Where does the Grand Duchy stand in the field of property and industrial engineering in particular? Would you say the country is a testing ground for innovation in this area?
Carl-Taro Kleefisch: Yes, despite its modest size, Luxembourg is currently a hub for the emergence of complex, very high value-added projects. Certain criteria, such as sustainability or energy efficiency, for example, are taken to far higher levels than in neighbouring countries. I would like to point out that we can say this because we also operate in neighbouring countries.
Thomas Keil: I fully agree with Carl’s view. I would add that the close proximity between the various stakeholders – investors, developers and engineering firms such as ours – further accelerates this trend. We enjoy greater flexibility and responsiveness, thanks to less restrictive procedures.
On these major projects, what are the complexities that need to be resolved?
TK: These days, there are a great many stakeholders involved in this type of project. The range of experts has expanded considerably. Consequently, project management and coordination between these different disciplines have naturally become more complex. The real difficulty often lies here, far more so than in the engineering itself!
CTK: Twenty-seven years ago, at the start of my career, even on large-scale projects, you’d typically come across an architect, a client, a structural engineer and another engineer specialising in specialised systems. Today, there are sometimes more than 20 specialists collaborating on a single site, discussing issues we didn’t even consider back then, such as acoustics, for example.
Nowadays, the complexity lies in the growing number of stakeholders and their coordination, rather than in the engineering of the project itself.
How does LSC360 address these challenges?
CTK: We take a 360° approach, drawing on integrated expertise. Indeed, 60 different specialist disciplines coexist under one roof. A design consultancy with such a wide range of expertise is rare within the Greater Region. This enables us to tackle all the issues that arise in a project, as we mentioned earlier. We only call upon external consultants, colleagues or partner firms to deal with very specific, rare issues. The only area we do not cover is architecture, of course. That’s why I like to say that we provide a service from B to Z, except for A as in Architecture
TK: Another strength of our organisation is that, as soon as we receive an enquiry, we can assemble a team of experts who will quickly advise the client on what is and isn’t feasible, within what timeframe, subject to what constraints, and so on… This response is provided by a single point of contact, who will remain the same throughout the project.
So your engineers are also excellent project managers?
TK: These skills aren’t actually taught during their engineering degree. We train them to acquire these project management skills. This involves various stages of learning throughout their career with us. This development in skills is not only a real added value for our staff, but also a mission that is close to our hearts.
CTK: A talented engineer is valuable, but having a talented engineer in your team who also knows how to communicate is even better! These soft skills aren’t something everyone possesses; some people display them more or less naturally, in addition to their technical skills.
We train our engineers in project management. This is a real asset for their careers and a mission that is close to our hearts.
In practical terms, what difference does this make for the client?
CTK: As Thomas said, our client has just one point of contact – always the same person. This makes things much easier from a logistical point of view, as this project manager acts as the project’s conductor, steering the various areas of expertise in the right direction. Communication is simplified and streamlined, both internally and with the client.
TK: Furthermore, as our experts work together from the very start of the project, many potential errors are avoided. Finally, having access to all the necessary expertise by dealing with a single engineering consultancy results in clear financial savings.
Who exactly are your clients today?
CTK: Our clients are divided equally between the public and private sectors. The property sector is, of course, well represented amongst our clients, as is industry, which is facing new challenges and which we are supporting through its transformation.
TK: We currently have 2,600 projects underway, ranging from structural analysis of all kinds of buildings to their infrastructure, including town and country planning and the energy transition of businesses.
Article published on paperjam.lu
Photo credit: Photo: Julian Pierrot / Paperjam
