Wilem Frischmann

Centre Point is one of the best known landmarks in London. He championed an innovative use of high-quality pre-cast concrete in its design. The external columns have specifically designed joints to provide continuity in the structure to prevent progressive collapse and it was constructed without any external scaffolding. As well as being the tallest building built with prefabricated elements, Centre Point was the first building using large diameter piles in London Clay. He carried out extensive testing of the distribution of loads by friction and bearing to estimate the settlement of the building. The resulting paper earned the IStructE Research Diploma. In 2009 it won First Prize in the Mature Structures category at the Concrete Society Awards.

Before the Ronan Point collapse in 1968, Frischmann had already expressed his concern in the structural characteristics of non-continuous prefabricated buildings. After the event, he was appointed by the Treasury to write a report. He also appeared on David Frost's television show, to demonstrate why Ronan Point had collapsed.

He joined C. J. Pell & Partners in 1958, becoming a partner in 1961, and the Chairman in 1968. In October 2015, it was announced that Frischmann would be stepping down from his role as Chairman to take on an advisory role to the incoming chairman Jürgen Wild.

Wilem William Frischmann, CBE, FICE, FIStructE, FREng (born 27 January 1931) is a British engineer, the former chairman of the internationally recognised firm of consulting engineers Pell Frischmann and generally considered to be one of the foremost engineers of his generation due to his reputation gained on technically ground-breaking developments including Centre Point, Tower 42 (formerly National Westminster Tower) and Drapers Gardens.

Wilem Frischmann was born on 27 January 1931 in Ungvar (now Uzhhorod, Ukraine) which was then in Czechoslovakia. He survived the Holocaust and came to England as a refugee at the age of 15. He attended the Hammersmith College of Art & Building and the Imperial College – University of London. He obtained his PhD degree from City, University of London.