With a continent-hopping career spanning 30 years, Simon Cloherty has seen Robert Bird Group evolve from a small 20-person practice into a truly global business. From designing his first tall building in Brisbane to leading world-class projects such as Merdeka 118 and Camp Nou, Simon’s passion for structural engineering and willingness to seize opportunities have shaped an extraordinary career.
Early Beginnings
Simon joined Robert Bird and Associates, as it was known at the time, as a graduate in the 1990s. Back then, the company was a tight-knit team of just twenty people, and his early days consisted of “running numbers with a calculator and a calc pad. No computers.”
“We’d just come out of a recession, and everyone was worried about finding work,” he recalls. “I was lucky enough to get a job with Robert Bird Group thanks to a recommendation from my university.”
“I just put my head down and did whatever was put in front of me,” he says. “The first year was quite a steep learning curve, but gradually I got more confident.”
It wasn’t long before Simon was entrusted with real responsibility. His first major assignment came just 18 months into his career: a tall student accommodation building at 108 Margaret Street in Brisbane. “They said, ‘Here you go, that’s yours, go and design it.’”
He remembers the sense of pride he felt having led his first major project: “I could walk around and point it out to my mates at the pub and say, ‘I did that one.’ They’d ask what I’d done, and I’d say, ‘Everything.’ The foundations, the retention system, the columns, the walls, the core, the slabs, everything.”
Those early days, learning fast within a culture that put trust in young engineers, marked the beginning of a 30-year journey with RBG and set the tone for an outstanding career.
Growth and Global Opportunities
As the business grew, so did Simon’s responsibilities. He moved from pure design into project leadership and later business management. “Robert Bird Group has given me opportunities that aren’t always available to everyone,” he says. “Whenever I’ve said I wanted to try something new, they’ve found a way to make it happen.”
That open-minded attitude led him to London in 2012, but when visa restrictions forced a return to Australia, he joined the Sydney office at a difficult time and helped rebuild the business. “Morale wasn’t great and commercially it was a struggle,” he says. “Within 18 months we’d turned it around. The culture changed, people were energised, and we started winning major projects.”
By 2018, Simon was General Manager for Sydney, leading the delivery of landmark schemes such as Sydney Metro and Crown Sydney. But London still called. “RBG made it happen. They created a position for me in London, and I came back.”
A Lasting Connection to London
London has always felt like home. Simon’s first move to the city early in his career left a lasting impression. “When I first came to London, I fell in love with the place,” he says. “The energy, the culture, the people, it just clicked.” Over the years, work has taken him across Australia, Asia and the Middle East, but the love of London never faded. “Our heart was in London,” he says. “It’s where we wanted to be.” That connection has even extended to football. “When I was working in north London, everyone in the office supported Arsenal except one guy, Rob,” he recalls. “One night in the pub I said, ‘Right, you’re all alone, I’m with you,’ and I’ve supported Chelsea ever since.”
Merdeka 118
Among Simon’s most memorable projects, Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur stands out as a defining moment. The 678-metre tower, now the world’s second tallest building, began with a phone call. “Karl Fender called Robert Bird and said, ‘I’m submitting a competition for a tower in Malaysia. It’s going to be about 600 metres tall, and I need an engineer. I only trust you, Birdie. I need you to come and do this for me.’”
Robert reached out to Leslie Robertson in New York, forming a partnership between RBG and Leslie E. Robertson Associates that would deliver the winning design. “At that time, I was one of only three or four people in the company who had designed buildings up to 300 metres tall,” Simon recalls. “Working with Leslie, SawTeen and the team at LERA was exceptional. What they achieve with such a small, close-knit team is really impressive.”
The project marked a significant milestone in RBG’s journey and Simon’s own career. “Merdeka was an important step; it comes with a level of gravitas not many people can claim. You never know where a project will take you, or what experiences and opportunities it will give you, both professionally and personally.”
ICD Brookfield Place
Another career highlight is ICD Brookfield Place in Dubai, a Foster + Partners project for Brookfield Properties. As concept Project Director, he worked closely with Fosters and the client’s senior team.
One particular moment of engineering inspiration stands out. “I was in the cab on the way to a meeting, doing some quick calculations, and I realised the A-frame structure on four faces at the base was actually stiffer than the outrigger and core combined. We had been under pressure to remove the outrigger, and I realised we could do it. I walked in and said, ‘We can get rid of the outrigger, here’s why.’”
