Not many of us could recall what they received as a Christmas gift when they were three years old, but Ben Sheterline does and with good reason. As a young child, Ben liked nothing more than to pick up a screwdriver and find things that needed unscrewing. It was a childhood delight that sometimes put him in harm’s way, especially around plug sockets. His parents devised a solution that would make an indelible impact on him. ‘My Mum and Dad gave me a broken thermostat for Christmas,’ he recalls. ‘I got the screwdriver out, dismantled the thermostat, and put it back together. Many times. So I’m told.’ A broken thermostat is not every child’s idea of the perfect gift, but it set Ben on a path that led him to the engineer’s life.
Ben is practical by nature, with a predilection for fixing things and building things. ‘My dad had a workshop in the garden, and I spent a lot of time in there. Cutting, drilling, screwing, gluing, building. I loved learning to use different tools and machines, but ultimately finding out how to make things.’ A family holiday to Dubai cemented his interest in engineering. ‘Holidays abroad always intrigued me – seeing different buildings and different scales. I remember seeing the Burj Al Arab and marvelling at its size and inventiveness. It left an impression on me. Engineering caught me when I was young.’
Despite the place the Burj Al Arab holds in his imagination, buildings of this scale and ideology are not the kind that excite him these days, but some similarities do exist. ‘Projects where our role and the role of the architecture overlap are very interesting to work on – where the structure is expressed in the architecture. I like designing things that people can see and appreciate.’ Ben has a broad portfolio of work, many in historic settings, and it is arts, sports, and education projects, and one-off homes that particularly interest him. ‘I enjoy the challenges where the structure is exposed and becomes part of the architecture of the building, because the structure has nowhere to hide. Everything has a purpose, and it needs to be coordinated from the outset,’ Ben explains. A philosophy he applies to all projects, regardless of whether the structure will be on show or not. ‘The sports centre at Kings College School was a really enjoyable project for me. A lot of work went into thinking about every structural element supporting the roof, and coordinating it with the functional requirements of the space – the cricket nets, the dividing curtains, the rooflights - finding a common structural grid to avoid unnecessary secondary supports and keeping the ceiling uncluttered. I learned a way of thinking that transferred into all my projects.’
Listening to Ben talk about his career, he refers to the good luck, the bold fortune and the serendipity that led him to becoming a Partner at Price & Myers. He talks of initially ‘not falling in love’ with engineering at university, but to give it a chance after devoting four years of study to it. Of interviewing for a graduate role at Price & Myers that, in any other year, might have already been filled. But most affectionately, he speaks of joining a team that included current Partner, Andy Toohey, and founding Partner, Sam Price. ‘It was the right fit, right from the start,’ Ben recalls. ‘I benefitted enormously from both of them. Sitting on buses, heading to site or in architects’ offices, listening to Sam tell stories of his national service, or joining him scaling ladders, crawling through pigeon poo on his hands and knees to inspect ancient roof trusses. I didn’t expect those things from someone so senior, and it was a great endorsement of someone’s love for their work.’
When Ben joined the team, Sam was preparing for retirement. It was under Andy’s tutelage that the younger engineer learned the bulk of the knowledge that grounds his own expertise. ‘Andy really imparted the idea of taking the complicated and simplifying it right down. It’s a central idea to how I work.’ Ben enjoys working with clients and architects who love engineering like he does. ‘Luckily for me, these were the kinds of projects that Sam and Andy brought to the practice. In order to simplify, you have to understand what you’re dealing with. It’s not as simple as throwing our bit of work on the table and saying this is what we are going to do. I learned an understanding of the other disciplines, listening to Sam and Andy and their foresight into what others are trying to achieve, and working with other great consultants who were generous with their knowledge.’
Ben likes to get involved early with his projects. He firmly believes it’s the best way to a great result. ‘It’s about bringing lots of things together and considering them – what’s the architecture going to look like, the services coordination, the acoustics, all the integration. It’s not just about making the building stand up.’ Ben also knows that early intervention is the best chance of reducing embodied carbon on his projects. ‘At P&M, we’ve been leading on embodied carbon for a while now, and a lot has changed in the last four or five years – there has been a change in focus. And it’s not just about material choices. It’s about talking with architects and clients from day one about what impacts design choices will have environmentally.’
Ben is steeped in Price & Myers culture, a custodian of an engineering lineage that stretches back beyond Sam Price and other giants of the profession. His portfolio of projects is emblematic of much of the practice’s work. His approach distilled from the methodology that established the practice in the first place. The satisfaction he derives from seeing his projects built is one shared by everyone in the practice. He now holds the baton handed down. It’s a long way from a broken thermostat.
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