Christmas2020

2020 Favourites: Avonmouth Community Centre

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“This has been a really rewarding project to be involved with. gcp have always been enthusiastic about supporting and enabling community organisations to improve their facilities and Avonmouth Community Centre has given us the opportunity to work at length on a project which will dramatically enhance their capability to offer services to the community. The existing Victorian school buildings have been repurposed and reordered as part of a masterplan to provide dedicated meeting spaces, a teaching kitchen, function area and library space. Further phases would look to improve the fabric and include renewable energy provision to reduce ongoing expenditure.”
— Michael Hanson, gcp
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We asked everyone in the office to name their favourite project of 2020. Michael has chosen this small scheme for Avonmouth Community Centre Association looking to reconfigure and refurbish the existing space.

Advent day 21: DRAW!

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Today a festive favourite!

Place a paper plate on your head and draw a picture to a set of instructions:

Ground line.

A circle.

Another on top.

And one more … you’ve guessed it, it’s a snowman.

Add some eyes. A nose. A smile.

Give them three buttons and two arms.

2020 Favourites: Alternative Secret Santa

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This year has been certainly been different and we are trying to embrace the changes. Although many have lost their jobs this year, gcp have continued with a steady flow of work. We have decided this year to swap out our Secret Santa with creating care packages for the homeless.

Working alongside Streetlife we were recommended what items would be most beneficial including travel sized toiletries, hats, gloves, socks, snacks and either cards or a note book. For every bag a staff member created, gcp matched with an additional bag.

It’s been great to see so many getting involved in the office!

Advent day 17: Christmas No-Lunch

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Christmas lunch day normally consists of an afternoon away from our screens, eating good food, drinking a fair bit of wine and chatting to those colleagues you might not work with on a day-to-day basis. It’s normally a fun event and the one time in the year we can clear our schedules and get together.

This crazy year has meant having to adjust in lots of ways. For the Christmas No-lunch this year, our Events team hosted a “Quiz of the Year” over Teams. In the lead up, we were each delivered a package containing drinks, nibbles and festive headgear for the big event.

Whilst it wasn’t quite the same as being in the same room or eating a fancy meal, much fun was had by all and getting home after a few glasses of wine was certainly easier this year!

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2020 Favourites: Social Media Takeover

“The beginning of lockdown was so hectic with everyone trying to get to grips with working from home, home-schooling and collaborating with colleagues in a completely different way. Immediately the media team made the decision to use our Social Media to connect with each other across the distance of lockdown. We wanted to find out what people liked about working from home, to talk about some of the challenges and to bring the varied and vibrant personalities of our team to the forefront of our posts. It was so much fun sharing pictures of our families, pets, home offices and daily walks and it felt like maybe we weren’t as far apart after all.”
— Natalie Lock, gcp

We asked everyone in the office to name their favourite project or activity of 2020. Our Practice Manager Natalie took over the social’s during Lockdown.

2020 Favourites: Urban Cricket Centre

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“I chose this project because it is the first project I have taken from concept to completion with gcp. It is also the first pilot scheme in the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) exciting Urban Cricket Centre Initiative (UCCI) which aims to increase community engagement with cricket, but more importantly sports, health, and wellbeing. Refurbishing an existing building under an accelerated programme created various challenges to solve but working closely with fantastic design and construction teams meant that Phase 1 was opened as part of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, with Phase 2/3 following in Summer 2020. Our client (ECB) and the end user (Waltham Forest) have been delighted with the transformation. We hope to achieve similar success on the future UCCI centres across the UK.”
— Matt Bonney, gcp
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We asked everyone in the office to name their favourite project of 2020. Matt has worked on several cricket schemes over the past 2 years so no wonder this makes the list of his favourite project.

2020 Favourites: Downend & Frenchay Pavilion

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“We have a number of sports enthusiasts here at gcp and so it’s always a delight to design facilities to support sport in the community. We’ve been working with Downend & Frenchay Tennis Club to deliver a new pavilion to cater for their growing membership and exciting programmes. We share a passion for sustainable communities with the client and are looking at ways to make the pavilion as self-sufficient as possible with regards to energy generation and use.”
— Sarah Makroum, gcp
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We asked everyone in the office to name their favourite project of 2020. Sarah couldn’t decide on her favourite so along with Radford Cottage (8th December), she also enjoyed working on Downend & Frenchay Tennis Pavilion.

