News

Gort Scott 15th Anniversary

Our practice is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year and we will be marking the occasion with a series of opportunities to look back at past projects and look forward to new challenges and ventures.

Watch this space for more content on our social media channels, as we explore the topics that define our interests, expertise and passions.

Metropolis Conference London-Berlin

Fiona Scott is taking part in Metropolis Conference London-Berlin on the 20th May at the Behrensbau Oberschöneweide, Berlin.

The London-Berlin conference addresses an urban planning topic which is significant to both cities: rapid change of High Streets and outer Town Centres. Over the past 15 years, London has developed various strategies to make its High Streets more urban and attractive in response to people’s changing shopping behaviour.

The panel of speakers includes Louise Duggan (Head of Regeneration London City Hall), Alpa Depani (Head of Design London Waltham Forest), and Julian Lewis (East Architecture).

Click here to join the talk.

Waltham Forest Town Hall & Civic Building Shortlisted for Pineapple Awards

Waltham Forest’s Town Hall and Fellowship Square Place, Phase 2 have been shortlisted for the Pineapple Awards in the category Creative Retrofit and Future Place. Pineapple Awards celebrate projects which initiate positive social, environmental and economic change and allow communities to thrive.

Gort Scott is the concept architect of Waltham Forest’s Town Hall which has been successfully delivered by Hawkins\Brown and Churchman Thornhill Finch. The project celebrate the history of the borough’s Listed Town Hall whilst reimagining its function and role within the local community.

As part of Fellowship Square Place, Phase 2 designed in collaboration with Metropolitan Workshop and Maccreanor Lavington, Gort Scott developed a proposal for a three-story New Civic Building which will include efficient open-plan workspace accommodating 500 council staff using a flexible neighbourhood working model.

Awards Ceremony, 6th July at Boxpark Wembley.

Mental Health Awareness Week at Gort Scott

As we reach the end of Mental Health Awareness week we want to show our support by sharing some initiatives we have applied as part of our ongoing holistic approach to wellbeing & EDI in our studio culture.

In response to employee feedback, this year we introduced mentoring to ensure everyone has someone to support and guide them in their day-to-day work and long-term career aspirations, as well as oversee their general wellbeing

To guarantee a successful mentor/mentee partnership all our mentors underwent training with Built By Us.

All employees have a mental health first aider assigned to them and we continually review our learning & development opportunities to nurture individual purpose and support career development.

We also are lucky to have our in-house social team, GS Life, who keep us connected through bike rides, pub quizzes, and the occasional rounders game.

AR Future Projects Live 2022

Join Haptic Architects, Gort Scott, Morris+Company, Turner Works, Elliott Wood, Urban Systems Design and Vill for a presentation of our winning proposal for the regeneration of Bergen’s historic ship building district.

We will illustrate our collaborative design process, inclusive approach to public space and the necessity for adaptive reuse.

Zoom event | Date: Thursday 12 May 2022 | Time: 13:00-14:00pm (BST)

Register here for free.

RICS Award Shortlist

St Hilda’s College, Oxford has been included in the shortlist for the RICS Awards 2022 which recognises inspiring and considered developments across real estate, construction and infrastructure.

St Hilda’s is a transformative development which provides residential accommodation and flexible workspaces for the college. The boundary defining Anniversary Building presents a prominent street frontage and identity, enclosing the tranquil gardens and new Pavilion which sits beside the River Cherwell.

Winners of the RICS Award will be announced on 18th May.

Architecture Foundation Walking Tour

Following on from its shortlist for the Housing Design Awards 2022, Unity Place will be playing host to an Architecture Foundation walking tour led by Alison Brooks Architects, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and Gort Scott on 25th May.

Gort Scott Associate Andrew Tam will be bringing his specialist knowledge in socially engaged placemaking to the tour, alongside Feilden Clegg Bradley’s George Wilson, as well as Alison Brooks and Nelson Carvalho of Alison Brooks Architects.

Click here to book tickets and read more about the upcoming Unity Place tour.

LAX Laksevåg Masterplan wins AR’s Future Projects Award 2022

With our friends and collaborators Londonon, we have won the Architectural Review’s Future Projects Award 2022 as well as the Regeneration & Masterplanning Award - with LAX Laksevåg project.

The masterplan proposal for Bergen’s waterfront was designed in conjunction with Londonon Collective; led by Haptic Architects, the team consists of Gort Scott, Morris+Company and Turner.Works, with Elliott Wood Partnership Ltd, Urban Systems Design and Vill.

The LAX Laksevåg plan proposes a full restoration and redevelopment of the historic shipbuilding area, with a focus on forming a creative and bustling centre for maritime industry in Bergen.

