I began to appreciate the effect of spatial context on demeanour in my late teens, that my environment was often the subtext to my mood. I understood that the majority of my memories focused on the spaces in which they were created. To me this implied a sensitivity to space’s defining features – the language of space, and that I might consider a degree in architecture.
I was awarded my RIBA part I – Bachelor of Building Science degree in 1992 and won regional first place in the Facades Design Competition sponsored by Everite, I was motivated and confident. My first working holiday was spent in a small architectural practice called The Line Company, before starting my RIBA part II - Bachelor of Architecture, without the customary year out.
In 1994, my final year of study, I began working part time for Mark Wagner Architecture. The principal, a design tutor in my third year, had approached a few students to provide backup for his permanent staff on larger projects. In reality, it required a commitment of 2 days a week for the last few months of my part II. Upon completion of my second degree, the office sponsored my AutoCAD training and I commenced full time employment.
In August 1995, after a year at the Mark Wagner Architecture, I decided to move on to gain varied experience in anticipation of my planned move to London the following year. Namibia had experienced similar growth in the years since its independence and architects and assistants were being offered impressive salaries to lure them away from South Africa. I was one such import, eager and willing in the knowledge that this contract would pay for my move to London.
Architext Inc. was practice with a strong design ethic and my role was in support to one of the three partners for all new projects that came into the office, to the end of the schematic design phase. I was exposed to the Mac environment for the first time using ArchiCAD and took the opportunity to explore 3D CAD for the first time.
I had been planning my move to London for what seemed like a lifetime, I had been reading international journals of architecture for too long without actually being able to experience these spaces for myself. The efficiency of the construction industry and the technical sophistication of its buildings was of great interest to me.
My first London contract was with Andraos Hampson Associates, in Chiswick, where I found an interesting mix of culture and age. The work experience was genuinely rewarding and I found myself, once again, working long hours. I soon realised the industry was not all that different to what I had experienced in Africa although the materials and services available to architects were more varied and sophisticated in the United Kingdom. After 8 months at Andraos Hampson, the practice ran into financial difficulty and the staff was forced to seek employment elsewhere.
In the spring of 1997, after a 5 month contract at Chetwood Associates producing Design Briefs for Sainsbury’s Supermarkets and service counters, I moved on to the Sidell Gibson Partnership where I was offered great opportunity, from the very beginning.
My first project was was the new Reuters financial headquarters in Geneva. I was responsible for preparing statutory approval or planning application drawings – elevations and sections, for an existing design. The experience taught me advanced AutoCad and production techniques and advanced my CAD technical skills immeasurably.
I passed the professional practice exams at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in the spring of 2000. By the time I qualified, I had experience of various construction packages as package leader/manager on high profile projects (most notably Woolgate Exchange ) and had advanced to a position of design architect responsible at the front end, conceptual stages of design and planning of large commercial and mixed use developments such as Northgate, a 930,000 sq.ft £100m, mixed use development, in Hackney, East London.
Phase I of PaddingtonCentral by Development Securities was approximately 1,000,000 sq.ft of real estate comprising two multi-level office and two multi-level residential buildings, retail, leisure & public amenities. The development offered me my first project architect role for three separate stand alone structures – a management facility for phase I and future phases, a free standing retail building which was to be leased and fit out by Starbucks, and a pedestrian bridge linking the PaddingtoCentral to Little venice over the Grand Union Canal.
At the completion of the PaddingtonCentral projects, with site and construction administration experience gained, I began to focus on design once again and was involved at the early concept design phases of One Snow Hill in Birmingham for Ballymore Properties, the redevelopment of the Mondial House site adjacent to Canon Street station, Sackville House on Fenchurch street for Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and One New Change for Land Securities.
Just as the One New Change project was underway, before the involvement of Jean Nouvelle, an attractive opportunity presented itself to work in Bermuda. The decision to leave Sidell Gibson meant a lost opportunity to work with Ateliers Jean Novell on what was to be an award winning project enjoying international acclaim.
Terceira Quarterly was a small office that offered an impressive salary package with the exchange rates of 2003, where the work was refreshing in its variety. The major project in the office at the time, for which we were hired, was a spectacularly large home for a previous premier of the island and her film producer husband.
The design of the home was already well advanced in close collaboration with the clients and I was given the responsibility of designing a guest cottage in the grounds of the main home and managing the design & production information for an equally spectacular swimming pool complete with underground slide, secret cave and jacuzzi which was set against a vast, planted faux rock backdrop complete with waterfall.
After two years at Terceira Quarterly, I left the practice to seek opportunity at the larger operation of Cooper Gardner, who had recently won the commission to design the new HSBC headquarters. I started at Cooper Gardner in the spring of 2006, just after a modern design for HSBC had been denied planning permission due to insensitivity to its historic setting.