2020 Favourites: Office Refit

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2020 has been a challenging but exciting year at gcp. Lockdown forced us to temporarily vacate our office in Warmley and learn how to work from home. Rather than forgetting about the office we saw this as an opportunity to refurbish our working environment, not just to make it Covid safe, but also to make it a more pleasant place to work when we all return.

2020 Favourites: Castle Park Energy Centre

“This has been a fantastic project to be involved with. gcp has always been passionate about designing low energy buildings and Castle Park Energy Centre has given us the opportunity to work on a project which will deliver renewable energy. In a prominent location on the Floating Harbour on the edge of Castle Park the proposed Water Source Heat Pump forms an exciting part of the council’s ambition for Bristol to be a carbon neutral city by 2030”
— Jon Briscoe, gcp
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We asked everyone in the office to name their favourite project of 2020. Jon has an interest in low energy buildings and was thrilled to help deliver this project which was granted permission in November.

2020 Favourites: Brentry, Bristol

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“A very interesting project working alongside a flexible main contractor, able to adapt to LiveWest requirements as they developed.

The resultant building achieved an attractive domestic scale frontage to the residential streetscape and provided the residents with an accessible building with high levels of safety built in”
— Martin Spear, gcp
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We asked everyone in the office to name their favourite project of 2020. Martin has chosen a lovely scheme in Brentry for LiveWest and Fisher & Dean. This scheme is for 8 flats for residents requiring additional support.

2020 Favourites: James' Home Office

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“Designing (and building) my home office has been a fantastic challenge, one that has certainly developed my skill set.  I feel I have a greater understanding of the challenges that are faced on site, even on a small scale, procuring materials, site logistics and sequencing has certainly been testing.

I have come out of it with a lovely, calming workspace that provides an area for focus. It is great that it is separate to the house and even though I’m only walking to the bottom of my garden it’s enough to provide the necessary separation. With the likelihood of working from home more in the future with gcp, I am lucky to have such a nice spot to show off on our weekly teams calls.”
— James Pilling, gcp
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We asked everyone in the office to name their favourite project of 2020. James has had an exciting time whilst working home this year and has decided to talk about his own home project with the support of his partner @personalised_by_amy

2020 Favourites: Radford Cottage

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“It’s currently on site and we can’t wait to see the finished project! We’ve seen this year in particular how important it is for mental health to have an inspiring working environment. This project will create a bright office with fantastic views over the countryside and features a beautiful oak frame crafted by local carpenter @CarpentersMarkltd.”
— Sarah Makroum, gcp

We asked everyone in the office to name their favourite project of 2020. Sarah’s favourite scheme is a little home office for a longstanding client of gcp.

Advent Day 8: Chocolatey Coffee Morning

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It’s an office favourite today: gcp’s Hot Chocolate Bar!

With current social distancing in the office and homeworking, we weren’t able to do the Bar in the way we normally do. Everyone got a hot chocolate spoon with marshmallows in their box, we snuck in a baileys and some candy canes for thoe who fancied it too.

Quick catch up on teams with a hot chocolate warmed me up on this frosty morning & gave me lots of Christmassy feelings.

Advent Day 7: Desk Decorating!

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It’s Desk Decorating Day in the office (and home office) today! Will update with pictures as they arrive …

2020 Favourites: Elizabeth House, Holborn

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ELIZABETH HOUSE, HOLBORN

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“We have really enjoyed the challenges posed by this project to maximise the available lettable space of this office building in central London. Devising a method to add a rear extension and two storeys on the roof where the only access to the site is through a pedestrian archway was an interesting technical challenge requiring close coordination with a great project team”
— Tom Mellor, gcp
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We asked everyone in the office to name their favourite project of 2020. Tom has chosen Elizabeth House, known in the area as Fulwood Place in Holborn.

2020 Favourites: Homelands, Dundry

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“It was really satisfying to have achieved Passivhaus certification for these lovely self-build clients, who put so much into building their home and achieved such a high standard of finish and detailing. It is a real pleasure to work on projects like this where the end result is all you hoped it would be.”
— Colin Powell, gcp
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We asked everyone in the office to name their favourite project of 2020. Colin has chosen Homelands Dundry, a private dwelling which was a self-build to Passivhaus certification.