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锘縏he Clerkenwell bar where we meet, round the corner from AKT II鈥檚 offices, is everything you鈥檇 expect from a part of London that has become synonymous with trendy media types and hordes of architects. But it鈥檚 not a place where you鈥檇 expect to find many engineers.

Which says quite a lot about AKT II itself, if you catch my drift. Andrew Ruck explains: 鈥淚t鈥檚 low rents, quite quirky, and it鈥檚 design orientated.鈥� 鈥淎nd,鈥� he adds, with a cheeky grin, 鈥渋t鈥檚 not Newman Street,鈥� referring to the central London road that鈥檚 the heart of the UK engineering industry.

The 鈥淚I鈥� of AKT II - the sign of its rebirth after demerging from listed engineer White Young Green last month - is possibly something everyone鈥檚 still getting used to. Gerry O鈥橞rien, who became a partner in the change, gives the official take: 鈥淲e wanted to say we鈥檙e a new company, but we鈥檙e not just three guys anymore, the staffing has changed.鈥�

But others say it鈥檒l be a while before it feels right to answer the phone with a cheery: 鈥淎KT II鈥�.

They鈥檙e clearly enjoying being free from WYG so far. William Coles says: 鈥淭he atmosphere鈥檚 changed.鈥� Andrew agrees: 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice that it鈥檚 coincided with a picking up in workload generally, so there鈥檚 a positive feel.鈥�

However, the recent increase in work proves a difficult subject to discuss in any detail. Andrew blames a huge growth in the use of non-disclosure agreements. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so much we鈥檙e doing that we can鈥檛 talk about. It鈥檚 funny because you think, these projects have to come into the public domain eventually.鈥�

One project they can talk about is David Chipperfield鈥檚 Turner Contemporary gallery, which has just opened in Margate. I ask whether there鈥檚 an element of the emperor鈥檚 new clothes about the modern minimalist starchitect? Carolina Lameiras, who worked on the project, says she was converted by the process: 鈥淚t was amazing to really understand the attention to detail that Chipperfield dictated. The way a concrete pour had to be minutely controlled to line up with the cladding. It was the details.鈥�

The shop talk then moves from the sublime to the ridiculous. It turns out that Andrew has a plan. Build a 150 mile high tower at Elephant and Castle (he admits the height is an estimate) and the orientation will allow you to turn the north bank of the Thames into a perfect sundial, and you can put marks on the bank to indicate the time. It could also be used to solve the obesity problem, he argues: overweight people can be encouraged to 鈥渞ace the clock鈥� around the banks of the river.

Far from this being a mere wistful dream of a creative engineer, Andrew says he submitted this idea to Graham King, Westminster鈥檚 planning chief, as part of a design competition. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 get taken up,鈥� he admits. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure why.鈥