Starting in practice on my own hadn’t been a long term plan and was very much driven by my circumstances back in 2010. Not to say that starting a practice wasn’t an aspiration, but I always saw myself partnering with a like minded Architect to share the challenges of running a small, young practice. The last seven years have been hugely rewarding yet, as a sole practitioner, they have also been extremely challenging.
I’ve been fortunate over the years to have had the assistance of, and collaborated with, some great people.
Alan MacDonald helped me hugely in the first years and was part of the team that achieved planning for the Burrows and achieved a shortlisting in the 2013 Self Build on a Shoestring competition, both of which have opened many more doors and started lots of valuable conversations as the practice has grown. We also continued to collaborate on the design of Alan’s parents’ house in Oakham which has recently completed.
More recently, Julie Maxwell has been a constant for the last two years of getting more projects built, including Park Road and Grindle Cottage, dealing with contractors and contracts and generally being busier and busier. This year she will be working hard and using her expertise to take Hen House, Stringer House Lane and Bank Head through to completion.
Monika Klavins, although having just left to travel, has also been a hugely valuable member of the team.
Since 2012 the S1 Design Collective has also been a valuable constant and resource. It’s great to be able to talk to other like-minded pracitioners, to meet regularly and to collaborate on projects. Every small practice needs something like this.
And then to our news; I’ve felt increasingly like I need to share my business with someone so that I’m not spread so thinly between my clients and so that we can continue to offer the very best possible service that we always strive for, but continue to grow. So, I’m delighted to announce that Alan has agreed to rejoin the practice after 4 years away. He’s joining as a 50% shareholder and director and I’m so pleased that he’s made the decision to become part of the team at such an exciting time for the practice.
2017 is definitely turning out to be another busy year. Yet again we find ourselves in the fortunate position where we have some exciting projects for fantastic clients at a range of different scales. We’re excited about the future, growing the business and maintaining our consistently high standards across even more fantastic projects. Thanks to everyone that has supported us so far, we look forward to your support during the next, exciting stage of the practice’s life.