That spontaneous decision-making moment, which reshaped the tower’s structure, encapsulates what Simon enjoys most about the job. “To make it work, the architect had to place the columns where I needed them and make them a certain size,” he explains. “Later in the project, near the top, the client didn’t want corner columns, so I sketched an idea and said, ‘Let’s put a diagonal column from here to here, and we’ll span this out that way.’”
Simon describes these on-the-spot innovations proudly, but laughs recalling a small oversight in the excitement of it all. “What I forgot to do was call Rod in Dubai and let him know what I’d done,” he says. “The next morning he called me and said, ‘Simon, what have you done to me?’ I said, ‘Oh, sorry, we’re going to do this.’ He said, ‘I know… but you could have told me!’”.
A Culture of Collaboration
When asked what has remained the same at RBG over all these years, Simon emphasises that collaboration has always been key. “The culture of collaboration has been with RBG since the beginning,” he says. “Even when we were only twenty people, it was never about hierarchy. Everyone just pitched in and helped each other.”
That open, team-driven approach remains at the heart of the business. “From the start, RBG was never protective of its patch. If one office didn’t have the capacity, another would step in. There was never any sense of competition, just, ‘How can we help?’ That spirit has carried through the whole business.”
Simon has seen this first-hand, having worked in four offices across Australia, and the UK as well as supporting projects in the Middle East. “We’ve always been really good at working together across offices,” he says. “When I was in Sydney, we had projects that involved help from Brisbane and Melbourne. In London, I’ve had support from Dubai, Hong Kong, and the Australian offices. That ability to work seamlessly across geographies has been one of our biggest strengths. You can be in a different office, in a different time zone, working on a completely different project, but you still feel like you’re part of the same team.”
“Collaboration isn’t just about sharing work, it’s about sharing knowledge. Every time you connect with another office, you learn a different way of thinking and that’s how you grow.” This spirit of openness, he believes, is what allows RBG to consistently deliver complex projects around the world. “If you look at some of our biggest projects, such as Merdeka 118, Battersea, Westfield, Brookfield Place, Brisbane Cross River Rail and Camp Nou, none of those could have been done without offices working together.”
Lessons and Advice
A defining mantra of Simon’s career has been saying yes. “Every time an opportunity presented itself, I always put my hand up,” he says. It’s an approach that has taken him from Brisbane to Melbourne, Sydney and London, and one that he sees reflected throughout the business. “That’s kind of the RBG way – you plan to go somewhere for six weeks, and end up staying for years.”
Moving to London without any local experience pushed him to adapt quickly. “I had no idea what a British Standard was, didn’t know anything about local building practices, but I just took my knowledge, applied it, and adjusted as I went. Working with people from different cultures broadens your mind.”
His advice to someone at the start of their career? “If the opportunity is there, don’t be afraid to have a go. You’ll learn faster when you’re put in situations that push you outside your comfort zone. We all get caught up in fear of the unknown sometimes, but you’ve got to just say, ‘OK, it might not be what I’m used to, but let’s give it a go.’”
Life Beyond Work
Beyond work, family is central to Simon’s life. “Supporting my kids as they chase their own goals is what matters most,” he says. “They’ve all gone in different directions, which I think is great. You want them to find their own way, not just follow what you did.”
Simon reflects on how international travel throughout his career has been a positive influence on his children. “Moving around the world has given them perspectives they might never have had otherwise. They’re open-minded, adaptable, and they’ve seen more of the world than I had at their age.”
Outside of the office, he can often be found cycling and exploring new places. “If I can get out on the bike somewhere new, that’s my way of switching off,” he says. “One day I’d love to ride around France following the Tour at my own pace, or cycle Land’s End to John O’Groats.”
What’s Next
Three decades on from joining RBG as a fresh-faced grad, Simon still finds energy in the work. “I still get a buzz out of solving problems, bringing people together and seeing an idea take shape,” he says. “That hasn’t changed.”
Looking ahead, Simon is motivated by developing others and contributing to RBG’s ongoing growth. “For me, it’s about continuing to help the business grow and helping the next generation come through.”
He remains open to whatever comes next. “There’s always going to be a project around the corner that needs me,” he says. “It’s just about finding out what that is. That’s what makes this job so exciting.”