Maximising the benefit to local communities has always been central to how we design and deliver our projects.

Our Social Value Strategy sets out how we embed this thinking into our practice — not as a compliance exercise, but as a genuine expression of how we work. It is both a practical guide for project teams and a shared statement of intent: a commitment to ensuring that every project creates meaningful, lasting benefit for people and communities.

The strategy standardises our approach across the practice, creates a baseline against which all projects can be assessed, and ensures it is applicable to every project, regardless of scale.

We are interested in asking how we can do more. One key action lies in asking better questions earlier, listening carefully, and measuring what matters. Social value is not simply an ‘add-on’ at the end of a project — it is part of how we think and what we choose to take on.

The strategy also outlines how we track progress and remain accountable, for example through Impact Reviews, which provide a structured forum to identify risks and issues relating to impacts on people and planet, while exploring opportunities to maximise social value. It also includes post-occupancy evaluation and costing social value activities as a practice investment.

Launching this strategy during B Corp Month reflects the connection between our values and our actions, and our commitment to continually improving the positive impact of our practice.
 

Sela-Jaymes Taylor has been appointed to the Oxford Design Review Panel, an independent body that provides expert design advice to support high quality development across the city. As part of the panel, she will contribute her expertise during the pre-application review process, helping to guide projects within Oxford’s sensitive and historic urban context.

Sela is an experienced Specialist Conservation Architect whose work spans complex regeneration, housing and community focused projects. She brings a strong commitment to design excellence, sustainability and placemaking. These values align closely with the Oxford Design Review Panel’s mission to promote well considered architecture, public realm and landscape design throughout the city.

She joins a multidisciplinary group of leading built environment practitioners who support thoughtful, sustainable growth and champion design quality that benefits local communities across Oxford.

We’re pleased that The Portman Estate Head Office has been shortlisted for the BCO Regional Awards 2026, in the Fit-Out category for projects up to 2,500m².

Shaped through close staff collaboration, the Marylebone workspace sets a low carbon benchmark for future commercial developments across the Estate. Low carbon and high recycled content materials – including Scandinavian redwood stud partitions, wood fibre insulation, clayboard and clay plaster – reduce embodied carbon while creating a warm, natural interior. 

The design balances openness with functionality, supporting hybrid, remote and in person working. A varied mix of spaces includes large meeting rooms, call booths and a flexible café style area suited to collaboration and events. The layout retains distant views to Hyde Park and incorporates curved corners that subtly reference the building’s Art Deco heritage.

The project was visited by the BCO Awards Judging Panel and the London Regional Awards will take place in April.

We were pleased to see One Great Cumberland Place, the new head office for The Portman Estate overlooking Marble Arch, featured on That Workplace Experience Podcast this month.

In conversation with host Dan, Michael Jones of The Portman Estate and our Associate Joe Mac Mahon discuss the values underpinning the project and the process of shaping a contemporary workplace that delivers a low-carbon, people-centred office, setting a new benchmark for sustainable commercial fit-out.

The Portman Estate project is a low-carbon workspace within a restored 1920s Art Deco building. The design reflects the Estate’s forward-looking ethos and was shaped through extensive engagement to support agile, efficient working.

You can listen to the episode via That Workplace Experience Podcast.

458 Forest Road, our project delivering 90 affordable homes for local first-time buyers with Pocket Living, is shortlisted for a RIBA London Award 2026.

Located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, on a prominent site opposite Lloyd Park and the William Morris Gallery, the project provides high-quality one-bedroom homes designed to support long-term, sustainable urban living.

Communal spaces are integrated throughout the building to nurture community and wellbeing. Residents share two roof terraces with views across Lloyd Park and a south-facing courtyard.

The positive feedback from Pocket residents is testament to how the building is meeting the needs of local first-time buyers, providing a generous and carefully crafted place to call home.

Shortlisted projects will be visited by a regional jury, with winners announced in the spring.

View the project page to read more. View the list of shortlisted projects at RIBA.org.

Our Founding Directors Jay Gort and Fiona Scott will be heading to Cannes for MIPIM next month.

Email us at [email protected] to arrange a meeting.

MIPIM, Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France
9-13 March 2026
www.mipim.com

We recently completed work on Royal Arsenal Gatehouse in Woolwich – reopening this historic gateway to the public for the first time in 30 years.

Won through invited competition in November 2021. Proposals for the Grade II listed Royal Arsenal Gatehouse in Woolwich were developed for the Greenwich Enterprise Board and the Royal Borough of Greenwich working in collaboration with LDA, Studio Weave and Turner Works. The project has been delivered as a part of wider proposals funded by the Future High Streets Fund and Woolwich’s Heritage Action Zone.

Built in 1828–9, the Gatehouse has witnessed nearly two centuries of change. When Plumstead Road was constructed in the 1970s, the building became separated from the Royal Arsenal, and security concerns eventually closed the ground floor to public access in the 1990s.

Our proposal introduces a protective ‘baldacchino’ structure through the centre of the building – a carefully considered intervention that balances security for the building’s inhabitants with the restoration of public passage through the original gateway.

