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North Star Design & Build

Media & Articles.

Media coverage featuring Scott Chen, alongside his own writing on engineering, construction and the built environment.

Reporting & interviews

Media Coverage

Reporting and interviews published by media organisations, featuring Scott Chen’s engineering expertise.

Media feature

The New York Times

19 October 2025

432 Park Avenue · New York

A Tower on Billionaires’ Row Is Full of Cracks. Who’s to Blame?

Scott Chen was interviewed and quoted in The New York Times’ reporting on the structural issues at 432 Park Avenue.

Read in The New York Times

Expert commentary

ABC News

18 January 2025

McCrae landslide · Victoria

Questions raised about viability of hilltop homes after repeat Mornington Peninsula landslides

ABC News quoted Scott Chen on landslide risk on the Mornington Peninsula, including drainage, slope stabilisation and monitoring.

“Mornington Peninsula has a well-documented history of landslides.”
Scott Chen · Civil Engineer

Read on ABC News Read Scott’s follow-up analysis

Radio interviews

SBS Mandarin

Conversations with Scott Chen on building safety, structural failures and construction.English summaries · Original interviews in Mandarin

Fire & building safety3 December 2025

Building safety after the Wang Fuk Court fire

Scott discusses factors behind the rapid spread of the Hong Kong fire and the Australian approach to building safety.

Listen on SBS 17 minMandarin page & audio

Structural failures19 February 2023

Türkiye earthquake: building failures and seismic resilience

An interview on potential causes of building collapse in the Türkiye earthquake and seismic provisions in Australian building standards.

Listen on SBS 14 minMandarin page & audio

Construction planning30 March 2019

Special talkback program: Should I become an owner builder?

Scott joins a talkback discussion on the skills and practical preparation needed to take on an owner-builder project.

Listen on SBS 35 minEnglish page · Mandarin audio

Building defects18 January 2019

Opal Tower investigation: What are the ‘likely causes’ of cracking

Scott explains the preliminary engineering findings on cracking at Sydney’s Opal Tower and their implications for building quality.

Listen on SBS 21 minEnglish page · Mandarin audio

Programme & cost13 January 2019

Avoiding House and Land Package Pitfalls – Part 2: Delays

A discussion of delays, extended waiting periods and the additional costs that can arise in house-and-land packages.

Listen on SBS 12 minEnglish page · Mandarin audio

Construction contracts6 January 2019

Avoiding House and Land Package Pitfalls – Part 1: Contracts

Scott outlines contract issues to consider before paying a deposit or committing to a house-and-land package.

Listen on SBS 16 minEnglish page · Mandarin audio

Written by Scott Chen

Articles & Posts

Scott’s own analysis, professional commentary and observations from practice. Full text, figures and videos are available here.

PostScott Chen25 September 2026

Building steelwork and bridge steelwork — how different are they?

A Story Bridge tender-planning experience introduces a comparison of building and bridge steelwork, fatigue, fabrication and project-specific acceptance.

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PostScott Chen23 September 2026

Using Overseas Structural Steelwork in Australia — A Practical Compliance Roadmap

North Star’s practical roadmap connects material verification, fabrication evidence and acceptance for a particular Australian project.

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7NEWS video preview — Contractor company admits guilt over apprentice’s roof collapse death | 7NEWS

PostScott Chen16 September 2026

Engineer registration, competence and accountability

Commentary on a reported apprentice’s death considers engineering competence, registration and professional responsibility.

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PostScott Chen3 September 2026

The biggest compliance barrier to overseas prefab modular building deployed in Australia

Scott examines the verification of concealed works in overseas-manufactured modules and the inspection evidence needed for scalable delivery.

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PostScott Chen26 August 2026

Late last year, one of my clients invited me to act as their structural adviser while they tendered for the façade...

Late last year, one of my clients invited me to act as their structural adviser while they tendered for the façade recladding package of an existing Sydney data centre upgrade and expansion project. We did not win the package.…

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ArticleScott Chen19 August 2026

McCrae Landslide and Victoria’s New Planning Controls: 18 Months On

Scott revisits his ABC News comments and considers the subsequent planning response, with a focus on hazard mapping, geotechnical evidence and slope stabilisation.

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ArticleScott Chen31 July 2026

Why Young Engineers Should Not Be Leading Forensic Investigations

Forensic engineering is reverse engineering - and it is not an entry-level profession.

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ArticleScott Chen21 July 2026

Australia’s Homes Are Failing Because the Structural Calculations Are Failing

Scott examines recurring gaps in residential structural calculations, from settlement and load paths to whole-building models, and makes the case for independent peer review.

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ArticleScott Chen4 July 2026

Is Sydney Allianz Stadium Earthquake-Ready?

In late 2024, I published an article questioning whether the seismic design basis of Sydney’s Allianz Stadium had been sufficiently explained to the engineering community. Readers who are interested in the background may refer…

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PostScott Chen27 June 2026

This is a good example of why earthquake action should not be understood as a simple imposed lateral load.

This is a good example of why earthquake action should not be understood as a simple imposed lateral load. During an earthquake, ground motion excites the entire structural system. The mass of each floor generates inertia…

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ArticleScott Chen18 June 2026

Australian Employers Rejected My Resume. So I Built My Own Path.

Ten years ago, when I first arrived in Australia as a skilled migrant, I applied for almost every civil and structural engineering position I could find on SEEK and other job markets.

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PostScott Chen9 June 2026

Soft-storey failure in a Philippines earthquake

Scott’s commentary on earthquake footage examines a possible soft-storey mechanism, discontinuous load paths and the vulnerability of transfer structures.

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Scott ChenDirector & Principal Engineer · North Star Design & Build

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