Urban Engineering - ABT | Ingenieurs in bouwtechniek

At ABT, we embrace the importance of considering buildings in their natural and urban contexts. Buildings are not isolated islands in an urban environment, but interactive elements of a complex system.

Today, with more than half of the world’s population living in cities, there’s a growing need for smarter, healthier and more sustainable urban areas. Environments that are people-centred, responsive and future proof. The traditional monodisciplinary approach is no longer feasible. Instead, at ABT, we apply our experience in holistic and integrated approach to districts and cities, considering a wide range of disciplines.

Design approach

ABT designs buildings in their climatic context, with maximum use of natural forces (sun, wind, water) and minimum use of technology. We establish any possible interaction among different buildings in the urban fabric in terms of energy, data, and material flows. We consider the public spaces in between buildings and we design them for maximum comfort, in order to boost health, social interaction and local economy.

Local solutions for global problems

Global issues such as climate crisis and energy transition are difficult to address at national level. However, at urban scale several goals can be achieved. We can support municipalities, urban designers and developers to make cities and district more resilient and healthier, helping them to solve global issues at local scale.

Themes

We bridge the gap between several disciplines and find integrated solutions for urban challenges.

Urban energy and smart grids
Good design of smart energy grids and sustainable energy systems enhance the energy transition, reduce its cost and increase societal value. It is essential in times of distributed energy sources, electrification and the densification of urban areas.
Nature based solutions
We work with blue and green infrastructures to increase the resiliency of cities, as well as quality of public spaces and biodiversity.
Urban comfort
Comfortable and healthy outdoor spaces are of paramount importance for the creation of successful cities. A clear, engineering-based vision, is needed to assure these aspects in district design.
Smart buildings
The building blocks of smart cities are smart buildings. We design buildings that can interact smartly with their surroundings and their users and optimize their functionality over time.
Data
We make smart use of data and artificial intelligence to improve the quality of our living spaces.
Health and comfort in buildings
To achieve a sustainable built environment it is essential to design buildings that allow reduced energy consumption while offering maximum comfort to their users. The building, its users and nature are regarded as an interrelated whole.
Circularity
The transition from a linear to a circular economy is in full swing. The urban environment offers lots of possibilities for optimising the flow of materials among different utilities, connecting waste flows and resource demand. At building level, we embrace opportunities for circular material use.
Safety and security
Public spaces which are safe stimulate social interaction and local economy.
Mobility strategies
We think that cities should belong to people and not to cars. We explore new mobility strategies for the optimal use of public spaces.
People centredness
People make the city. The more digital and individualistic the world becomes, the greater the need for social cohesion, networking and collaboration. We design buildings and districts that put people’s needs first.