Benjamin Higgins is the founder and principal structural engineer of Higgins Designs, an Austin-based practice focused on architecturally ambitious residences, hospitality projects, adaptive reuse, and technically challenging buildings.

​

Trained in both structural engineering and architecture, Benjamin is most engaged by projects that do not have an obvious answer. He works closely with architects and builders to develop structural systems that preserve the clarity of the design while remaining practical to detail, construct, and maintain. His work frequently involves expressive steel framing, long spans, open interiors, complex renovations, difficult foundation conditions, unconventional geometry, and materials outside standard residential construction.

​

Benjamin has practiced since 2012. Early in his career at EMG, he performed approximately 500 commercial building assessments, ranging from low-rise properties to high-rise towers. Seeing such a wide range of buildings in service gave him an unusually broad understanding of how structures age, how deficiencies develop, and how decisions made during design and construction affect long-term performance.

Before founding Higgins Designs, Benjamin served as a project manager with FORT Structures and SEC Solutions, where he led structural design for custom residential, commercial, hospitality, foundation, and existing-building projects throughout Central Texas. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Architecture from Clemson University.

​

His approach begins with the architectural idea, followed closely by the realities of construction. Rather than forcing a familiar structural system onto every project, Benjamin studies the load path, geometry, material behavior, sequencing, and detailing to find the solution that belongs to the building. He enjoys the back-and-forth of early design—sketching through possibilities, testing assumptions, and finding the point where architecture, structure, and construction align.

​

Higgins Designs is intentionally principal-led. Benjamin remains directly involved in structural concept development, critical calculations, detailing, coordination, and construction-phase problem-solving. Architects and builders work directly with the engineer making the decisions, allowing complex issues to be addressed collaboratively and without unnecessary layers of communication.

​

Outside the office, Benjamin organizes a weekly Austin chess club. He is also a cancer survivor, an experience that shaped his perspective and reinforced the importance of persistence, community, and making meaningful use of his time.

​

Higgins Designs is best suited to projects where structure matters—where the architecture is demanding, the site or existing building presents uncertainty, or the design requires more than a standard answer.