Seven leading contractors and consultants have joined forces with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) to help fund a new state-of-the-art engineering exhibition and learning centre.

AECOM, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Mace Foundation, VINCI Construction UK Limited and WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff have become the first ‘Founding Partners’ of the exhibition and learning centre.

The exhibition and learning centre, which will open in 2016 at ICE’s London headquarters, forms part of ICE’s ‘Shaping the World’ appeal – an international campaign which brings together the greatest civil engineering minds across the globe to help alleviate the effects of major future challenges.

The Shaping the World appeal  is funding other projects including a resilience lecture series and a report to be presented to the Hong Kong government exploring low carbon living for a high density environment beyond 2030. 

Together the seven founding partners have pledged over £300,000, and ICE has promised to match industry donations to the £850,000 project. ICE is now renewing its call to the rest of industry to follow suit and to join as Partners to help raise the remaining funds needed to bring the vision to life.

 The exhibition centre will be an interactive space aimed at bringing civil engineering to life with model replicas, installations and digital prototypes of iconic structures, engineering games and 3D printers – making the link between digital and the physical.

 Founding partners will be invited to display structural and digital models, installations and case studies to tell a story of how their projects have connected people, socially, economically and physically to improve their wellbeing. 

 ICE Director General, Nick Baveystock, commented:

“ICE is thrilled to welcome these seven giants of industry as Founding Partners of our exciting space. Our message to those yet to join is simple – exhibit with us, inspire with us. If we are to motivate young people to follow in our footsteps and become tomorrow’s innovators we must take this opportunity to pool our resources, and share our stories as a means of trumpeting our achievements.”

 AECOM Managing Director for UK & Ireland Patrick Flaherty said:

“In today’s world of complex, evolving challenges, engineering design plays a critical role in developing economies, protecting the environment and improving people’s lives. From providing clean water to planning cities, the transformational work of our industry leaves a positive, lasting impact. Igniting young imaginations to the possibility of a career in engineering is vital for solving the world’s future challenges.”

The centre is made up of two constituent parts:-

The Exhibition Centre will be located at the ICE headquarters at One Great George Street in Westminster and will open its doors to the public next autumn. Curated with a digital generation in mind, the rolling programme of exhibitions will celebrate the new technologies and techniques being used to shape the future whilst acknowledging the historical feats of engineering icons. Each of the exhibits will follow themes, the first of which will focus on ‘transport and communications’.

 The Learning Centre, also located at ICE, will provide practicing engineers with a meeting place to develop their knowledge of new technologies in construction, including digital engineering and Building Information Modelling (BIM).