The challenge was to produce an aesthetic to a mass that was more sympathetic to its context, a task that proved challenging. The solution was to present a historic vernacular, pedestrian scaled facade to the historic context of Front Street, with significant terracing above, to mitigate the perception of the 100,000 sq.ft modern building behind. The building extended the full depth of the street block and offered the opportunity to express a more modern aesthetic to the rear, less historic Reid Street.
The Orbis commission was won in a closed competition and, also in the historic precinct of Front Street, was subject to very similar restrictions on aesthetics and massing, whilst enjoying greater freedom on its rear, park elevation. The smaller building of 50,000 sq.ft, with smaller floor plates, enjoyed the potential of spectacular views from both front and rear facades, from a single vantage point.
Cooper Gardner secured the opportunity to collaborate with specialist airport design architects HNTB to design of the island’s interface with the new airport. I was charged with the responsibility of designing a new ferry terminal and pedestrian bridge link to the airport, to express a similar language as the airport proper, as well as laying out the vast vehicular delivery/parking systems required to support such a complex of buildings. The architectural iconography for the airport terminal building was established as forms evocative of movement and flight – the primary roof was conceived as a double wave of ‘wings’ about a strong axis of movement, a symbolic sea/land/sky link.
StarCore Nuclear approached Cooper Gardner in 2012 to design a prototypical facility to accommodate the operations of its static pebble bed reactor and support systems. The brief was to provide a facility that presented a futuristic, non threatening image to the public, but had very specific security requirements. Consideration had to be given to the constructibility of the facility in often remote locations. In collaboration with the StarCore engineers, Cooper Gardner conceived a precast concrete building, imagined conceptually as a ‘swelling in the landscape’.
For a while it seemed that Bermuda was insulated from the world economic situation, however this is no longer the case. Projects of substance are now very rare and the market has understandably become fiercely competitive. Soon, I hope we will find a socioeconomic and environmental equilibrium that provides an equitable balance to the demands of each and the economy is allowed to recover. Until then we are all forced to find opportunity wherever it presents itself, or create the opportunity ourselves.
I identify with Ayn Rand’s Howard Roark. I am pursuing an advanced understanding of the art and business of architecture and its vastly varied applications, through exposing myself to its diverse processes, in varied roles, in different countries. I intend to continue in this manner, not only for the obvious benefits of knowledge and experience, but also because I enjoy it.
I was awarded my RIBA part I – Bachelor of Building Science degree in 1992 and won regional first place in the Facades Design Competition sponsored by Everite, I was motivated and confident. My first working holiday was spent in a small architectural practice called The Line Company, before starting my RIBA part II - Bachelor of Architecture, without the customary year out.
In 1994, my final year of study, I began working part time for Mark Wagner Architecture. The principal, a design tutor in my third year, had approached a few students to provide backup for his permanent staff on larger projects. In reality, it required a commitment of 2 days a week for the last few months of my part II. Upon completion of my second degree, the office sponsored my AutoCAD training and I commenced full time employment.
In August 1995, after a year at the Mark Wagner Architecture, I decided to move on to gain varied experience in anticipation of my planned move to London the following year. Namibia had experienced similar growth in the years since its independence and architects and assistants were being offered impressive salaries to lure them away from South Africa. I was one such import, eager and willing in the knowledge that this contract would pay for my move to London.
Architext Inc. was practice with a strong design ethic and my role was in support to one of the three partners for all new projects that came into the office, to the end of the schematic design phase. I was exposed to the Mac environment for the first time using ArchiCAD and took the opportunity to explore 3D CAD for the first time.
I had been planning my move to London for what seemed like a lifetime, I had been reading international journals of architecture for too long without actually being able to experience these spaces for myself. The efficiency of the construction industry and the technical sophistication of its buildings was of great interest to me.
My first London contract was with Andraos Hampson Associates, in Chiswick, where I found an interesting mix of culture and age. The work experience was genuinely rewarding and I found myself, once again, working long hours. I soon realised the industry was not all that different to what I had experienced in Africa although the materials and services available to architects were more varied and sophisticated in the United Kingdom. After 8 months at Andraos Hampson, the practice ran into financial difficulty and the staff was forced to seek employment elsewhere.
In the spring of 1997, after a 5 month contract at Chetwood Associates producing Design Briefs for Sainsbury’s Supermarkets and service counters, I moved on to the Sidell Gibson Partnership where I was offered great opportunity, from the very beginning.
My first project was was the new Reuters financial headquarters in Geneva. I was responsible for preparing statutory approval or planning application drawings – elevations and sections, for an existing design. The experience taught me advanced AutoCad and production techniques and advanced my CAD technical skills immeasurably.
