“I am delighted to have been selected to chair this panel. Greenwich is a borough with a rich history and great potential for the future, and I am excited to work alongside my fellow panel members to contribute to the development of buildings and places that reflect the unique character and aspirations of the community. We will promote great design that is sustainable and makes a positive contribution to the lives of people living, visiting and working in this great part of London.” - Jay Gort, founding director of Gort Scott, and chair of Greenwich Design Review Panel.

Leading built environment professionals have been appointed to provide independent, objective, expert advice on development proposals across Greenwich. With experience in architecture, urban design, landscape and ecology, conservation, transport and sustainability, the Design Review Panel comprises 24 members with a broad range of expertise with particular relevance to Greenwich. The reviews will be managed by Frame Projects.

Read more from Director at Frame Projects, Deborah Denner, via LinkedIn.

Image: view over Woolwich Town Hall, Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Directors Jay Gort and Fiona Scott have been invited to give a talk by the Temple Bar Trust next Monday 6th November at 6.25pm, at Temple Bar in Paternoster Square.

Tickets are available here.

Temple Bar is an archway building designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and was once one of the gateways to the City of London. It was originally sited at the west end of Fleet Street and re-erected in its current location adjacent to St Paul’s Cathedral in 2004.

The talk will be about some of Gort Scott’s completed projects. There will be drinks after the talk at about 7.30 in the beautiful Wren gateway building. More info on the Events programme can be found here.

Won through invited competition in November 2022, Gort Scott are developing proposals for the Royal Borough of Greenwich to sensitively convert, with a low carbon approach and best practice sustainability, the Woolwich Old Town Hall into a successful business hub.

The Council objective is to bring forward a sustainable, modern, and flexible workspace offer to support new enterprise and business hubs in Woolwich town centre, while creating more opportunities for jobs, training and skills, and support networking and joint commission opportunities.

Gort Scott recently granted planning permission for the refurbishment and remodelling of the nearby Grade 2 listed Royal Arsenal Gatehouse.

We’re delighted to reach the milestone of planning consent for Plot C at Oxford North – an ambitious new science and technology district for Oxford being developed by Stanhope, Thomas White Oxford and Cadillac Fairview. Our proposals will provide a highly flexible new laboratory building at the heart of this district, bringing care and craft to its design and role in placemaking, in creating a vibrant new destination. It has been a pleasure to work collaboratively with such an outstanding team on this transformative project.

Gort Scott ran a 1-week summer placement for two Year 12 students at London Design & Engineering UTC organised by Lendlease, in line with wider socioeconomic aspirations at Silvertown to promote STEM careers and encouraging work opportunities. The students were challenged to design a home for a young family by retrofitting a space within an existing building. Supported by mentors Edwin, Florence and Martin, the students Nicolos and Ben lead their own research and developed concepts, of which they successfully presented at Lendlease office among other students and mentors.

“Having my work experience with Gort Scott allowed me to increase my awareness of the architectural world and understand what sort of actions take place, from being given briefs that can vary very drastically, to spending days on end designing what you have been briefed on. The day to day is pretty relaxing with a lot of learning and putting practical skills to use. The environment is also very friendly. I am so glad to have had this work experience, thank you to my mentors and everyone else at Gort Scott” - Nicolos Makatsaria

Associate Jonathan Mann visited the NLA conference ‘Scales of Circularity’ this week where NLA followed up their Circular London report with an inspiring discussion on how circular London is – and could be – today.

Topics ranged from effective ways to change a whole neighbourhood on the ground (Hounslow’s Heston In The Loop) to forward-thinking structural re-use by FORE Partnership (Tower Bridge Court) and Fabrix (Roots in the Sky). Located within walking distance of our own retrofitted office, these projects show what is possible when vision and will come from the top. While we wait for the comprehensive circular sector that we need, it was an invigorating reminder that the right teams, spotting the right opportunities, can still make great leaps forward together.

Gort Scott have a growing number of circular schemes in the pipeline, pushing anything from recycled materials and demountable fitouts to potential re-use of steel frames, and explore these ideas wherever we can. Our circular urban-scale proposals (with other members of London collective LondonOn) were recently awarded a commendation in international competition ‘Circular Block – Reinventing the Mikrorayan’. We’re excited to see these sustainable principles lived out in our own neighbourhood.

Directors Jay Gort and Fiona Scott had the honour to present during the annual RIBA Lecture in the new riverside Pavilion at St Hilda’s College in Oxford.

The lecture “Resonance” included our own self-built office in Bermondsey, Three Mills Studios, St Catharine’s College, the Whistler house, and St Hilda’s College itself. Jay and Fiona presented insight into how the practice finds resonances with place and context, and how we work with the boundaries of what is existing and constantly evolving, and what is new, to make the settings for everyday spatial and social experiences.

