Esther on #worklifeweek and #mentalhealth

In the midst of a pandemic, where the line between home and work life is blurred, it is important now more than ever to talk about our mental health and wellbeing.   

It wasn’t too long ago when there was a stigma to these words. Some progress has been made as our understanding of the issues and our ability to talk openly about it improves, but there is still more to do! This is why it is vital to use weeks such as national #worklifeweek to discuss ways to make our work-life-balance better. Yes, emphasis is on the employer, but there are also many ways in which we can help each other on a personal level. 

Mental health and wellbeing means a lot to me and with the support of gcp and a few colleagues, we are running a series of activities to mark this week.  

Each day we will be having a short brain teaser, whether that be a spot the difference, anagrams or a riddle, all based around the work we do. We will be having a few games throughout the week finishing with a virtual pub quiz on Friday where I will be quizmaster for a round (I’m never very good at actually answering the questions)! Finally, we have set a 1,000,000 step challenge running Friday – Friday, to encourage everyone in the office to take a break, get fresh air, and stay active.  

However, it doesn’t end there! Although these activities are fun and help break up the day, a huge part of mental health and wellbeing is communication. We still communicate and see each other’s faces in meetings, but how much do we actually chat and check in with how each other are doing? For this reason, we will be holding 2 virtual coffee breaks over Teams. This is a chance to catch up on university studies, house moves, or even who will be the next star baker! An opportunity for you to invite your child or pet into the meeting (not that they normally wait for an invitation).  

I work for a company who cares about my mental health. I know so many who are expected to work over and above their hours whereas I am encouraged to stick to my hours, although there are times where this isn’t possible. I work for a company where we are encouraged to take a break and chat to our colleagues and check in with each other. I work for a company where wellbeing is at the core of their values. I work for a company that makes me happy because I know they listen, and I know they care.  

Can you say the same? Is it time to talk?  

Esther.

Here are some pictures taken during activity breaks this week.

WAH, the new WFH? - James Pilling

A little insight to WAH (working at home), I think I took it to an extreme as I’m currently building a home office at the bottom of my garden.

My partner and I live in a two-bed Victorian terrace house in east Bristol, a short distance from my normal place of work. Prior to us moving in, the place had been rented for the last 10 years, so we’re keen to make it our own.

Whilst the gcp office is currently closed, we are using our spare room as our office space, we feel very fortunate to have a space designated for work. I have used this space over the last three years for home study, where I have recently completed my Part 1 in Architecture, a course I have been able to do with the support of gcp. This has made this transition period easy for me but I can imagine it has been a challenge for others.

We did, however, want to create a a self-contained space, separate from the home, that could be used as a purpose-built workspace. We are calling it a studio to sound fancy! I think it is important the place of work is different to our home (and ideally separate to your living space), this allows space for designation and focus.

A bit on the design process....

I submitted a planning application for our kitchen extension back in July last year, at this point I also included plans for a loft extension and outline plans for a studio space at the bottom of the garden. We were wary that we needed to replace the loss of existing shed space, which is very functional and quite a necessity. I’ve also accumulated a lot of tools over the years so needed some extra messy storage space (the tools have somewhat dug a hole into our budget). We finally secured planning for the extension but is unfortunately on hold due to the pandemic, a chance to start the studio!

The build process.…

I started by removing the shed and its base, preserving any clean (ish) stones where possible. I had done a fair amount of research into the most appropriate foundation for the type of build we wanted. I ended up using the click EcoBase grid foundation system, which provides a really strong, durable foundation which is well-drained for outdoor buildings. They are often used for sheds and even grass driveways, an alternative to a concrete base in my scenario.

Once the base and treated timber floor joist were down, I started to build the walls panels, these consisted of 89mm untreated timber studs, 9mm OSB. These would then be ready to receive 25mm timber roofing batten and the 20mm cladding.

I had a sequencing challenge with cladding the rear and side panels - as we wanted to take full use of the width of the garden. I came up with the solution to fully clad these panels, which would be temporarily secured in place, 500mm inside the eventual building perimeter. This will be fun when it comes to lifting them in place - not so easy with the social distancing measures in place!