I passed the professional practice exams at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in the spring of 2000. By the time I qualified, I had experience of various construction packages as package leader/manager on high profile projects (most notably Woolgate Exchange ) and had advanced to a position of design architect responsible at the front end, conceptual stages of design and planning of large commercial and mixed use developments such as Northgate, a 930,000 sq.ft £100m, mixed use development, in Hackney, East London.
Phase I of PaddingtonCentral by Development Securities was approximately 1,000,000 sq.ft of real estate comprising two multi-level office and two multi-level residential buildings, retail, leisure & public amenities. The development offered me my first project architect role for three separate stand alone structures – a management facility for phase I and future phases, a free standing retail building which was to be leased and fit out by Starbucks, and a pedestrian bridge linking the PaddingtoCentral to Little venice over the Grand Union Canal.
At the completion of the PaddingtonCentral projects, with site and construction administration experience gained, I began to focus on design once again and was involved at the early concept design phases of One Snow Hill in Birmingham for Ballymore Properties, the redevelopment of the Mondial House site adjacent to Canon Street station, Sackville House on Fenchurch street for Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and One New Change for Land Securities.
Just as the One New Change project was underway, before the involvement of Jean Nouvelle, an attractive opportunity presented itself to work in Bermuda. The decision to leave Sidell Gibson meant a lost opportunity to work with Ateliers Jean Novell on what was to be an award winning project enjoying international acclaim.
Terceira Quarterly was a small office that offered an impressive salary package with the exchange rates of 2003, where the work was refreshing in its variety. The major project in the office at the time, for which we were hired, was a spectacularly large home for a previous premier of the island and her film producer husband.
The design of the home was already well advanced in close collaboration with the clients and I was given the responsibility of designing a guest cottage in the grounds of the main home and managing the design & production information for an equally spectacular swimming pool complete with underground slide, secret cave and jacuzzi which was set against a vast, planted faux rock backdrop complete with waterfall.
After two years at Terceira Quarterly, I left the practice to seek opportunity at the larger operation of Cooper Gardner, who had recently won the commission to design the new HSBC headquarters. I started at Cooper Gardner in the spring of 2006, just after a modern design for HSBC had been denied planning permission due to insensitivity to its historic setting.
The challenge was to produce an aesthetic to a mass that was more sympathetic to its context, a task that proved challenging. The solution was to present a historic vernacular, pedestrian scaled facade to the historic context of Front Street, with significant terracing above, to mitigate the perception of the 100,000 sq.ft modern building behind. The building extended the full depth of the street block and offered the opportunity to express a more modern aesthetic to the rear, less historic Reid Street.
The Orbis commission was won in a closed competition and, also in the historic precinct of Front Street, was subject to very similar restrictions on aesthetics and massing, whilst enjoying greater freedom on its rear, park elevation. The smaller building of 50,000 sq.ft, with smaller floor plates, enjoyed the potential of spectacular views from both front and rear facades, from a single vantage point.
Cooper Gardner secured the opportunity to collaborate with specialist airport design architects HNTB to design of the island’s interface with the new airport. I was charged with the responsibility of designing a new ferry terminal and pedestrian bridge link to the airport, to express a similar language as the airport proper, as well as laying out the vast vehicular delivery/parking systems required to support such a complex of buildings. The architectural iconography for the airport terminal building was established as forms evocative of movement and flight – the primary roof was conceived as a double wave of ‘wings’ about a strong axis of movement, a symbolic sea/land/sky link.
StarCore Nuclear approached Cooper Gardner in 2012 to design a prototypical facility to accommodate the operations of its static pebble bed reactor and support systems. The brief was to provide a facility that presented a futuristic, non threatening image to the public, but had very specific security requirements. Consideration had to be given to the constructibility of the facility in often remote locations. In collaboration with the StarCore engineers, Cooper Gardner conceived a precast concrete building, imagined conceptually as a ‘swelling in the landscape’.
For a while it seemed that Bermuda was insulated from the world economic situation, however this is no longer the case. Projects of substance are now very rare and the market has understandably become fiercely competitive. Soon, I hope we will find a socioeconomic and environmental equilibrium that provides an equitable balance to the demands of each and the economy is allowed to recover. Until then we are all forced to find opportunity wherever it presents itself, or create the opportunity ourselves.
I identify with Ayn Rand’s Howard Roark. I am pursuing an advanced understanding of the art and business of architecture and its vastly varied applications, through exposing myself to its diverse processes, in varied roles, in different countries. I intend to continue in this manner, not only for the obvious benefits of knowledge and experience, but also because I enjoy it.