One of the privileges of leading a global business with 115 offices is seeing the world from many perspectives.
What continues to surprise me is how often these different points of view reveal the same underlying challenges.
With more than 4,600 people across 35 countries, RLB sees these challenges unfold every day.
Whether we’re delivering a data centre in Europe, a radio telescope in Australia or a city-shaping development in China, we return to the same questions: how do we create value, manage uncertainty and make the right decisions for our clients and communities?
That’s what the 2026 edition of Perspective explores. Across every region, our contributors examine how better decisions shape projects long before construction begins. From procurement to public art, artificial intelligence to adaptive reuse, the landscapes shift but the lessons repeat.
This year we’ve refreshed Perspective itself. Each contribution has been chosen because it offers a distinct idea, a practical lesson or a fresh take on a familiar challenge. Together, these insights reflect the breadth of thinking across our global business.
At RLB, we talk about being a firm where people make progress. To me, progress isn’t simply measured by taller towers or smarter technology. It’s measured by the confidence of our clients, the partnerships that turn ambition into achievement, and the places we create together for generations to come.
I hope these perspectives give you pause and perhaps inspire a few new perspectives of your own.
PERSPECTIVE INSIGHTS
Where are the cranes moving? Following the next boom
Cranes are often seen as economic weathervanes, signalling shifts in investment patterns and reflecting market confidence and development activity before broader trends become evident in economic data. Drawing on perspectives from RLB experts across more than a dozen cities, we…
The proof is in the performance: How sustainability is changing real estate decisions
After years of setting targets, applying frameworks and announcing commitments, the sustainability conversation in real estate is changing. Heather Evans looks at what the latest evidence tells us about performance, procurement and the persistent gap between ambition and delivery. Real…
Data centre projects can’t run on hindsight
Data centre schedules are too often used to explain what has already happened. Their real value lies in testing what could happen next. 50–70% of hyperscale and colocation data centre programs can be driven by long-lead mechanical, electrical and plumbing…
The simultaneity premium: Holding cost certainty when everyone wants the same megaproject
The biggest challenge facing today’s megaprojects isn’t cost escalation. It is the hidden cost of delivering multiple megaprograms that all compete for the same people, equipment and infrastructure at the same time. Construction has never received so many project requests…
The dynamic cost model: Separating automation from assurance
Live cost models promise instant visibility as designs evolve. But if the underlying information is still uncertain, the technology doesn’t create certainty. It simply updates uncertainty faster. The dream of a live cost model is compelling: designs evolve, quantities update…
Treat AI like an apprentice
AI can model in seconds what once took weeks. But can it build a reliable construction schedule? The answer depends on who is teaching it. 30% of construction professionals cite poor data quality or availability as a significant barrier to…
Priced by the metre, valued by the goosebump
A 13-metre-long installation of 832 precision-cut mirrored steel blades. Eleven eagle rays, each over 2.8 metres wide, stitched together with 6.5 kilometres of fishing line. One psychedelic lion, 15.4 metres high and 18.7 metres wide. As a quantity surveyor, I…
The Commercial Twin: The missing layer in digital construction
Digital twins can tell us what is being built. But what about the commercial story unfolding around it? RLB proposes the Commercial Twin: a new way to connect cost, program, procurement, risk and decisions as a project evolves. 5D building…
When easy answers make curiosity harder to replace
AI can be a productivity powerhouse, but we should be careful not to replace critical thinking with convenience. The value of professional expertise lies not in accepting easy answers, but in applying judgement, experience and context to determine whether those…
The value equation: From measuring costs to shaping decisions
The greatest value on infrastructure projects is often created before construction begins. That changes the role of the quantity surveyor from cost manager to strategic advisor. The quantity surveyor (QS) has traditionally been perceived as the custodian of costs –…
A thousand design possibilities: One extraordinary piece of Hangzhou
There are centuries between the ideas that shaped Westlake 66. A 14th-century landscape painting provided its design inspiration. Ancient waterways shaped its cultural and physical context. And advanced computational tools helped translate those ideas into a contemporary piece of Hangzhou.…
Breaking the fixed-price myth
When volatility is no longer the exception, the most urgent question is whether our contracts evolve quickly enough to reflect that reality. On 28 February 2026, many contractors across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) woke up to a radically different…
The show must go on: Venue construction planning around costs, schedules and crowds
Sports and entertainment venues have seasons, touring commitments, ticket holders and revenue that must keep moving. So how do you rebuild the stage when the show must go on? Missing a project deadline in commercial real estate may mean dealing…
Playing the long game: Everton’s new stadium changes more than the match-day experience
Few construction projects capture people’s imagination and attention like a major new sports stadium – and Everton Football Club’s iconic Hill Dickinson Stadium is no exception. RLB played a pivotal role in the delivery of this world-class landmark venue, which…
Listening to the universe: The construction challenge behind the world’s largest radio telescope
The $3 billion Square Kilometre Array is designed to detect faint signals from space. The challenge? Building the infrastructure behind it without creating signals of its own. Around 800 kilometres north of Perth in Australia, on the ancestral lands of…
Case reopened: Every demolition reveals another surprise
A 50-year-old office tower was never going to give up its secrets easily. Every wall opened during its conversion into Phoenix’s new police headquarters revealed another surprise. So how do you budget and plan for the unknown? When the City…
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