Isambard Kingdom Brunel, b. Portsmouth, England, Apr. 9,
1806, d. Sept. 15, 1859, designed many bridges, tunnels, and
viaducts and was one of the first to use compressed-air
caissons to sink bridge foundations into deep riverbeds. He
was also a railway builder and the designer of London's
Paddington Station. His greatest work was the design and
construction of three oceangoing steamships, each the first
of its type. The paddle-steamer Great Western (1838)
was the first transatlantic passenger steamship in regular
service; it made the Bristol-New York crossing in a
spectacular 15 days. The Great Britain (1845) was the
first large screw-driven oceangoing steamship. The Great
Eastern (1858), the largest steam vessel of its time, was
designed to make the round trip to Australia without
recoaling.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed the Great Western Railway.
Source : Grolier Multimedia Encylopedia, 1995
The "Brunel" mentioned in the song "Work" is the Brunel Centre, a shopping centre (mall) in Swindon. A picture of the centre can be found at the Swindon Visitor's Guide.