This year’s Future Projects judging panel consisted of Waltham Forest’s head of strategic planning and design, Alpa Depani; the city of Los Angele’s chief design officer, Christopher Hawthorne; and architectural writer and critic Catherine Slessor.

LondonOn Shortlisted for Oslo’s Waterfront Regeneration

LondonOn Collective has been shortlisted for a major waterfront regeneration project in Grønlikaia, Oslo.

Gort Scott, in collaboration with Haptic Architects, Mæ and Morris+Company will represent LondonOn and work alongside Useful Projects, Elliott Wood Partnership Ltd, Periscope, Neighbourhood and Tin Phan to propose a new town centre for Oslo in Grønlikaia’s container port.

This mixed-use waterfront neighbourhood is anticipated to provide employment for 3000+ people, as well as 1500 homes across the 208,000 m2 site. Social and ecological sustainability is paramount in this project which will be carving out a new cityscape alongside an existing marine eco-system.

Image: Jon Ivar Søhus

BIRDSEYEVIEW at San Mei Gallery

Gort Scott’s James Powell, along with Feral Partnerships, will be bringing BIRDSEYEVIEW to San Mei Gallery from 8th April to 21st May.

Feral Partnerships embodies a research-based practice through archive and speculative design. BIRDSEYEVIEW explores the entwined relationships of humans, birds and the city. Referencing historic buildings and traditional practices which have been lost to industrialisation, the exhibition presents the city from the vantage of bird; proposing what multi-species care and cohabitation might look like in an increasingly volatile environment.

James is a Part II Architectural Assistant and is a committed member of Gort Scott’s Environmental Action Group and Architects Climate Action Network. He has been integral to our road to Net Zero environmental seminars.

Join us all for the private view on 7th April at 6pm. RSVP for your space.

Work Progresses on Kerasia House in Corfu

Construction is underway on Kerasia House, Corfu. Inspired by surrounding traditional hilltop villages, the brief was to build a house using local materials and construction techniques whilst creating a welcoming and contemporary family space.

The house, set amongst an olive grove on a steep hillside site, has been arranged as a family of smaller buildings embedded in the topography and carefully positioned to preserve the ancient trees.

Kerasia House’s stonework walls, board-marked and concrete pergola structures are currently under construction by local tradespeople who have been employed to work with traditional techniques.

Unity Place Shortlisted for the Housing Design Awards

100% social housing project Unity Place has been shortlisted for the Housing Design Awards 2022. Gort Scott were commissioned by Brent Council, with Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and Alison Brooks Architects, to design the residential-led masterplan as part of the South Kilburn Estate Regeneration Programme.

Commissioned in 2013, Unity Place provides 235 homes, community facilities and publicly accessible play space framed by human-scaled buildings. Extensive consultations were held to develop homes specific to the place.

The Housing Design Awards celebrate the best in house design - for social housing and private housing. We are proud to have been shortlisted alongside such varied and innovative projects.

Planning Submitted for O2 Masterplan on Finchley Road

Planning has been submitted by Landsec for the O2 Masterplan Site on Finchley Road. AHMM are leading the design team for the proposed town centre mixed-use development and Gort Scott have delivered a placemaking and interim uses strategy for the site.

This strategy sets out the process and possible placemaking projects over the phased construction of the development, showing how they could evolve over time. This will play an important role in building the identity of the new neighbourhood from day-one; establishing it as a local destination through the provision of community infrastructure such as recreational, cultural and educational activities, events and built interventions. This supports the overarching masterplan vision for the scheme, to create an inclusive place that connects the communities of Finchley Road and West Hampstead. Delivering these uses to the site at an early stage will also support the health and vibrancy of the Finchley Road and West Hampstead town centres as part of the COVID recovery.

AJ Small Projects Judging Panel

For the second year running Fiona will be on the judging panel fo the 2022 Architects’ Journal Small Projects Award, alongside Pedro Gil, Eleanor Fawcett and previous winner Rashid Ali. The AJ Small Projects Award celebrates completed projects with a contract value of £299,000 and under.

Since its launch in 1996, the intention of the Award is to highlight innovative and thoughtful designs on modest budgets. The winner will be announced at an awards evening on Tuesday 6th April at Apt office in Clerkenwell.

Gort Scott Achieves Excellence in the Mayor’s Good Work Standard Initiative

We are proud to announce that Gort Scott has received accreditation as a Good Work Standard employer at Excellence level.

The Good Work Standard panel recognised our commitment to the professional development and long-term progression of our team through comprehensive training, opportunities to upskill, and performance reviews. Our flexibility in engaging employees and ensuring representation at all levels in group meetings was also noted.

We are happy to have achieved this recognition from the Mayor’s Good Work Standard initiative alongside our existing status as a Living Wage Employer.