CHRIS MURRAY

MEng CEng MICE
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR + BOARD MEMBER
Chris Murray
Operations Director Chris Murray is at the heart of Whitby Wood’s worldwide development, working from the London office, and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the UK business. He joined the company shortly after its foundation and has played a central role in its evolving ambitions, its growth and its ethos.

“I don’t beat around the bush,” says Chris. “What our way of working means, fundamentally, is that we’re honest, and we’re reactive — we answer the phone and listen to what our clients want.”

An Oxford University graduate in Engineering Science, Chris has led multi-disciplinary design teams in sectors that include residential, commercial, education, hotels + leisure, aviation and rail — including, in his early career, work on London’s Crossrail (the Elizabeth Line) and Gatwick Airport.

He has always enjoyed working on tall, deep or otherwise challenging structures, particularly for complex and constrained sites and often in inner cities. In doing so, he has developed a reputation for design that’s efficient and highly buildable. Recent projects include Greenwich Design District office and workshop complex, Queens Quarter residential development in Croydon and The Arc, a 23-storey office and residential project on London’s City Road.

“I’m very aware on a project that someone’s money is being spent and they don’t necessarily need to spend it,” Chris says. “I reassess the work, make sure it’s not overdesigned — often for contractors. My thing has always been: I do this job to see projects get built.”

Chris’s approach also helps clients to reduce the carbon footprint of projects as a logical component of economic, financially viable design — a topic on which he has presented at ICE and other industry forums. He also regularly mentors graduate engineers who are looking to achieve Chartership in the UK.

TEL +44 (0)20 7442 2216

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