Added: Over a year ago by Buro Happold
To truly understand someone, look to their work. The built environment is special for many reasons, but primary among them is the opportunity to make a genuine – often, physical – impact on the world. There is no building, area of public realm or city in the world that hasn’t been shaped and influenced by engineers, architects, designers or planners.
As part of our International Women in Engineering Day celebrations, meet women across Buro Happold who are making their mark on the built environment through the work that they do.
Originally from Poland, Olga is now exploring life in a new country as she works on the Royal Diriyah Opera House in Riyadh.
Olga Stankowska, associate mechanical engineer at Buro Happold, has had an interesting path to be where she currently is: seconded from the Berlin office to live in Jeddah, playing a key role in the development of what will be a new cultural institution for the Middle East.
Originally from Poland, Olga is now exploring life in a new country as she works on the Royal Diriyah Opera House in Riyadh. This will stand as a showcase project, in terms of sustainability, security and digital infrastructure, as well as a landmark piece of cultural architecture, which will increase cultural diversity and have a significant impact on further social transformation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It will be a focal point for the new Diriyah Gate ll development (DGII).
Buro Happold is providing a swathe of critical services to the project, including building services engineering (MEP), sustainability, accessibility, energy modelling and waste/logistics. Olga is building engineering services (MEP) coordinator and project leader on the opera house project.
Because of the fierce heat in the region, thermal comfort and cooling understandably has a key focus in the development of the opera house. The design is inspired by the Najdi architecture, and this extends to ancient passive cooling techniques of the Najdi architecture – with multiple shading elements, thick walls that will allow the building to make full use of the structure’s own thermal mass, and with minimised window openings, carefully sited to ensure sufficient daylighting throughout.
The integration of solar PV technology within the building envelope will allow some of the annual energy load to be generated on site as part of the low carbon technology plan. Additionally, very careful and detailed analysis of HVAC design and thermal comfort will allow further significant reduction of energy consumption.
At the start of 2023, Olga was working in the Buro Happold Berlin office and wasn’t looking to move. She said, “Rod Manson, who is our regional director, was looking for someone to be seconded to Jeddah for this.”
“Initially, I wasn’t especially interested! I wasn’t looking to leave Berlin and I wasn’t sure what would face me in another country. But a colleague from Berlin office put the idea in my head, so I began to think about it – I spoke to my colleagues, friends and family, I did research online – and thought it was a really interesting opportunity for a limited time and decided to say yes!”
Olga’s work on the Royal Diriyah Opera House, while based around MEP services, is varied and totally new experience to her. She is based in the office of the local consultant and is playing the role of a design guardian after the handover of MEP design to local engineers. The opera house is part of the Diriyah Gate ll development. The historic town of Diriyah on the edge of Riyadh will be transformed into Saudi Arabia’s foremost cultural and lifestyle destination.
Olga said, “It is a very nice feeling to work on something that brings cultural value to the country, that is changing so rapidly, and where access to artistic events can be limited. Local people tell me that they want these kinds of cultural places to be developed: they are very excited about the idea of there being opera in Riyadh and in Jeddah.
“People here have so much energy and enthusiasm, and increasingly take every opportunity to engage in cultural activities, so the new opera houses in the region are welcomed. I’m constantly being asked when the Opera House will open, as they are really looking forward to having more access to diverse cultural events.”
