News

Grand opening of St Hilda’s College development

Last week our founding directors Fiona Scott and Jay Gort were invited to speak at the grand opening of our transformative front of house project for St Hilda’s College Oxford. They were joined by project architects Chris Neve, Dominic Dudley and Joe Crawford and St Hilda’s students, tutors, staff, alumni and the Lord Mayor of Oxford - to celebrate the project, which was won through an invited design competition in 2016. Credit also goes to key team members Amy Wong and the competition team including Alan Worn and Andrew Tam.

The buildings were officially opened by four former Principals of St Hilda’s: Elizabeth Llewellyn-Smith (1990 - 2001); Lady English (2001 - 2007); Sheila Forbes (2007 - 2014) and Sir Gordon Duff (2014 - 2021). During their combined 30 years as Head of House, St Hilda’s has evolved through its buildings.

We are delighted to have helped the college realise their vision of creating a new point of arrival and a stronger relationship with river and the city beyond.

Gainsford Road shortlisted for the Waltham Forest Award

We are delighted that our Gainsford Road project has been shortlisted for Waltham Forest Awards.

The project provides 45 affordable one-bedroom homes for first-time buyers in Walthamstow, meeting the borough’s housing aspirations while making a lasting contribution to the area.
Designed to maximise opportunities for resident interaction, the entrance to the building is accessed from the street and is clearly marked by a gateway made of precast concrete elements

Alongside the awards given by the judging panel, the public will also be given the chance to vote their favourite project from the shortlist for the People’s Choice Award.

Click here to vote for Gainsford Road.
The winners will be announced in November.

The building's main elevation with a man walking past.

‘The Rock’ shortlisted for Archiboo’s ‘best use of video’ award

The short film ‘The Rock’ has been shortlisted for Archiboo’s ‘best use of video’ award. Filmed and edited by Tapio Snellman, with sound and music by Adam Lieber.

‘The Rock’ explores the eponymous private residence in the Pacific Ranges of British Columbia. The film attempts to present the building within its natural context and specific atmosphere. Rather than banking on perfect sunshine and sharp shadows, rain and fog are seen as the building’s equally integral components. The interior spaces recreate the original experience of the site, forming a powerful journey from the cavernous atmospheric basement up to light filled living areas.

The awards ceremony will take place on the 14th of October in the new Greenwich Design District.

You can watch the film, here.

Pudding Mill shortlisted for New London Awards

We are delighted that our Pudding Mill project has been shortlisted for NLA’s New London Awards.

The scheme is being designed by Gort Scott and Mikhail Richies with collaborators 5th Studio, RCKa, ZCD, JCLA, BBUK and Stantec. Pudding Mill Lane will be a thriving, new mixed-use local centre around an overground rail station. Bridgewater will be a quiet residential peninsula forming the tip of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Together, the two adjacent neighbourhoods form one masterplan delivering c.1,500 homes, c.2,000 new jobs, with shops, leisure, and new social infrastructure.

‘NLA’s annual New London Awards, presented in association with the Mayor of London, celebrate all scales of projects, from community-led to large-scale mixed-use developments, both built and unbuilt, that contribute to and enhance our vision for a New London: a city that is sustainable, civilised and egalitarian, that seeks to improve the quality and standards of new design.’

The winners will be announced in November.

Pudding Mill masterplan to replace ABBA Voyage arena

Exciting to see the latest images of the proposed ABBA Voyage arena, which will eventually be replaced by our Pudding Mill masterplan! The scheme, designed for the LLDC by Gort Scott and Mikhail Richies with collaborators 5th Studio, RCKa, ZCD, JCLA, BBUK and Stantec, is one of the last significant pieces of the Olympic legacy jigsaw.

The Rock in RUM Magazine

A copy of RUM Interior Design magazine has just landed on our desk - it includes a great feature on The Rock.

‘Some are not afraid of complexity: On the contrary, they see it as an opportunity to make something extraordinary. Both the homeowner and the architects of this home fall into this category. The former organized a competition to find the perfect match for his vision - a rare process for a private project. The latter, London-based practice Gort Scott, didn’t hesitate to cross the Atlantic, despite having no contacts and no former experience in this part of the world. The result was nothing short of unique.’

Shumaita joins us for her work experience placement

We really enjoyed having Shumaita in the office last week! She is one of the secondary school students who are joining us this summer, as part of the SocialMobility Foundation (SMF) mentoring programme.

During her time at the practice, Shumaita helped to design a free-standing unit for our meeting room, to create a new living/working space. She also joined Jay and Andrew on a site visit to Gort Scott’s housing scheme in South Kilburn, which is due to be completed at the end of summer.

Fiona appointed as HS2 Independent Design Panel member

Our founding director Fiona Scott has been appointed as one of 16 new HS2 Independent Design Panel members, alongside Glenn Howell’s Dav Bansal, Perkins & Will’s Asif Din, We Made That’s Nisha Kurian and D.U.P’s David Ubaka.

The HS2 Independent Design Panel was set up in 2015, at the request of the Department for Transport, to provide professional expertise and advice to HS2 Ltd. ‘The panel helps ensure that, through great design, HS2 delivers real economic, social and environmental benefits for the whole country.’