We are dividing the space into two, two thirds will be designated for office space and one third for shed and storage space, including the mower and BBQ in the winter months.

I started to erect the front panels which would hoist the new office sliding doors. The sliding opening will be on the RHS as we have a pond just on the left of the picture. You can see the Iris’s are starting to grow again! Hopefully a nice view out of the non sliding pane.

I was inspired by the lock-up building at the Arnolfini, down on the waterfront in the centre of Bristol. I love its simple form and how its colour has evolved over time. I will be including cladding the ‘secret’ doors on the shed section.

It has been a challenge to secure materials during this period of lockdown, I can imagine the difficulties contractors must have been going through. I was eventually able to source most of the timber from a merchant in Avonmouth, which actually specialise in building horse stables.

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“It finally feels like progress is being made now I have started to fix the cladding to the front elevation. The lifting of the side panel will hopefully happen soon, then I can focus on the roof and making the building watertight. We keep you updated with our progress.

If we are able to work from home more so in the future, after this whole ordeal is over, this will hopefully be the perfect space in which to design in.”

Thoughts on Lockdown: Owen

Owen takes some time to reflect on his current situation.

Having returned home from holiday on an emergency flight a couple of weeks ago and now with the whole family “confined to barracks” for the foreseeable, it’s fair to say that as we’ve had to make some significant adjustments in this unusual situation. I find a conversation via WhatsApp video with my 96 year-old grandmother is always a good way of putting things into perspective, however. She lived and worked as a nurse during the blitz in London, where she first met my grandfather – a doctor – over a patient they were attending. Her take on the current state of affairs is that not a lot has changed for her personally. She talks of how she, “is used to spending time in her own company” and that, “the only real change is that I can’t go to church”. If anything she tells me that, “she is almost having more contact with people”. With a network of friends in her neighbourhood in Boston, Lincolnshire, she assures me that she is well cared for and as she already does her shopping online, the fridge is very well stocked.

This got me thinking; as the first real national emergency that my generation and the generation above me has lived through, are we perhaps all being a little dramatic? I fear for wellbeing of my loved ones but we’re not literally being bombed. I’ve been woken up at all hours of the morning by our 1 and 3 year-olds but I’m not being woken up by an air raid siren. We’re running low on pasta and rice but we’re not starving. We’re stuck in but we have any number of digital means to communicate (face-to-face) with those we hold dear, all over the world. I like to think that I’m an optimist and in my opinion we can take so many positives away from this crisis: More than half a million people volunteering to help the NHS, businesses adapting their focus to produce ventilators and PPE for front line workers, neighbours generally being more neighbourly, individuals and businesses adapting to new ways of working overnight, people spending time with and appreciating their immediate family. The list could go on. While I understand that I’m in an extremely lucky position where I can work from home and get daily fresh air, I genuinely believe that we can all find our own positives and that we will be galvanised as a nation when we come out the other side of Covid-19.

Owen’s grandmother with his baby

our free time: gardening & growing

The weather is fairly gloomy over Bristol today, but the past few weeks have been glorious. Here is a snippet of the fun we’ve been having in the sun; our gardening & growing.

our free time: crafts & Lego

Turns out we love crafts and Lego almost as much as eating cake! Check out the grid below to see some of the things we’ve made whilst in lockdown.

our free time: baking

A number of keen bakers have emerged during lockdown ! Check out our efforts below. Bake off 2021 anyone?

our free time: DIY

We’ve been keeping ourselves busy during lockdown by taking on new projects at home. There are lots of handy DIY types amongst us it turns out!

our free time: puzzles

I’m being inundated with pictures of what my colleagues are getting up to when they aren’t working on gcp projects. Here is a collection of our puzzles … this has sparked some debate about the “correct” way to complete them. I vote that you always start with the edges, what do you think?

#homeworking: the evolution of a desk

You might have seen this already, over on Instagram, but for those who aren’t currently following us (WHY NOT?) here is the evolution of Matt’s home working space.

