Engineers, thinkers, designers, creators.
Fast + Epp is an internationally recognized structural engineering firm with a team that prioritizes creativity and simplicity. Our proud history spans over three decades, with successfully completed work of all types and scales. We enjoy work with a high premium on structural expression; all challenges new and old are welcome.
Our firm has been involved with an extensive variety of public and private projects around the globe. Whether residential, commercial, institutional, or transit projects – all attest to our commitment to clever, practical design, and a meticulous attention to detail.
At 150+ employees, we have a diverse set of skills with experience in all primary structural materials. We have become adept at combining materials to create unique structures and strive to add value whenever possible by taking a holistic approach to problem solving. We believe a successful project is one where the structural form enhances the primary function.
At Fast + Epp, we strive to manifest our core purpose and values in all we do.
“To advance structural design and propel architectural imagination.”
Be curious; challenge convention.
Be humble; collaborate with respect.
Be honest; act with integrity.
Be exceptional; provide outstanding service.
Carbon emissions caused by human activities significantly contribute to the rapid change of our planet’s climate. We recognize the urgency to address this issue and the large impact we can have by reducing the impact of the construction industry.
At Fast + Epp, we are dedicated to learning, implementing, and sharing the best design practices to reduce the carbon emissions associated with buildings. We commit to measure and reduce the structural embodied carbon in our designs and contribute to the industry’s ultimate goal of achieving net zero embodied carbon buildings by 2050.
Working from a blank sheet of paper, we begin most projects by asking questions and by listening to our clients. Our solutions most often emerge from specific project constraints – sustainable design objectives, function, budget, aesthetics, and a harmonizing of all other disciplines.
We do not work to the exclusion of any material, method, or team. Our priorities are to the client, the team, the environment, and its people. We help create a safer, more efficient, and more sustainable construction industry by designing structures that are easy, fast, and economical to build.
Our Organizational Quality Management (OQM) certification by Engineers & Geoscientists BC formally recognizes our firm’s commitment to quality management and assurance – exemplifying our delivery of the highest level of excellence across our services.
We first opened the doors of our consultancy in Vancouver, Canada in 1985, and this vibrant city continues to be home for our head office. Since then, we’ve expanded across North America to New York, and Seattle while maintaining a strong presence in Europe through our Germany offices, established in 2010. Our Digital Office is our virtual hub that transcends boundaries, supporting the best international talent and fostering global collaboration.
Having gained experience at two prominent Vancouver structural design firms after university, Paul Fast hung his own shingle at the ambitious age of 28. His work on landmark projects for EXPO ’86 charted the course for his fledgling company, along with a strong spirit of adventure and creativity.
Two years later, Gerald Epp (a fellow classmate from the University of British Columbia’s 1981 graduating class), left his position at Geiger Associates to join Paul in this new endeavor. What followed was a decades-long partnership between two engineers, both dedicated to the design of unique structural forms.
From 1987 to 2014, Paul and Gerald worked together to expand the firm and enjoyed many years of well-rooted and steady growth. In 1998, Gerald started a design-build company, StructureCraft, bringing many of Fast + Epp’s ambitious timber projects to fruition. In 2014, the partners decided to entirely separate the business interests of the two companies, with Gerald’s full focus shifting to StructureCraft, and Paul’s full focus remaining on Fast + Epp.
In an effort to cross-pollinate with the best of Europe’s cutting-edge technologies, Fast + Epp opened a branch office in Darmstadt, Germany in 2010, which has gained a solid reputation in the European market. With the continuous growth of Fast + Epp Germany, a second office was opened in Stuttgart in 2021. In 2016, US branch offices were opened in New York, NY and Seattle, WA to better serve our flourishing project bases.
In June 2023, the firm announced the appointment of Robert Jackson and Tobias Fast as Partners, alongside Founding Partner Paul Fast and Germany Partner Jochen Stahl. The expanded partnership broadens and diversifies the firm’s leadership and reflects the company’s desire to ensure a proficient and dynamic succession.