RL: Tell us a bit about RCE.
BM: We’re a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy offering structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection (MEP-F), civil and geotechnical engineering services based in Grand Cayman. We’re currently a team of 11 and have a new Senior Structural Engineer joining us this month. Our team is our strength; we’re client-focused and passionate problem solvers.

RL: What sets you apart from the competition?
BM: Being a ‘one-stop shop’ the Structural, Civil and MEP-F team get to work closely together from the get-go. We’ve found there is something powerful about being in the same building as the other disciplines and sharing information back-and-forth in real-time.

We involve clients early on to understand their goals and design with those in mind and encourage client meetings throughout the process. We’ve also started to include a pre-construction meeting with clients’ contractors to review design intent before reaching the site. This seems to be an optional extra for most firms, but we think it’s so crucial that we have started to include it in all of our projects.

RL: How diverse are your projects locally and internationally?
BM: Very! We service all market sectors from small projects to hospitality and offer a full spectrum of services, from desktop studies to comprehensive engineering design and construction administration.

We have a constant stream of more traditional projects, like surveys and residential construction projects, but our team also tackles a few unique, landmark projects each quarter.

For instance, this quarter we finished a 40,000± sq ft condominium project in the Seven Mile Beach Corridor and a civil concept design for proposed overwater bungalows in Belize.

RL: Tell us about your recent civil design of the overwater bungalows project.
BM: This one was pretty cool, as it was RCE’s first international project. A developer is undertaking an ambitious project on an island in Belize with these cinematic overwater bungalows built out into the ocean. It’s still in the concept design phase, but one of the significant challenges is the infrastructure to service the units. It’s been fun working with an international team of consultants from Belize, Canada and Cayman as we navigate the associated challenges.

RL: How do you inject innovative sustainability into a project?
BM: All of our projects are unique and challenging in their own way, but a challenge we particularly enjoy is projects that incorporate LEED principles – a globally recognised sustainability standard.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and our MEP-F team lead, Eric, has a lot of experience with the nuances of delivering these kinds of projects. They are not only environmentally responsible but often lower running costs. We’d love to work on more sustainable projects like this and would welcome anyone into the office who wanted to chat about them.

RL: What can RCE offer to developers?
BM: Working with developers is different from other residential clients, which we understand well. Balancing costs and current market value can be tricky, especially in the COVID era. For these kinds of projects, we believe that extensive design charettes and active upfront involvement and research in the concept design phase can have a big impact in avoiding costly budget and schedule overruns down the road.

RL: Does RCE have any new and exciting projects coming up?
BM: Well, it’s not a project per se, but I’m particularly excited about a new campaign we are launching this quarter – the ‘Safer Cayman Initiative’ whereby we will offer pro bono engineering advice or remedial design for persons in need and non-profits. We’ve always taken on a few pro-bono projects each year but wanted to widen our reach by actively promoting the programme and requesting submissions from the public.

RL: What kind of projects will be considered? How should people get in touch?
BM: Our two primary concerns are to help those in need to prevent potentially dangerous situations and non-profits who can maximise their community impact if the engineering for their project is pro bono. Ultimately, engineering is about public safety, and no one should be hesitant to get advice for fear of the cost. If you would like to discuss the initiative further or recommend a potential project, please contact me directly for consideration. We hope to pick a new project every quarter based on need.
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For more info contact Ben Morgan, from Reed Consulting Engineers:
Call: 345.623.2444
Email: ben@reedconsultingengineers.com
Visit: www.reedconsultingengineers.com
Facebook and Instagram: @reedconsultingengineers