Sadie Morgan, co-founder of dRMM and chair of the design panel, said: ‘We are delighted with the fantastic response from across the design and construction industries, having received over 100 applications to join the panel. It is important that the HS2 Independent Design Panel continues to evolve, bringing in fresh perspectives. We have strengthened the panel’s diversity and adjusted the mix of skills it includes to meet the needs of this stage of HS2 Ltd’s design work.’

Ewa to judge this year’s Archiboo Awards

Gort Scott’s Ewa Effiom will be judging the Archiboo Award’s Best Use of Video category, alongside Clare Hughes and Laura Mark. The awards are now in their sixth year and recognise architects’ and consultants’ creative expression in the digital space.

In other exciting news, Ewa recently wrote about sustainability in his home town of Brussels for Wallpaper* Magazine. The subject of the piece is Tour & Taxis, a former mail facility that has been reimagined as an eco-led quarter.

You can read the full article, here.

South Kilburn Estate part of Open House London Festival

A walking tour of Unity Place, the latest phase of Brent Council’s twenty-year South Kilburn Regeneration, is a part of this year’s Open House London Festival’s programme of events.

Gort Scott, alongside Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Alison Brooks Architects and Grant Associates were commissioned by the council to design a residential-led masterplan, framing a neighbourhood park in the context of Grade I listed St Augustine’s Church. The scheme offers 100% affordable housing. Within this masterplan, Gort Scott designed a residential block, which provides 50 new homes. This significant new residential provision aims to activate a new neighbourhood area of London.

Read more about the tour and book your tickets here.

The tour will take place on Sunday 12 September at 2pm.

Pudding Mill masterplan shortlisted for AJ Awards

We are delighted that our Pudding Mill masterplan has been shortlisted for this year’s AJ Architecture Awards.

The scheme, designed by Gort Scott and Mikhail Richies with collaborators 5th Studio, RCKa, ZCD, JCLA, BBUK and Stantec, is one of the last significant pieces of the Olympic legacy jigsaw.

Pudding Mill Lane will be a thriving, new local centre around an overground rail station, delivering c.900 homes and 36,000sqm of employment space. The new neighbourhood will also provide 40% affordable housing.

This year’s AJ Architecture Awards judges include Tamsie Thompson of RIAS, Kirsten Lees of Grimshaw, Eva Jiricna and Kunle Barker. The winner will be announced on the 17th of November.

Epic Iran on BBC2

Tonight, ‘Epic Iran’ will feature on BBC2’s ‘Secrets of the Museum,’ a behind the scenes look at the V&A - showing the work of its curators and conservators.

The episode shows the extensive conservation works and installation of ten-meter-long replicas of the painted interiors of mosque domes from central Iran, dating from the 1850s and created by local Iranian craftsmen.

The three hanging gores are a key element of the exhibition, together with a suspended animation created by Luke Halls Studio, which shows how the pattern replicates on the original shape of the dome.

‘Epic Iran’ is open until the12 September 2021.

Welcome Shivani and Robin!

We are excited to have Shivani Suthar and Robin Simpson join us for their work experience placements.

Shivani completed her Part 1 in Architecture at Oxford School of Architecture, graduating in 2021. During her final year of undergraduate studies, she investigated ‘how strengthening an existing form of sustainable infrastructure, the canal, can help reduce the social stigma that currently exists between the canal boat community and locals.’ At Gort Scott, Shivani is using her understanding of placemaking, sustainability and context-led design to work on the Oxford Covered Market masterplan for Oxford City Council.

Robin has been with us for the last three weeks as part of a shared placement with Free Haus Design to broaden his experience and understanding of practice. He has been helping with delivery of stage 4 visuals as part of the Three Mills Studios regeneration project as well as using previous experience in helping to specify materials. Robin is currently in the final year of his Part I at London Met and has been working with Farsight.ai and artist Lawrence Lek as a digital artist and world builder. He recently won an award as part of London Met Accelerator - Big Idea Tech category for his Open Art digital galleries project and will be delivering his first exhibition with curators Thorp Stavri later this year.

Jon and Paul become Certified Passive House Designers

Congratulations to Gort Scott’s Jonathan Mann and Paul Wild who are now Certified Passive House Designers!

‘The course is aimed principally at building professionals in the UK and prepares delegates for taking the Certified European Passivhaus Designer qualification. It introduces the principles behind the Passivhaus standard and methodologies and the use of the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP) for achieving low energy performance, with teaching firmly based on UK building examples. The AECB CarbonLite Programme is designed to prepare delegates not only for the exam but for future involvement in very low energy building projects.’

Announcing our new Associates

Congratulations to Jonathan Mann, Sela-Jaymes Taylor and Andrew Tam, who have recently become Associates at Gort Scott, joining our Senior Team.

Fiona and Jay said: “Sela and Jon joined us last year, both very talented designers with experience at all project stages, seeing their projects built. Sela brings an emphasis on heritage and conservation, Jonathan in environmental design. Andrew has been with Gort Scott for over 8 years and brings acute design sensibility, great care and precision to all our endeavours. They are all uniquely talented, skilled and dedicated architects and their senior roles as part of the team at Gort Scott are hugely valued. They join existing Associates Alan Worn and Joseph MacMahon, Associate Director Susie Hyden and Technical Director Chris Neve as our heroic senior management super team. Thank you, guys.”