In 2015, Western Australia’s legendary windsurfing beaches drew Matteo Tirapelle to the state, thousands of kilometres away from Ferrara in Italy. His quest to windsurf off the world’s best beaches meant that he landed in Perth and stayed put, establishing Hera Engineering and in the process, creating one of WA’s most innovative and successful building structural consultancies.
“I’m proud to look back to Hera’s humble beginnings,” says Matteo, choosing to name his company after the Greek goddess of women. “I bankrolled the company with my personal savings to get it off the ground, creating my own business model and staff culture, with the goal to deliver quality over quantity”
Within a year, Hera had won its first multi-million dollar project – the WA Museum Boorla Bardip, creating a track record for delivering some of the biggest marque construction projects in Australia. Other developments – all with a key superlative which defines them - include The One Residence (the tallest building in Queensland), High Society (the tallest building in ACT) and The Switch (the tallest residential build in WA).
Matteo’s vision to create a practice with ‘relentless creative thinkers, who step outside the square to deliver inspiring structural engineering solutions’ has proved to be more successful than he could have possibly hoped. Just seven years after swapping windsurfing in favour of engineering, Hera Engineering scooped two prestigious Business News RISE Business Awards – WA Business of the Year and Small Business of the Year.
“I believe the company has only thrived because it challenged the status quo, by offering smarter engineering solutions which focus on creativity and innovation,” he says. “It results in buildings which use fewer materials and are more economical to construct.”
With a high-performing team who ‘never settle for easy answers’, Hera has been involved in gold-standard residential builds like Blackburne’s ONE Subiaco and The Grove in Perth, as well as Queen Wharf in Brisbane.
“We use bold and ambitious thinking to raise the bar in engineering excellence,” says Matteo. “No matter how complex the challenge may be, we solve problems with good judgement, ingenuity and innovation, delivering cutting-edge sustainability and unheralded cost-efficiency to every project we work on.”
As the COVID pandemic began to affect Australia, Hera pivoted and won major transport and infrastructure projects. They are working on Lakelands Train Station and the new state-of-the-art Perth Transport Operation Control Centre in East Perth, an addition to Hera’s transport portfolio which also includes upgrades to Perth Underground, Elizabeth Quay and Claremont station. They’ve also branched out regionally, working on bridges in Karratha and other infrastructure projects.
Engineering is experiencing an exciting period in the spotlight, with projects pushing the boundaries of what’s possible more and more often.
“At Hera, we make the impossible possible, through engineering mastery and unyielding curiosity,” says Matteo. “We’ve built a team of high-impact superstars who approach engineering with innovation, passion, honesty and wisdom, working alongside tight-knit complementary teams and productive partnerships.”
It’s all about being ‘conscious engineers’, as Matteo expresses it. The kind of engineers who are not afraid to tackle environmental and social challenges, and face them with a genuine passion and commitment on behalf of each client’s brief.
“We encourage and reward visionaries who doggedly seek smart, creative and sustainable engineering solutions,” says Matteo. “We couldn’t have succeeded without our incredible team and the support and confidence of our loyal clients, who believe in what we can do and have given us the opportunity to excel.”
Visit hera.net.au