Matt: So I started the setup with what you’ve already seen [on socials]. It was great - except for the fact that there wasn’t a desk … after four weeks of this I’ve realised it’s no good for my back / neck so …

Matt: I decided to replicate my sit-stand desk … only to realise that ideal ironing height is NOT the same as ideal working height!

Matt: Then things went downhill rapidly as I thought “the only way to improve this ironing board situation is with a ladder”. Actually the height now was pretty good, but the downside of a ladder is it has massive holes in it. Time for a rethink …

Matt: luckily we have been donated an old desk, which when coupled with some Lego monitor stands has created a much better work space!

#homeworking #stayhomestaysafe

WFH Interview: Matt

As you know from previous posts, gcp continues to be fully operational and are here to assist you. In line with government guidelines we are working from home to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees, our clients and the communities we serve.

Working from home is a new experience for many of us, here are Matt’s thoughts on this new situation.

What’s something challenging about working from home? I tend to get engrossed in work and with few distractions at home I often forget to get up and move about. My back is not happy with me.

What do you like about working from home? Being able to listen to music. I’ve quickly exhausted my vinyl collection so I have set up a collaborative Spotify playlist with some friends so we can listen to each others favourites.

What do you miss about being in the office? I definitely miss the atmosphere in the office and having people to chat to. Even just some background noise, it’s too quiet here (you can tell I don’t have kids!)

The view looks a bit different right now, here is Matt’s desk-at-home.

WFH Interview: James

As you know from previous posts, gcp continues to be fully operational and are here to assist you. In line with government guidelines we are working from home to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees, our clients and the communities we serve.

Working from home is a new experience for many of us, here are James’s thoughts on this new situation.

What’s something challenging about working from home? Trying to entertain our dog, Ralph, he never stops whining when we are around! Distractions of tidying the house too, although the dishes are always washed, which is nice.

What do you like about working from home? I enjoy the flexible nature of it, including listening to music whilst I work - maybe I’ll bring some into the office … you never know! Also the milk frother at home is working overtime …

What do you miss about being in the office? Other people! Day-to-day interaction and the social aspect of the office I miss for sure … and Owen’s coffees!

The view looks a bit different right now, here is James’s desk-at-home.

WFH Interview: Esther

As you know from previous posts, gcp continues to be fully operational and are here to assist you. In line with government guidelines we are working from home to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees, our clients and the communities we serve.

Working from home is a new experience for many of us, here are Esther’s thoughts on this new situation.

What’s something challenging about working from home? I can honestly say my cats are as distracting as children! If they aren’t climbing on my shoulder for attention then they are sitting in front of my screen or on my keyboard. I have gotten quite good at working one-handed as one has decided to start sleeping in my arms!

What do you like about working from home? Everyone in the office knows how much I like my PJs and onesies so I have loved being able to work in clothes I feel most comfortable in … I do get dressed properly for conference calls though!

It’s nice to break up my day by cooking at lunchtime - allows me to properly give my brain a rest.

I have a window that is nice to look out of.

What do you miss about being in the office? Firstly I miss my walk to the office in the morning. It’s only 20 minutes but it’s along the Bristol to Bath cycle path & it wakes me up. I get to see the sunrise if I’m early enough & I just felt like it started my day right.

Most importantly, I miss the constant & easy communication in the office from serious, informative conversations about work to just general chit chat about the latest TV series.

Thanks to Microsoft Teams we can still communicate as an office, which is important, but it’s not quite as easy as just talking the ear off the person next to you (sorry Matt, realised how much I must do this now I can’t do it every day!)

The view looks a bit different right now, here is Esther’s desk-at-home.

WFH Interview: Natalie

As you know from previous posts, gcp continues to be fully operational and are here to assist you. In line with government guidelines we are working from home to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees, our clients and the communities we serve.

Working from home is a new experience for many of us, here are Natalie’s thoughts on this new situation.