“The beautiful evening on the riverside provided the perfect setting and illustration of our ideas about resonance. We’re grateful to RIBA and Oxford Preservation Trust for the opportunity, and as ever to all at St Hilda’s for their support.” – Director Fiona Scott

We are very pleased to be shortlisted for the AJ Architecture Awards 2023 for Three Mills Studios Studios under category Refurb Project.

The refurbished buildings at Three Mills Studios, recently visited by Mayor Sadiq Khan, support the thriving creative industries in east London.

The project brings under-used heritage buildings back into use as new spaces, and greatly improves their environmental sustainability, climate resilience and economic viability. Improving their resilience and securing their long-term future for the enjoyment of generations to come.

Winners will be announced on Wednesday 22 November at the AJ Awards at Hilton London Metropole.

Director Jay Gort will take part at the Designers’ Saturday in Oslo on the 8-10 September. Designers’ Saturday is the largest and most important meeting place for design and interior architecture in Norway.

This year’s Designers’ Saturday Theme, Collaborate, will be explored through panel discussions, live interviews, and lectures. The panel discussion includes Tina Norden, Lex Pott, Alfredo Häberli, Kristine Five Melvær and more.

You can register here to attend the event on Friday 8 September.

Gort Scott and Allies and Morrison are hosting a series of walking tours of Gateway West and Gateway Central during the Open House Festival 2023 on Wednesday 6 September and Sunday 10 September.

See inside the newest low energy workspace buildings in White City Place, an established creative and life sciences hub of London. Not ordinarily open to the public, these tours present a unique opportunity to see two complementary approaches to workplaces and amenities. The tours given by architects from both practices will offer their valuable insights into design and construction, and the surrounding area.

Project architects from Allies and Morrison and Gort Scott will lead the tour giving first-hand insight into the concept, design process and inspiration behind both projects. There will be a chance for the tour attendees to ask questions to further tap into this expert knowledge.

Book your free tickets here.

Technical Director Chis Neve is attending the RIBA Oxfordshire networking event hosted at
St Hilda’s College in Oxford on the 15^th of September.

Chris has been St Hilda’s College project lead and will be joining the building tour and talking about the process of creating a more connected and inclusive space for the college.

The event will take place on Friday 15^th September and tickets are available here.

Gort Scott have been shortlisted for Refurbishment Architect of the Year category in the Architect of the Year Awards. We are proud to have been shortlisted alongside many friends and aspirational practices.

Our commitment to refurbishment, retrofitting, and extension work is long-standing. We prioritize these practices not only to reduce embodied carbon, wastage, and energy consumption but also because they provide social benefits for occupants, the community, and our shared heritage.

Winners to be announced 17th October at the Awards ceremony at The Brewery in London.

Jay Gort and Fiona Scott have been invited by the Oxford Preservation Trust (OPT) to deliver the annual RIBA Lecture on the 5th September. With previous RIBA Lectures having been given by Alison Brooks, Jim Eyre and Niall McLaughlin; we are looking forward to becoming part of an ongoing discussion.

The lecture, “Resonance”, will include Gort Scott’s work for St Hilda’s College as well as other projects in Oxford, London and internationally.

We will present insight into how we find resonances with place and context, and respond to new ways of living, working and learning. We will discuss how we work with the boundaries of what is existing and constantly evolving, and what is new, to make the settings for everyday spatial and social experiences.

Last month, Gort Scott welcomed Lan Milne as a new BIM coordinator. As a qualified architect with experience working in architectural and MEP BIM environments, Lan will be a key member of the Integrated Technology Action Group. Having a dedicated tech-focused member of staff will allow the practice to proactively research new technological tools and integrates those within the practice’s design processes.

The Integrated Technology Action Group is looking at a wide range of innovative digital tools, such as artificial intelligence, generative design, and embodied carbon calculators. The wide range of digital tools will support the design team, inform better collaboration, and improve the integration of environmental design across all work stages.

“ I am passionate about integrating traditional collaborative design methods and the latest building information modelling technology in order optimise not only the process but also how this has an impact on delivering ambitious sustainable projects” Lan Milne - BIM coordinator.

Gort Scott took on 3 students this Summer for a one-week work experience placement in the practice. The students from Social Mobility Foundation and Old Oak West PlaceLab workshop, between 16-18 years old, are planning to apply for Architecture study at University and were keen to gain a better understanding of the industry. The students have been involved first-hand reviewing projects and attending design team meetings supported by mentors Oliver Carter, Florence Father and Megan Thacker-Brooks.

“Work experience at Gort Scott was extremely innovative and enjoyable, I was able to learn how to use many programs that I hadn’t used before such as SketchUp etc and witness the daily lifestyle of architects such as the participation in competitions, reviewing projects during meetings and much more. Overall, I really liked my time at Gort Scott and find their work extremely interesting as well as unique.” - Fatima Gohar, Social Mobility Foundation student