“We’re bringing the international market something it needs,” he says. “A next generation engineering company that’s more creative, more agile, more edgy, and that lives its values every day.”

Shonn’s engineering career began in the United States, where he worked on a large volume of residential and infrastructure projects while qualifying and immediately afterwards. Moving to California from his native Florida, he graduated to designing significant civil engineering works, including landmark structures such as the Tacoma Narrows bridge.

Shonn moved on to London, UK, where he increased his repertoire further, designing long span and tall buildings for a range of sectors while simultaneously developing his skills as a leader. He also took the opportunity to expand his worldwide portfolio: he names Pulkovo Airport, St Petersburg and CityLife residential, commercial and business district in Milan as two milestone projects in his career. He eventually relocated to Singapore, where he grew a highly successful international business at unusual speed.

“It’s about trust,” Shonn reflects, “and loving what you do. Running big jobs, I formed strong relationships with clients and architects: collaborations where you really get the best out of each other. There are so many amazing people in the world, doing amazing things that are really inspiring, and most of the time they’re doing it because they love it.”

Shonn brings a global perspective to his enthusiasm for the work of engineering, as well as the role of the profession in tackling some of humanity’s most pressing problems. As current Chair of Trustees for the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, he’s keenly interested in balancing the requirements of developing and rapidly urbanising economies against the universal need for sustainable growth. Characteristically, his viewpoint is inspired by the people he works with on the ground.

“It’s a really exciting time,” he says. “There’s huge opportunity to take what we’ve learned about sustainability and apply it to other markets. It’s not going to be exactly the same as Europe, because it’s a different context — but we can arm people everywhere with the tools to do some good.”

Chairman, Board of Trustees, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)
Board of Directors, GovTech, Singapore

Selected projects …
— Penang South Islands masterplan, Malaysia
— Punggol Digital District masterplan, Singapore
— Tate Modern Turbine Hall Unilever Series, UK
— Southampton New Arts Centre, UK
— NEOM The Line – Design Delivery Partner (DDP), KSA
— Mshereib Downtown Doha Phase IV and Mshereib Metro Station, Qatar
— Emaar/LINQ Modular System collaboration, UAE
— Al Maryah Island complex, UAE
— CityLife I and II, Milan, Italy
— Lighthouse Tower, Aarhus, Denmark
— iMax modular building system development, Singapore
— Lightrus Modular Building System, Singapore
— Sampyo Group double-wall precast building system, South Korea
— Pulkovo Airport terminal design, Russia