Dave Kelly’s Top Trends featured on the Courier Mail’s website

AS A residential engineer, David Kelly can find himself working with everyone from mum and dad renovators to commercial developers in multi-unit projects.

“There is lots of problem-solving involved in my job, particularly in the construction phases of each project, and the variety of projects we work on is quite varied — each project is very different,” the founding director of Brisbane’s Inertia Engineering said.

Mr Kelly said residential engineers designed the structural elements of a house or building.

“After an architect completes their drawings, they pass them onto us and we design the structural members so the builder can build,” Mr Kelly said.

After working as a residential engineer for 20 years, Mr Kelly said residential architecture was becoming increasingly complicated, as homeowners and developers raised their expectations.

“We’re seeing a huge increase in the use of glass and houses are more open plan now as people want to connect more with nature,” he said.

“In this age of technology, people can also research everything and put their nose into designs a bit more.

“Owners can walk through a house on their computer, interactively exploring a home before it’s built and visualising what it’s like, so we get a lot more changes to designs.”

A growing awareness of energy efficiency was another change Mr Kelly was experiencing in the industry.

“People are being pushed by councils to be more energy efficient and a lot of designers also have to comply with council rules,” he said.

“We’re seeing an increased use of step ceilings, high-level windows and skylights in places we’d previously never have considered.

“There is also sustainability awareness, with people trying to use a lot more timber and renewable products.”

While changes were constantly happening in his industry, Mr Kelly said he hoped to see an increase in design collaboration and involvement between engineers, owners, architects and builders.

“Engineers are often brought in at the last minute but it is so valuable to get everyone’s input early on in the project, before it goes to site,” he said.

This article originally appeared on CourierMail’s website.

Photography by Big House Little House.