One Decision. Three Efficiency Wins. 

To us, efficient engineering is about recognising that the obvious solution isn’t always the right one. 

When Birzulis was engaged on the refurbishment of a 1960s building for accommodation facilities in Surry Hills, the original structural design called for reinforced concrete shear walls. On paper, a reasonable approach. On site, a problem. 

The building’s inner-city location made concrete truck access difficult. The existing floors made forming and pouring concrete walls harder still. The team proposed steel frame shear walls instead. It’s one decision with three outcomes: easier site access, faster construction, and cost savings delivered through the build. 

What made it possible 

This kind of outcome is the product of design efficiency – delivering the right information, at the right time, to the right level of completion, with experience and sound judgement doing the work that formulas can’t. The external result is design that balances cost, constructability, and compliance. On a constrained site like Surry Hills, constructability wasn’t a secondary consideration. It was the starting point. 

Clear direction from the client and key stakeholders from the outset made that possible. Understand the site constraints early, get the brief right, and the design decisions that follow are sharper for it.

Why it matters to the project 

External efficiency is the deliverable. Internal efficiency is what makes it possible. On time is typically on budget. The Surry Hills project shows both sides – a structural solution that reduced cost and removed a sequencing problem that would have affected the entire programme. 

We are proud to deliver practical design that doesn’t generate construction mistakes, and documentation clear enough that nothing gets lost between engineer and builder. In this case, steel frame shear walls meant the builder could move without waiting on access logistics that concrete would have demanded. 

What it isn’t 

Proposing steel over concrete wasn’t a shortcut. It was the result of understanding the site, the programme, and the client’s priorities, then finding the solution that addressed all three. No efficiency argument overrides safety. Engineers are responsible for project outcomes. In prescriptive settings, the non-negotiables stay non-negotiable. 

The efficiency came from the thinking, not from cutting corners.

What this means practically 

Early involvement with senior people available from the first conversation is where risks get resolved before they compound and where the expensive mistakes either happen or don’t. 

If you want an engineering team that works out the most efficient solution and sticks around to make sure it stays that way, let’s talk before the drawings do.