What’s something challenging about working from home? Balancing mum-work-Natalie life is always challenging but it’s much more difficult when we are all together at home. They don’t understand that I can’t always stop to give cuddles … and when I (almost always) do, it can be hard to refocus on work!

What do you like about working from home? The change of pace has been excellent for my creativity. I feel much more mindful in my work right now. It’s nice not rushing everyone out of the door on a morning. Being able to take time to have a family lunch or do a puzzle together is really lovely.

What do you miss about being in the office? Its the team for me. I MISS YOU HORRIBLE LOT. I am a chatterbox (which I’m sure lots of people don’t miss!) and I genuinely miss chatting away to the gcp team.

The view looks a bit different right now, here is Natalie’s desk-at-home.

WFH Interview: Olia

As you know from previous posts, gcp continues to be fully operational and are here to assist you. In line with government guidelines we are working from home to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees, our clients and the communities we serve.

Working from home is a new experience for many of us, here are Olia’s thoughts on this new situation.

What’s something challenging about working from home? Working in isolation can be challenging! We are so lucky we can make use of the available technology & stay connected!

What do you like about working from home? I like the fact that I have gained 1.5 hours a day, by not needing to commute.

What do you miss about being in the office? My colleagues. I miss being surrounded by lovely people who are always willing to help, answer questions, banter & share cake with me!

The view looks a bit different right now, here is Olia’s desk-at-home.

Homeworking: Distractions

We’ve mused about the benefits of working from home - keep an eye on the blog for some home-desk-interviews, but thought it would be fun to post pictures of those things distracting us from work whilst at home. The number 1 culprit is our new “colleagues”.

WFH Diary: Siobhan

WFH Log: Day 10

Mood: Slightly peckish.

Attire: Casual dress and slippers, buts its ok because I’m wearing a work cardigan AND did my makeup today.

Thoughts: Very much aware that I am the newbie working in the office of a regular WFH-er and 2 dogs. Even the slightest breath or shuffle seems to mean that it’s time to go for walkies or to eat or to belly tickle (all requirements of my new dog colleagues not partner!)

To do list: Amendment prep for drawing issue next week, check supplier packs, plant cabbage seeds and start consumption of easter egg!

 #workfromhome #stayhomestaysafe

Working from Home – Is this the future?

New Director Jon Briscoe tackles the current reality of working from home & ponders the future

Working from Home - Is this the future?

During these extraordinary times we have all had to find new ways of working. For those of us lucky enough to be doing this from the safety of our own homes this can be working from the coffee table, the kitchen table, sitting on the end of the bed, taking over the children’s playroom or perhaps in the garden. I know this because video meetings have given us all an unexpected glimpse in the home lives of not just our colleagues but clients as well. As for my ‘home office’, its an old camping table propped up on bean bags to be at a useable height – the big Swedish furniture company doesn’t deliver my desk for another 19 days (not that I’m counting!).

Back to those video meetings – they’re working much better than we all thought aren’t they. And they have a number of advantages. Firstly, you can carry on with other work in the background which is an excellent boost in productivity. Secondly, if you get bored you can always go and do something else. If you turn off the camera no-one else knows that you are now eating a big slice of cake – you can’t do that when you are all meeting around a table.

And what about that rush to buy wine and beer before we went into lockdown? I don’t know about other people, but our office only consumes alcohol at work on Christmas Eve. Somehow the same rules don’t apply when you are working from home in your pyjamas. Whose going to know that you’re enjoying a glass of wine while still on the clock? Just remember to keep the camera off during those meetings!

The biggest adjustment has been finding a work routine - I’ve settled on: get up, eat, work, eat, work, eat, watch tv, sleep, and repeat. And now that we have the technical capability to work from home there’s the opportunity to do this 7 days a week!

When life returns to normal, will this become my new normal? No – I’ll be unlocking the office door quicker than you can say ‘social distancing’.

#homeworking

gcp continues to be fully operational, with staff working remotely. Here’s a sneak peak into our #homeoffice setups. We are progressing current projects & have even had a few interesting new opportunities this week.

#stayhomestaysafe #architectsbristol #homeworking #homeworkingspace