GSSArchitecture is an award- winning, national architectural practice with five offices across the country, but with strong ties to Northamptonshire in particular. Founded in Kettering 140 years ago, with the head office still based there today, it is clear why GSS has a strong commitment to improvements within the county and wider region.
Based at the Kettering office, the Special Projects Team has a great deal of experience and expertise in logistically challenging projects, usually based on sites that remain live throughout the entirety of the project. This means that they typically have to find solutions to work on sites with restricted access, and on shorter deadlines, in order to minimise disruptions to the site.
The projects taken on by the Special Projects Team are all based around maintenance, adaption and restoration of existing buildings ranging in age. These can often include work on historic, listed buildings which can present many difficulties, and require lots of careful planning in order to not only work around the restrictions put on listed buildings, but also the restrictions of the site, whilst keeping to a tighter budget than other projects would have.
These projects can range in value and size, with some examples of past work being carried out on castles, churches, palaces, court houses, hospitals, schools, universities and private houses. The demanding nature and specialist skills needed to carry out these projects would usually make these works a lot more challenging for smaller architecture practices, especially given their lower value. However, the Special Projects Team are underpinned by the resources of the larger practice, which can draw on a wealth of experience and expertise, such as GSS Partner, William Assheton, who is an Accredited Conservation Architect, and on the register of Architects Accredited in Building Conservation (AABC), the highest qualification to be achieved in working on historic conservation.
The team are currently working on numerous projects within the region, including the refurbishment of The Hind Hotel in Wellingborough. GSS have been appointed as architects and quantity wurveyors for the project which involves restoration and repairs to the historic external fabric of the Grade II* listed building. This challenging project is being carried out whilst the hotel remains live during the entire 54-week contract, meaning the team had to develop a phased approach to the refurbishment, in order to cause minimum disruptions to the staff and guests at the hotel.
A scheme at Uppingham Community College, which involves adapting the existing facilities for disabled access, shows a common alteration that needs to be made to existing buildings, which did not require facilities such as this when they were originally designed. Planning permission has been granted for these works, which are due to start on site soon.
In addition to these schemes that are currently under way, the team have been undertaking works for numerous local churches across Northamptonshire. Alteration and restoration works have been carried out at Moulton Church, All Saints Church in Rushton and the Church of St. Mary The Virgin in Fawsley, in order to modernise the buildings, and make them more versatile places that fulfil the needs of the community. Refurbishments and alterations to buildings such as this are the types of jobs that this team specialise in, finding the best solution to allow the existing building to meet the new needs of those that use it.
If you are interested in more information about GSSArchitecture and the work carried out by their Special Projects Team, you can visit their website at www.gssarchitecture.com or get in touch via email at