Ridge joins our 'Sustainable cities and tall buildings' forum

Image: courtesy of Ridge and Partners

Future Cities Forum is delighted that Austin Wikner, Partner at Ridge, will be joining our 'Sustainable cities and tall buildings' forum at EY this month.

Austin leads Ridge's London MEP team. He is a Chartered Building Services Engineer with over 25 years of experience within the built environment.

He has led large teams of engineers and technicians, delivering major projects and programmes in sectors including commercial, residential, heritage, hospitality, and education.

Austin has particular experience delivering tall buildings, having designed and delivered many schemes across London and beyond, including his previous work delivering South Quay Plaza (for Berkeley Homes), Aspen aka, Consort Place (for Far East Consortium) and Aykon London One (for Damac), along with his current work on 4 Portal Way (for ADD Properties) which will be the tallest Modular Residential tower in Europe.

Austin leverages his extensive experience in managing and designing projects, with a focus on delivering energy-efficient, innovative design solutions. As an expert in building services engineering, Austin is passionate and committed to driving high-quality outcomes and fostering a culture of excellence in the built environment.

Ridge's projects in the tall buildings sector are below:

The Lexington, Liverpool Waters

The Lexington is a 34-storey, £85 million development by Moda Living that provides 304 apartments in Liverpool’s regeneration area. Drawing from the city’s transatlantic connections, it houses a residents’ lounge, gym, terrace, and cinema room – proving the Private Rented Sector has matured into a genuinely design-led model. Ridge provided full BIM coordination services throughout the project.

Viadux Phases 1 and 2, Manchester

Viadux is ambition at 76 storeys. Developed by Salboy and designed by Simpson Haugh, Viadux’s Phase Two will become the tallest building in the UK outside London – housing a Nobu restaurant, 160-bed hotel, and 452 Nobu residences. The complexity? It rises directly beside the Grade II listed Castlefield Viaduct.

Ridge has delivered Building Services Engineering, Sustainability and Lighting Design across both phases, implementing zoned pressure circuits capable of serving the tower’s extreme height while the Victorian arches below remain untouched. Luxury wellness facilities – pool, jacuzzi, sauna, gym, nestle discreetly within the listed structure, with every lighting fixture and service run designed to reveal rather than conceal the original brickwork.

Circle Square, Manchester

On the former BBC site, Circle Square created two towers, 15 and 35 storeys, delivering 683 PRS (Private Rented Sector) apartments with a construction value of £139 million. Developed for Affinity Living, the scheme demonstrates how tightly constrained city centre plots can unlock significant residential capacity while integrating the amenity spaces, bike storage, and landscaping that make high-density living genuinely liveable. Ridge acted as Principal Designers on the project.

The Clayton Hotel, Portland Street

Not every tall building houses residents. This 17-storey, 329-room hotel for Dalata Group replaced a dated 1960s office block in central Manchester. Ridge delivered MEP design meeting strict brand standards while achieving BREEAM ‘Very Good’ certification. Mitsubishi VRV hybrid systems provide efficiency and flexibility, climate change adaptation studies future-proofed the design, and Ridge's Sustainability Consultants stayed involved from concept through completion – proving environmental performance and commercial viability are natural partners.

Cardiff’s rising skyline

Cardiff is reaching upward. Ridge provided civil and structural engineering for Gramercy Tower’s 188 build-to-rent apartments, while Harlech Court – currently an office block and 83-bed hotel – has planning approval for transformation into a 30-storey, 340-apartment Build-to-Rent scheme that will rank among Wales’ tallest buildings.