Speakers

Director | Whitby Wood

BEng (Hons) CEng MIStructE

“We need to decarbonise. Now is the time to make a real difference.”

Director Kelly Harrison is a dynamic leader in the industry’s move to sustainable construction and a member of the Whitby Wood management team. She excels in the design of timber and hybrid structures, refurbishment and retro-fitting, adaptations, extensions and basements, and working in heritage contexts.

She is the driving force behind the practice's ongoing development of its Route to Zero and continual reassessment of the practical actions needed. She continues to be influential in tackling wider industry issues and barriers, and supporting the optimisation of local resources, materials, industry and expertise to provide appropriate, industry-creating, sustainable developments — notably in developing and promoting the lightweight vertical extension of buildings as city-scale carbon sinks (Optoppen).

Her current projects include Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation at the University of Arkansas, USA and the refurbishment and vertical extension of several commercial buildings in London.

Kelly is a Member of the Board of Timber Development UK (TDUK). In 2020, she was named in the Top 50 Women in Engineering: Sustainability list by the Women’s Engineering Society. In 2024 she was highly commended for Buildings Professional of the Year in the Women in Green Business Awards. She is currently partnering with UK FIRES and University of Bath to sponsor a PhD focused on the zero-carbon resource pool.