Future of Design – London 2026
24th September 2026 / 09:00 – 17:00
Skempton Building – Imperial College London
The IABSE British Group is delighted to welcome you to the Future of Design London 2026, a full-day conference for young engineers aimed at promoting the work of early-career designers and inspiring the future generation, held on the 24th of September at Imperial College London.
Programme
| 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 | Stone & Timber Workshop – Session 1 | SKEM 301 | Stone Pierre Bidaud, The Stone Masonry Company James Kingman, AKT II Thomas Lapautre, AKT II Timber Lukas Osterloff, Ingenieurbüro Miebach Ezra Groskin, Moxon Architects |
| 11:00 | Tea break | Skempton 2nd Floor Concourse | |
| 11:15 | Stone & Timber Workshop – Session 2 | SKEM 301 | Stone Pierre Bidaud, The Stone Masonry Company James Kingman, AKT II Thomas Lapautre, AKT II Timber Lukas Osterloff, Ingenieurbüro Miebach Ezra Groskin, Moxon Architects |
| 13:00 | Lunch | Skempton 2nd Floor Concourse | |
| 14:00 | Keynote Session 1 | SKEM 201 | Talk by Sam Harland, CIVIC Talk by Martin Self, Xylotek |
| 15:00 | Design competition results | SKEM 201 | |
| 15:10 | Tea break | Skempton 2nd Floor Concourse | |
| 15:30 | Keynote Session 2 | SKEM 201 | Talk by Liam Duff, Arup Talk by Andrew Waugh, Waugh Thistleton Architects |
| 16:30 | Panel Q&A | SKEM 201 | All Keynote Presenters |
| 17:20 | Closing address | SKEM 201 | . |
| 17:30 | Drinks reception | The Hereford Arms |
Tickets
Student – £25
Professional – £75
IABSE Member – £60
Tickets are available from the following link:
Directions
The event will take place in the Skempton Building, Imperial College London, at:
Skempton Building
Imperial College Road
South Kensington
London
SW7 2BU
The closest Underground station is South Kensington.
Please see attached directions to the Skempton Building and the relevant rooms.
Following the event, we will be heading to The Hereford Arms for drinks. Everyone is very welcome to join us:
The Hereford Arms
123 Gloucester Road
South Kensington
London
SW7 4TE
Design Competition
For 2026, we’re inviting participants to re-imagine major World Cup infrastructure as low-carbon, re-locatable structures built primarily from stone and timber.
Prize: £200 for the winning entry and oppourtunity to present at the conference
Bonus: Shortlisted entries will be displayed and discussed at the conference
Please see the full design competition brief here:
Submissions for the design competition are now closed.
Workshop Hosts and Speakers
The day will feature a series of interactive workshops alongside talks from a range of speakers from across the industry.
Stone Workshop
- Pierre Bidaud, The Stone Masonry Company
- James Kingman, AKTII
- Thomas Lapautre, AKTII
Timber Workshop
- Lukas Osterloff, Ingenieurbüro Miebach
- Ezra Groskin, Moxon Architects
Speakers
- Sam Harland, CIVIC
- Liam Duff, Arup
- Martin Self, Xylotek
- Andrew Waugh, Waugh Thistleton Architects
Organising Committee
Meet the organising committee working behind the scenes to bring you Future of Design London 2026!