Exploring Millennium Structures 25 years on and the design of high impact structures in the future
25th September 2025 / 9:30 – 17:30
Skempton Building – Imperial College London
On the 25th of September 2025, the IABSE British Group held another edition of the Future of Design conference at Imperial College London. The event brought together over 80 delegates, including students, early-career designers, and industry professionals, alongside leading engineers and architects.
Design competition
This year’s Design Competition invited engineering students and professionals to reimagine iconic Millennium Structures in a Net Zero Future. Participants were challenged to combine technical ingenuity with environmental and cultural sensitivity, envisioning what our built environment might look like by 2050.
We were thrilled by the creativity and depth of thinking shown across all submissions. Congratulations to the following teams:
WINNING ENTRY – Redesigning the Millennium Dome
Helen Lin, Claire Zhang, Ivan Law, and Mingyu Ren
RUNNERS UP – 2050 Glasgow Millenium ‘Bladeway’ Bridge Design
Eliza Wren, Georgi Vichev, Maria Glimaker, and Sophie Rhodes
You can find the full competition brief and guidelines here:
Speakers, workshop hosts and panellists
For this year’s edition of the Future of Design conference, we present a line-up of distinguished speakers who are thought leaders in their respective fields. Some confirmed speakers include:
Catherine Ramsden, Useful Studio
Chris Wise, Expedition Engineering
Enea Latxague, Knight Architects
Ian Firth, COWI / Ian Firth Structural Engineering
Martin Knight, Knight Architects
Roger Ridsdill Smith, Foster + Partners
With their profound insights and ground-breaking contributions, these speakers will share their expertise and experiences, discussing the changes that are driving the evolution of design and shaping the future of our built environment.
Tickets
Student – £25
Professional – £75
IABSE Member – £60
All tickets give access to the evening networking event.
Programme
The day will include:
Lectures – Hear from leading designers behind iconic millennium structures and how they approach similar design commissions now.
Conceptual Bridge Design Workshop – Put your creativity to the test in an interactive session led by Ian Firth and Enea Latxague.
Live Q&A Panel – Get your questions answered by the presenters in a lively and informative discussion.
Design Competition – Showcase your ideas and compete for a cash prize.
We are pleased to share the preliminary schedule for the day. Further details, including the full schedule and speaker list, will be announced shortly.
| Start Time | Schedule | Speaker | |
| 9:00 | Registration opens | Skempton 2nd Floor Concourse | Imperial College London, SW7 2BX |
| 9:30 | Opening address | SKEM 301 | David Knight, IABSE British Group |
| 9:40 | Bridge Conceptual Design Workshop – Session 1 | SKEM 301 | Ian Firth, COWI Enea Latxague, Knight Architects |
| 11:00 | Tea break | Skempton 2nd Floor Concourse | |
| 11:15 | Bridge Conceptual Design Workshop – Session 2 | SKEM 301 | Ian Firth, COWI Enea Latxague, Knight Architects |
| 13:00 | Lunch | Skempton 2nd Floor Concourse | |
| 14:00 | Keynote Session 1 | SKEM 201 | Talk by Roger Ridsdill Smith Talk by Catherine Ramsden |
| 15:00 | Design competition results | SKEM 201 | |
| 15:10 | Tea break | Skempton 2nd Floor Concourse | |
| 15:30 | Keynote Session 2 | SKEM 201 | Talk by Chris Wise Talk by Martin Knight |
| 16:30 | Panel Q&A | SKEM 201 | All Keynote Presenters |
| 17:20 | Closing address | SKEM 201 | . |
| 17:30 | Drinks reception | Hereford Arms |
Organising Committee
Meet the organising committee working behind the scenes to bring you Future of Design London 2025
Special thanks to our sponsors…
