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ABOUT PHILIP ESPER
Philip has gained work experience in Civil/Structural/Geotechnical Engineering, and Project Management over the last 35 years, by working on the design and construction of important projects in the UK and abroad. These have included Westfield/White City Shopping Centre, Trinidad Central Shopping Mall, Al-Bayt Stadium in Qatar, Doha Metro Line, Millennium Bridge, Scottish Parliament House, Abu Dhabi Airport, the Apple Building in Tokyo, Virginia Museum of Fine Art, and David Lawrence Convention Centre in Pittsburgh which won the IStrucE 2004 Gold Medal Design Award.
He has over 25 years work experience in Tall Buildings with major engineering, construction and project management companies both in the UK and abroad. His Tall Buildings projects have included The Shard, Leadenhall, 20 Fenchurch Street (Walkie Talkie) and others in London, Jeddah Kingdom Tower (KSA), ITCC Towers in Riyadh (KSA), The Landmark (Abu Dhabi), Tokyo Apple Building (Japan), Jordan Capital Bank, and others.
Philip also has over 30 years work experience in Forensic Engineering and as an Expert Witness, dealing with major issues on various large projects. These projects have included vibrations issues of the Millennium Bridge in 2000, the bomb damaged buildings in the City of London and in Manchester between 1992–1995, the structural damage of buildings and bridges in the cities of Kobe and Osaka in Japan following the Kobe Earthquake in 1995, the insurance issues on various buildings following the Hemel Hempstead Explosion in 2005, and many other structural and geotechnical issues – including ground and foundation settlements – on other buildings since then.
Over his career, Philip has published 45 technical papers and articles on Forensic Engineering, Tall Buildings, Oil Platforms, Soil-Structure Interaction, Seismic and Blast Effects, Disaster Management and Advanced Computer Modelling and Analysis. Two of these papers are in the Buildings and the Structural Engineer journals on the “Response of Buildings to Extreme Loadings” and “Making Public Transport Safer”.
Professional Experience
WITH THE COMPANY SINCE 2025 | OVER 35 YEARS IN THE INDUSTRY
Before joining SOCOTEC Advisory in 2025, Philip previously worked as Technical Director (Head of Tall Building and Façade Engineering) at Clarkebond in the UK and Middle East. Prior to this, he gained experience working for various companies such as GMH Group, AECOM, Dewhurst Macfarlane and ARUP.
Qualifications
Education
- BSc (Hons) Civil Engineering; Aleppo University
- PGDip Tall Buildings; Glasgow University
- PGDip Project Management; Reading University
- MSc Structural and Geotechnical Engineering; Strathclyde University
- PhD/DrEng Design and Analysis of Large-Scale Structures; jointly between Westminster University and Osaka University (Distinction)
Professional Licenses and Certification
- Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS)
- Fellow of the Architectural Institute of Japan (FAIJ)
- Member of the British Geotechnical Society (MBGS)
- Member of the Society of Earthquakes and Civil Engineering Dynamics (ICE)
- Member of the UK Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (IStrucE)
- Member of the RICS Presidential Commission on Disaster and Major Incident Management
- Member of the Panel of British Council for Offices (BCO) 2009 Guide for Best Practice in the Specification for Offices
- Professional/Chartered Engineer and Surveyor (PEng/CEng), UK and Japan