Leviathan Structural Engineers

Leviathan Structural Engineers
Name	Leviathan Structural Engineers
Type	Private
Industry	Structural engineering
Founded	1998
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Key people	CEO: Marina Petrov; CTO: Daniel Okonkwo
Services	Structural design, retrofitting, inspection, seismic analysis
Revenue	undisclosed
Employees	~420 (2024)

Leviathan Structural Engineers is a multinational structural engineering firm founded in 1998, known for complex projects in civil infrastructure, high-rise construction, and heritage conservation. The firm operates across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and North America, collaborating with prominent architects, contractors, and public agencies on technically demanding works. Leviathan has built a reputation through collaborations with major design practices and participation in international research consortia, winning industry awards and contributing to standards development.

History

Leviathan was established in 1998 by a group of engineers who previously worked on projects for Foster + Partners and Arup. Early work included collaborations with Skanska and Balfour Beatty on commercial developments in London and infrastructure assessments for Transport for London. During the 2000s the firm expanded into the Middle East, taking commissions from clients such as Qatar Foundation and Dubai Municipality, and partnered with Kohn Pedersen Fox on mixed-use towers. In the 2010s Leviathan opened regional offices in Dubai, Singapore, and New York City after securing contracts with Bechtel and Turner Construction. Strategic hires from Imperial College London and Massachusetts Institute of Technology accelerated its research profile, while joint ventures with AECOM and Arup-affiliated consultancies broadened its portfolio. By the 2020s the firm had become a frequent consultant for retrofitting projects tied to the European Commission resilience initiatives and participated in advisory groups with Building Research Establishment and BRE Global.

Services and Specializations

Leviathan offers multidisciplinary services including structural analysis, seismic design, façade engineering, temporary works, and condition surveys. The firm provides detailed design and construction-stage support for clients such as HS2 Ltd and London Underground, and delivers remediation and strengthening for heritage structures commissioned by organizations like Historic England and the National Trust. Specializations include performance-based seismic engineering for partners in Japan and Chile, wind engineering interfaces for coastal projects with firms such as Ramboll, and mass timber design aligned with standards from American Institute of Timber Construction. Leviathan also delivers asset management and life-cycle assessment for operators including Network Rail and municipal authorities in Toronto and Singapore.

Notable Projects

Leviathan’s portfolio includes high-profile buildings, bridges, and conservation works. Projects attributed to the firm’s teams include contribution to a mixed-use tower in Canary Wharf alongside Pelli Clarke & Partners; structural design input on a signature cultural building in Abu Dhabi with Zaha Hadid Architects; seismic retrofitting for a hospital cluster in Istanbul commissioned by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality; and rehabilitation of a Victorian railway viaduct in collaboration with Network Rail and Heritage Lottery Fund. Internationally, teams worked on long-span bridge components for a crossing associated with Lehang Expressway contractors and provided façade-engineering consultancy for a landmark tower developed by Emaar Properties. Leviathan engineers also contributed to modular housing prototypes partnered with Arup and research into tall timber structures alongside researchers from ETH Zurich.

Organizational Structure and Leadership

Leviathan is organized into regional business units (Europe, Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Americas) and technical practice groups (Buildings, Bridges, Heritage, Geotechnics, Façade, Computational Modelling). Executive leadership has included CEO Marina Petrov and CTO Daniel Okonkwo, with a board drawing independent directors from Royal Academy of Engineering fellows and corporate governance professionals associated with London Stock Exchange advisory circles. Project delivery teams interface with contractors including Laing O'Rourke and VINCI Construction and client-side stakeholders such as municipal departments in Oslo and Vancouver. The firm maintains academic advisory panels featuring academics from University College London, University of Cambridge, and Delft University of Technology to guide research agendas.

Research, Innovation, and Technology

Leviathan invests in research on advanced finite element modelling, non-linear dynamic analysis, and digital twins, collaborating with institutions like Imperial College London and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company is active in EU-funded research programs and innovation clusters including Horizon 2020 consortia, and has partnerships with software vendors such as Bentley Systems and Autodesk to integrate parametric design and building information modelling. Leviathan’s R&D produced proprietary tools for progressive collapse analysis and life-cycle carbon assessment, and the firm publishes white papers and presents at conferences organized by Institution of Structural Engineers and International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering. Experimental work has been conducted in laboratories affiliated with University of Stuttgart and TNO for material testing and blast-resilient design.

Safety, Standards, and Certifications

Leviathan adheres to industry standards including Eurocodes and collaborates on guidance with BSI Group committees and the European Committee for Standardization. The firm holds ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications and maintains safety management systems aligned with frameworks promulgated by Health and Safety Executive and project-specific requirements from clients such as HS2 Ltd. Personnel are certified under schemes like the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors and the Institution of Structural Engineers chartered registers, and the practice contributes to codes development through participation in working groups convened by CEN and national standards bodies in Australia and Canada.

Category:Engineering companies