Engineering — Matt Hicks

Mechanical Engineering

I am an experienced mechanical engineer currently working for the Buildings team at Arup in Bristol. I’m involved in all parts of the design process from concept design and space planning, through detailed design, to project completion and handover.

I hold design responsibility over ventilation, heating and cooling systems on a variety of different building types, and lead design development of innovate building designs. This involves coordination and design development with other members of the design team (both internally and externally) and I have experience in implementing various national and international design standards and statutory codes.

I am a chartered mechanical engineer with the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.

I have strong working knowledge of Autodesk Revit and AutoCAD, IES, Bluebeam Revu and Microsoft Office.

2014-2022: Arup Bristol

Project examples and experience

(most to least recent)

CiNER Glass Factory

Rassau, United Kingdom

I am the lead MEP engineer for the Glass Factory project, taking responsibility for the entire mechanical, electrical and public health design. Located in Rassau in South Wales, the facility will produce ~1000T/day of consumer glass bottles.

I have lead the development of large mechanical systems (including process cooling, furnace heat recovery, compressed air, natural gas, diesel and LPG), electrical systems (including HV, MV and LV power supply and distribution) and public health systems (including softened and reverse osmosis water, foul and trade effluent drainage and rainwater harvesting).

In addition, I have supported the client in understanding the Welsh Building Regulations and British Standards that are applicable to this project and are not part of their existing experience.

[Image credit: Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council]

Frankfurt Datacentres

Frankfurt Germany

I was the lead mechanical engineer for a number of datacentre projects based in Frankfurt, where I lead the development of large, mission critical cooling systems and backup power systems including the detailed design of large diesel storage and pumping installations. These projects required a keen eye for system analysis, with special focus on identifying single-points-of-failure and how to mitigate them.

FR11 (~31MW) - RIBA4 design and site support

FR10 (~16MW) - RIBA3 and RIBA4 deisgn

FR16 (~16MW) - RIBA3 design

[Image credit: FNP]

Changi Terminal 5

Singapore

I was part of a large global team delivering the initial concept design for the Changi T5 project. I took specific responsibility for the ventilation systems within the Ground Transportation Centre - including fresh air, cooling air, car park ventilation and smoke extract/make-up systems.

Later in the design process, I took a leading role developing coordination pricniples between the services engineers, structural engineers, architects and water feature specialists.

[Image credit: KPF]

Bristol Beacon

Bristol, United Kingdom

I was one of the mechanical engineers who developed the RIBA4 design for the refurbishment of the prestigious Bristol Beacon in Bristol. I designed the full heating and cooling system, as well as acted as a technical reviewer of the ventilation design.

This project involved working with a very complex Revit model comprising of existing survey information and new construction information, and a lot of time was spend developing coordination strategies that could react to unforeseen situations on site.

I attended many workshops for this project, interfacing with specialist acoustic and theatre consultants as well as structural engineers and architects.

[Image credit: Bristol Beacon]

Redruth, United Kingdom

Kresen Kernow

I was the lead services engineer for Kresen Kernow - the new Cornish Archive Centre. Opened in Autumn 2019, this building comprises two archive strong rooms, workshops, study rooms and public library and exhibition spaces.

I designed passive archive strong rooms, harnessing immense thermal mass and a ‘default off’ servicing strategy, to minimise energy consumption whilst maintaining the critical conditions for the documents. The building also has a naturally ventilated public exhibition space and controlled reading room spaces.

2019 Preservation & Rejuvenation Award - National Constructing Excellence Awards

2021 RIBA South West Award

[Image credit: Matt Hicks]

Midfield Terminal Building, Abu Dhabi International Airport

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

I worked as part of a large global team to design the new terminal building at Abu Dhabi International Airport, taking responsibility for designing variations within the building and for resolving queries raised by the contractor during this complex project delivery.

I spent three months on site in Abu Dhabi helping the design team work with the contractor to deliver elements of the design - particularly elements of the large retail areas within the building.

[Image credit: Abu Dhabi Airports Company]