The client
Sixty years of structural concrete in Portugal
GPBE is the technical and scientific association that represents Portugal in fib, the International Federation for Structural Concrete. Founded in 1966 as GPPE, the national member of FIP, it took its current name in 1998, when FIP and CEB merged to create fib.
It brings together academics, researchers, designers, contractors and manufacturers. GPBE has organised the biennial National Meetings on Structural Concrete since 1986, publishes a book on the most relevant Portuguese concrete structures every four years, awards prizes for merit and young researchers, and hosted the fib Lisbon Symposium in 2021.
Client
GPBE, Portuguese Group for Structural Concrete
Sector
Structural engineering, professional association
Year
2026
Services
Brand identity, brand guidelines, presentation template, website design and development, members' area
Website
gpbe.pt
The challenge
A respected institution with a dated face
GPBE was approaching its 60th anniversary and preparing to host the 7th fib Congress in Lisbon in June 2026, the federation's most important event, held every four years. Its identity and website no longer reflected that standing.
Decades of content were scattered: proceedings from every National Meeting, quadrennial books, technical bulletins, awards and galleries. Membership was managed by hand, with no simple way for members to sign in, check their fees or reach the documents reserved for them.
The brief was clear: modernise the brand and build a single digital home for the community, without losing the authority and heritage that make GPBE a reference in Portuguese engineering.
Brand identity
One line that holds the structure together
The new mark takes its cue from the original 1966 symbol, a stylised beam and pier section. We distilled that structural gesture into a single red arc that reads as the profile of a prestressing tendon, the camber of a bridge deck, the curve that keeps a structure in balance.
Beneath it sits a solid wordmark set in Archivo Bold, built for clarity at any size, with the fib Portugal endorsement that anchors GPBE in its international federation.
We designed a complete system around it: a primary logo with endorsement, a compact secondary logo, full and simple symbol marks, square and round social media avatars, and monochrome versions for print and engraving. The palette pairs a confident signal red with two concrete greys.
Signal Red
#EF4345
Dark Grey
#414042
Grey
#808285
Brand applications
Guidelines and tools for everyday use
To keep the identity consistent across a volunteer-run organisation, we delivered a concise brand manual covering logo usage, colour values for print and screen, typography and clear space.
We also created a branded PowerPoint template for the board, speakers and members, ready for lectures, assemblies and international events, together with avatars and assets for GPBE's social media channels.
Website
A single home for sixty years of knowledge
We restructured the content around how the community actually uses it: who GPBE is, its young members' group GPBE-YMG, initiatives, resources, news and contacts. The homepage brings together the latest news, upcoming events, membership and the corporate members who support the association.
Built on WordPress, the site is fully responsive, GDPR compliant and easy for the GPBE team to update. Behind the clean interface sits the functionality the association needed most.
Members' area
Registration, sign in and password recovery. Members see their details and whether their fees are up to date, and access to reserved content follows their membership status.
Protected reader
fib bulletins can be read online in a flipbook viewer that blocks downloading and printing, respecting publication rights.
Document library
Downloadable collections for members, including Concrete Structures in Portugal, historic GPPE bulletins and newsletters.
Event archive
Proceedings and galleries from past National Meetings on Structural Concrete, together with the history of fib events in Portugal.
Awards
Dedicated pages for the Medal of Merit, the Young Masters Prize and the new Best PhD Thesis Prize.
Standards hub
A curated gateway to Eurocodes, Portuguese construction legislation and technical specifications from LNEC, IPQ and SILUC.
The outcome
Ready for its 60th anniversary and the world stage
GPBE now presents itself with a brand and a platform that match its reputation. Members have one place to manage their membership and reach exclusive technical content, the archive of six decades is finally organised and easy to explore, and the association celebrates its 60th anniversary ready for an international audience.
Have an institutional or scientific project of your own? Let's talk.
