Paul Webber
Owner of Webber Design
Structural Engineers
“My philosophy at Webber Design has deliberately been totally different. I am a perfectionist and to me our reputation is all about consistency in our delivery and that can’t happen if you are spread too thin.”
It has been said that “Children are the builders of a brave new world” and as a child Paul Webber loved playing with Meccano sets and carpentry kits, experimenting with building structures and understanding how they stand up. That childhood passion has stayed with Paul and today as the owner of Webber Design he is one of the faces changing Australia’s skyline.
Graduating in Brisbane in a depressed economy at a time when jobs were few and far between, Paul was handpicked by one of his lecturers and employed to work for a leading Brisbane Engineering Firm. “That was my start and appreciating just how fortunate I was at the time, I have never taken anything for granted in my career.”
It wasn’t long until Paul, still in his twenties, was promoted to an Associate Director before heading to Hong Kong to work for a large multinational multidisciplinary practice in Asia.
“I was responsible for a team of over 30 structural engineers most of whom were Chinese and it was there that I developed a massive respect for their engineering expertise and work ethic. We worked on some incredible projects, airports, railways and tall buildings in Thailand, Southern China, Hong Kong and Vietnam. I loved it all. The intensity, the long hours and the experience was something that you couldn’t get in Australia at that time.”
Paul returned to Australia and became a Principal of a large Brisbane Structural Engineering practice for 5 years before opening up and growing their Melbourne practice for a further 4 years. “That was an exciting time for me being a part of Melbourne’s rapidly growing property market.”
With his growing success in Melbourne Paul was headhunted and accepted the position of National Structural Director for another large Australian Engineering company, “The job became more a management and administrative role and to be honest I hated it. It was not what I enjoy doing. I have always loved being hands on dealing with architects right from the beginning, being creative, making good engineering designs come to fruition and having fun. That was my skill set and what I enjoyed doing and why people enjoyed working with me”
At a crossroad and armed with a new vision, Paul started his own Structural Engineering company Webber Design in 2007. He admits that, “Apart from the start up costs It was a little daunting at first, being an outsider from Brisbane and starting on my own in Melbourne, however right from day one clients, architects and developers gave me their work.”
“Webber Design work hard for our clients and our approach and focus on cost effective designs has paid off over time.”
“Most of the engineering companies that I had worked for had a philosophy to open offices everywhere and be big. I understand that approach however big isn’t always better. I also saw first hand many of the downsides including, at times, a too rapid a growth without sufficient quality staff or systems in place, a loss of control and poor design outcomes which ultimately impacts on the bottom line and reputation. Of more importance though was that the clients were not receiving the best outcomes or service on many occasions.”
“My philosophy at Webber Design has deliberately been totally different. I am a perfectionist and to me our reputation is all about consistency in our delivery and that can’t happen if you are spread too thin. I employ quality staff across every level of the business who are all well respected in the industry. We remain client and project focused and that has proven to be my formula for success.”
A very respected and successful engineering company in Melbourne, Webber Design is now making its mark in Sydney. “I am not here to grow quickly but rather my philosophy, as always, is to maintain a controlled growth, delivering consistent quality work and cutting-edge designs. Since we opened the office here two years ago we’ve secured over 30 projects including most recently a role on the tallest residential tower in Sydney, the 65 level Greenland Centre developed by Chinese developer Greenland. We are working in collaboration with Arup and the contractor Probuild to incorporate our alternative structural design.”
Over the course of ten years, Webber Design has delivered more than $20 billion worth of projects and is one of the largest privately owned structural engineering firms in Australia. “I’ve always had a strong work ethic which I inherited from my parents and have always put pressure on myself to strive for perfection. Webber Design work hard for our clients and our approach and focus on cost effective designs has paid off over time. On reflection and perhaps based on my experiences in Hong Kong we employ a very strong multicultural staff base with many Asian engineers. Interestingly our client base is currently around 80% Chinese with a lot of repeat business.”
It’s not all about business. In his spare time Paul collects art, unusual chess sets and has a share in a few racehorses one of which won three races in Singapore and another winning a race on Oaks Day last year. “I used to play golf but sadly with my 24/7 business demands, I rarely find the time.”
“I wouldn’t be the person. I am today without Deborah. I love everything about her. She is passionate, funny and a major asset to me in business and life. We are very close.”
More admirable is their commitment to charities. Paul and Deb are ambassadors for the St Vincent Hospital’s HIV fund in Sydney. Smiling he acknowledges “Most of my industry colleagues know that I am a soft touch when it comes to donating to a worthy cause. I believe it is important to give back when you have it to give.”
So what is next for Webber Design? “I am still as passionate today as when I first started my career. My focus as always is to keep mentoring my staff and building Webber Design as a brand that people respect and trust and continue to deliver great structural engineering outcomes for our clients and their projects.”