Read more on the Royal Arsenal Gatehouse project page.

Gort Scott Director, Fiona Scott, is reappointed as one of the Mayor’s Design Advocates. This marks Fiona’s third appointment to the role.
 
The new Mayor’s Design Advocates (MDAs) for the 2025–2028 term includes architects, urban designers, landscape architects, sustainability experts and equality, diversity and inclusion advocates, representing diverse practices and perspectives across London.
 
The 53 MDAs bring together a wide range of professional expertise and lived experience to help shape London’s neighbourhoods, streets, and public spaces for everyone.

More information about the Mayor’s Design Advocates and the Good Growth by Design programme here.

We are delighted to share that 458 Forest Road has won Housing Project (up to £25 million) at the AJ Awards 2025. 

The project provides 90 affordable one-bedroom homes for first-time buyers in Walthamstow, sited opposite Lloyd Park and the William Morris Gallery. The judges described it as ‘exceptional’, ‘thoughtful’ and ‘beautifully crafted’.

458 Forest Road has been recognised as a 2026 Civic Trust Awards Regional Finalist. This awards scheme celebrates projects that make a positive contribution to the local communities they serve.

458 Forest Road provides 100% affordable housing for local first-time buyers in Walthamstow. Communal spaces have been thoughtfully integrated into the design to foster a sense of community and wellbeing among residents. Two roof terraces, a south-facing communal courtyard and a large, light lobby area serve as welcoming, shared environments where residents can relax, interact and socialise.

Blank flank walls at street corners have been designated for Morris-inspired murals by local artist Adriana Jaroslavsky as part of a growing street art tradition in Walthamstow. Commissioned by Hive Curates, one of these murals can be seen towards the rear of the photo.

The project will now be reviewed by the Civic Trust Awards National Judging Panel for consideration for a National Award or National Highly Commended.

We are pleased to share that Jonathan Mann, Associate and Sustainability & Compliance Lead at Gort Scott, has joined the RIBA Principal Designer Register.

Jonathan gained this accreditation through the RIBA’s rigorous assessment process, attaining the higher-level membership of ‘Principal Designer Higher-Risk Buildings’. The achievement recognises his capability to lead on health and safety and Building Regulations matters and highlights his deep technical knowledge, experience and commitment to maintaining the highest professional standards.

Since joining Gort Scott in 2020, Jonathan has led major projects across office, life science and housing sectors. He also heads our Environmental Action Group. With long-held interests in safe, inclusive, accessible and sustainable design, Jonathan engages actively with statutory and environmental compliance as a means to spreading best practice and creating a better, more responsible built environment.

This recognition reflects Jonathan’s dedication to embedding and delivering design quality across all our projects.

We are pleased to announce that our proposals for Molkenmarkt in Berlin’s historic centre have been awarded joint-first prize in a competition run by WBM - Wir gestalten Berlin and Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung. 

Our submission was the product of an enjoyable collaboration with Duplex Architekten and Kim Nalleweg Architekten, designed as a cohesive group with a similar set of elements and themes. 

The residential courtyard building, designed by Gort Scott, is situated within the urban block and responds to the different character of two courtyards. A composed rhythm of projecting and inset loggia animate ‘Gartenhof’, and provide residents with access to green space in the heart of the city. While the more urban ‘Stadthof’ is conceived on a civic scale, with a gridded access gallery acting as a privacy screen for residents. 

The competition entries will be on display in a public exhibition opening January 2026. We look forward to sharing more soon. 

Congratulations also to our shared first prize winner, blrm Architekt*innen. 

Fiona will be delivering the 2025 Peter Rice Lecture at Queen’s University Belfast. 

This annual lecture commemorates Peter Rice, the structural engineer behind some of the most significant architectural works of the 20th century such as Centre Pompidou and the Sydney Opera House. The lecture is organised by Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) School of Natural and Built Environment and QUB Architecture, with support from Arup Trust.

We hope you can join us on Tuesday 2nd December. The lecture is free to attend and tickets can be booked via Eventbrite.

Location:
QUB David Keir Building
School of Natural and Built Environment
Belfast BT9 5AG

Paul Wild has been appointed to the Hackney Design Review Panel. Paul is a long-standing member of the Gort Scott team, bringing sustainable design expertise to the review process.

Paul is a Certified Passive House Designer and brings over a decade of experience delivering complex projects for public and private sector clients across London. He is passionate about creating healthy, regenerative places that enhance the way people live, work and connect, aligning with the panel’s mission to elevate design quality across the borough.

He will join leading built environment experts to advise Hackney Council and promote sustainable and socially conscious design approaches that support thriving, connected communities across the borough.

Director Fiona Scott has been appointed to the Camden Design Review Panel, run by Frame Projects. As a member of the panel, Fiona brings her expertise to advise on new development in the Borough during the pre-application stage, ensuring design excellence guides planning outcomes. With a commitment to high-quality placemaking across London, she is proud to contribute to shaping its future as a valued expert voice on design, architecture and planning.