tall buildings
Towers and super tall
Stability systems, wind and seismic dynamics.
Structural engineers · Cape Town · Est. 2013
FE model · Stress contours
Specialists in structure.
A Cape Town practice bringing international experience to buildings of every kind, from conventional to complex.
About
A small practice with a big CV.
Most of our work is sub-consulting for leading international engineering firms. We join their design teams on specific projects. Usually the hard parts.
That has put us on super tall towers, stadium roofs, fabric structures, cable nets and freeform gridshells. Far more than a practice our size would ever expect to see.
At home in South Africa we provide full structural services on commercial and residential buildings and other structures. We also provide specialist seismic analysis, FE analysis and peer reviews for other consultants.
We thrive in the early stages of design. Developing concepts, testing structural options and producing clear 3D material for design reviews and competitions is where we add the most value.
Our workflow runs fluently across multiple software packages and links seamlessly into AI, so we can test, interrogate and optimise a design quickly.
2013Founded in Cape Town
14Countries with design experience
50+Years' combined experience
3FE packages, cross-checked
Specialisms
Where we're strongest.
Long span
Long-span roofs
Shallow, elegant spans suitable for covering large areas.
Tensile
Fabric and cable
Form finding, fabric specification and cable nets.
Special structures
The one-offs
Gridshells, concrete shells, feature stairs. Structures with no precedent to copy.
Large plan
Big footprints
Thermal movement and shrinkage. Non-linear analysis of large basements and steel frames.
Seismic
Seismic analysis
Approach and analysis for structures of all types.
Buildings
Conventional, done properly
Concept to completion, in steel and concrete.
Early stage
Concepts and competitions
Clear structural thinking while the design is still evolving.
Approach
From concept to detailed design.
We'd rather shape the structure than just make it work.
Early input
We add most value at concept and competition stage, while the structure is still a design decision.
Parallel analysis
Sofistik, Strand7 and Robot. Key results are checked in more than one package.
Geometry
Rhino and Grasshopper for complex and parametric forms, linked straight into analysis.
Computation
Scripting and AI tools let us test more options, faster. That leaves more time to review and improve the design.
In 3D
Clear visuals that clients and contractors understand at a glance.
On the record
Every input and output documented, step by step.
Tools
- AI
- Sofistik
- Strand7
- Robot
- Rhino + Grasshopper
- Revit
- SketchUp
The team
Directors.
Director · Co-founder
Matthew Grey
BScEng (UCT) · MSc (Oxon) · PrEng · MSAICEAn engineer drawn to creative, architectural structures. Matthew did his MSc at Oxford on the seismic behaviour of guyed masts, then spent four years at Buro Happold in London on a variety of projects, including numerous towers in the Middle East.
Back in Cape Town he worked in marine engineering at ZAA and tensile architecture at Tension Structures before co-founding Shape in 2013.
- Previously
- Buro Happold · ZAA · Tension Structures · Campbell Reith Hill
- Focus
- Tall buildings, tensile, seismic, dynamics
- Published
- Journal of Earthquake Engineering · Proceedings of the ICE
Director · Co-founder
Mark Mallin
BEng (Bath) · CEng · MIStructEAn imaginative structural engineer with a strong eye for architecture and nearly 30 years of consulting, from first sketch to site. Mark trained at Bath and worked in London and Riyadh before settling in Cape Town.
His work runs from heavy marine concrete to freeform steel gridshells.
- Previously
- Buro Happold · Henry Fagan & Partners · Alan Baxter · BDP
- Focus
- Long span, special structures, concrete, concept design
- Committee
- SAICE / IStructE Joint Structural Division
Our venture
ShapeDomes.
The same engineering, applied to timber, steel and fabric domes. Five years of prototypes, now ready to order.
Visit ShapeDomes →
Contact
Work with us.
Contact one of our directors to discuss your project and how we can help.
Matthew Greymatt@shapestructures.comDirector
Mark Mallinmark@shapestructures.comDirector
Cape TownSouth AfricaWorking worldwide