Ruben’s family is full of creative people – clothes designer, painters, and an Architect. During his younger years, Ruben and his older cousin would endlessly play with Lego. His cousin enrolled into architecture school and from that moment on Ruben’s love for architecture grew. However, he’s always been fascinated with how geometries are put together and built, and that’s why he chose engineering as his career instead.

Ruben grew up and studied in Portugal. After graduation he moved to London and became SD’s employee No.1! One of Ruben’s first projects at SD was Inside Out House with Mustard Architects, and it’s still a favourite of his. His career has seen him work in the UK, Australia, and Portugal. His experiences have taught him that structural engineering is so much more than calculations. Ruben has bounds of enthusiasm for his projects, an acute attention to detail, and finds real joy in collaborating closely with his client, design and site teams.

Outside of the world of SD you’ll often find Ruben on a surfboard. He’s been surfing since his teen years and sees it as an expression of his personality and a balancer of his well being. Surfing has been a key driver for Ruben to explore the world and his search for the best waves has taken him all across Portugal and the UK, to Indonesia, Australia, Africa, and most recently to Central America.