THIS year, GSSArchitecture turns 140 years old after being established by John. A. Gotch in 1879. Throughout the year, Partners and staff at GSSArchitecture are celebrating this achievement as one of the oldest established architecture practices in Northamptonshire and the UK.
GSSArchitecture has grown from a small business set up in Kettering into a thriving national architectural practice with offices across England to cover the whole of the UK including Harrogate, Gloucester, Milton Keynes and Newcastle.
In our 140th year, GSSArchitecture will be hosting a variety of different events in all of the regions in which we have offices including celebratory events and more informative events with the local communities. All of our Partners will also be taking this opportunity to focus on what they are looking forward to over the next 12 months and highlight their proudest moment at the practice so far.
For our first column, Anna McTaggart, Partner at GSSArchitecture who has been at the practice for nearly seven years, reflects on her past projects and is excited about the future:
I started at GSSArchitecture in 2011 after seeing the quality of the projects produced by the practice as well as its ethos. GSS is big enough to deliver large projects whilst at the same time everyone knows each other and works as one big team.
Growing up, I was always interested in design and buildings. I studied at Edinburgh University, graduating in 1994 then went on to work in Glasgow, moving to work in London in 2003 before choosing to work closer to home in Bedfordshire after having my children. Before joining GSS I had gained a lot of experience on university scientific research facilities and primary, secondary and further education architecture projects.
Although all of the projects I have worked on provide a sense of achievement and I am proud to design buildings that will stand the test of time. One of our current projects for Newcastle University makes me particularly proud. It is for a new £50m teaching and learning building that combines collaborative working areas, open access study and research facilities.
I am delighted to be a Partner at GSSArchitecture for its 140th year to celebrate the great designs we deliver and how we work hard to fully understand our clients’ needs to ensure that all construction issues, programmes and budgets are considered to deliver affordable and sustainable buildings. All of this while we continue to invest in our future workforce by offering them opportunities to gain experience in multi-million pound projects and support their post graduate qualifications in all offices.
We have great people and I enjoy coming to work every day and working as one team, with our consultants, clients and contractors. I am looking forward to helping to shape the future of the practice together with the other Partners, growing the practice and investing in our people.
For more information about GSSArchitecture visit www.gssarchitecture.com or call 01536 513165.