“我热爱由始至终与建筑师进行沟通交流，携手创作，让美好的工程设计得以实现而获得乐趣。那是我的技能专长，我做着喜欢的工作，也是人们喜爱与我共事的原因。”
孩童时期，Paul Webber的主要玩具是麦卡诺组合模型和木匠工具箱，并且尝试剖析物体的建筑结构和组合原理，那份童年激情Paul留存至今，也印证了“儿童是勇敢新世界的建造者。”的说法。今天，作为Webber Design的创始者，他是改变澳大利亚城市天际线风貌的人物之一。
在布里斯班学成毕业的Paul当时处在经济萧条的年代，工作机会稀少，但他被一名讲师精心选中，受聘到布里斯班一家领先的工程公司上班。“那是我的开始，感谢幸运之神眷顾，因此我的职业生涯不存在侥幸心理，只有全力以赴。”
20多岁的Paul不久晋升为副总监，过后被委派到香港，在亚洲开展大型多国多元学科专业的项目计划。“我负责一个由30多名结构工程师组成的团队，其中大部分是中国人，对于他们的工程专业知识和职业道德，我给予最高敬意。我们共同完成了一些令人难以置信的项目计划：包括机场、铁路和高层建筑工程，横跨泰国、中国南部，香港和越南，我热爱这一切。当时的工作强度，漫长的时间与经验累积都是无法在当时的澳大利亚体验到。”
重返澳大利亚后，Paul 成为布里斯班大型结构工程业务的负责人为期5年，接下来开启墨尔本长达4年快速拓展的实践业务。“这是令人激奋的时刻，我加入了墨尔本迅速增长的房地产市场战局。”
随着Paul在墨尔本取得的成功战绩，他被相中并接受了另一家大型澳大利亚工程公司的委任，作为全国结构工程总监的职位，由于新岗位偏向管理和行政业务范畴，并非他所愿意和向往的。“我热爱由始至终与建筑师进行沟通交流，携手创作，让美好的工程设计得以实现而获得乐趣。那是我的技能专长，我做着喜欢的工作，也是人们喜爱与我共事的原因。”
而伫立十字路口并怀揣新视野，Paul 终于在2007 年创立了自己的公司 Webber Design。他承认，“最初的起步成本环节让人有点不安，作为来自布里斯班的局外人，我把起点设置在墨尔本，可是开业伊始，客户、建筑师和开发商就把他们的业务托付给我。”
“我就业过的大多数工程公司都有在各地开设大型办事处据点的战略理念，我也深切了解大幅度扩张的做法并非是最恰当的，其中也看到许多致命伤，包括随着快速增长，结果缺乏足够的质量员工或到位的系统操作，由于失控形成设计缺陷，最终损害底线和名誉，关键的是在许多情况下，客户无法获得满意成果或优质服务。”
如今，Webber Design作为墨尔本相当权威且领先的工程公司，目标定位涉足悉尼。
“我并非快速增长，而是一如既往地保持自己的理念，实践具备持续性的质量工作和尖端设计。自两年前开设办事处以来，我们已获得参与30多个计划项目，包括最近在悉尼的住宅高楼，中国绿地集团开发的65层绿地中心，我们正在与奥雅纳(Arup)还有承包商Probuild合作，结合我们的替代结构设计。”
过去10年来，Webber Design已经成功交付价值逾200亿元的项目计划，也是澳大利亚最大的私营结构工程公司之一。“我继承了父母的强烈职业性特质，再加上极力追求完美的动力，我们为客户努力付出，其中聚焦在注重成本效益的设计方案显著有所回报。
反思下，由于依据在香港的工作经历，我们拥有了非常强大的多元文化员工基础与许多亚裔工程师。有趣的是，我们的客户群目前大约80%是中国人或华裔，有很多重复业务(回头客)。”
在人生旅途中，Paul的妻子DeborahGray始终陪伴身旁。“没有Deborah就不会造就今天的我。我爱她的一切，她是我工作和生活中的激情与乐趣，也是重要财富，我们亲密
无间。”
另外，工作并非他生活中的全部。在业余时间，保罗收集艺术品、别致的国际象棋棋套，共同拥有数匹赛马，其中一匹赛马在新加坡赢得三场比赛，另外的赛马也在去年的橡树日赛会获胜。“我之前有打高尔夫球，可惜被工作业务占去大部分时间，很难
抽空。”
至于更令人钦佩的是他们坚守投入慈善事业的承诺。Paul和Deborah是悉尼St Vincent’s医院的艾滋病基金会的大使。他微笑表示，大多数业内同事们都了解，如果提到捐赠有价值的事业时，他就会变得感性柔软，他相信最重要的是有能力做出回馈。
Webber Design的下一步将怎么走呢？“今天的我还是与初次开展职业生涯一样充满热情。我一直集中在继续引导我的工作团队，建设 Webber Design 成为人们尊重和信任的品牌，不断的为我们的客户及项目计划提供高质量的结构工程成果。”
by Billie Ooi-Ng Lean Gaik
EZ AUSTRALIA.NEWS 