Last week, staff from GFA attended the prestigious Architect’s Journal AJ100 Awards Ceremony at the Tower of London. We were honoured to have ranked 91st in the AJ Top100 list, which is a major milestone for us and the realisation of a long-cherished ambition. The icing on the cake was to be also nominated for New Member of the Year Award. This recognition is a direct result of the hard work and talent of our employees at Gaunt Francis, and this position on the AJ100 list has truly encouraged us as we strive for future success. What better excuse than for a review of the past year and the moments that have made it such an important one in our 21-year story.

One of the biggest milestones for our company this year was moving our office to Womanby Street in Cardiff. Capital Tower had been our home for many years, but over the last few years we have expanded consistently and now have over 50 staff. We had therefore outgrown the space in Capital Tower and it felt like the right time to make a change. GFA now occupies a beautifully refurbished, five-storey, warehouse building on one of the oldest, most iconic and creative streets in Cardiff city centre. We’ve been here a little over two months but felt very much at home from day one. We have truly made the space our own and it marks a new beginning for us and allows us to do even more of what we do best – creating beautiful places.

We were proud to be presented with the Gold Award for Best Retirement Development at the WhatHouse? Awards 2019. This Award is the biggest event that celebrates the very best homes. The winning Redwood Retirement Village in Bristol is only the second scheme for Audley that we designed as a complete new build – having already built a stylish development from scratch at award-winning Audley Chalfont Dene. This beautiful retirement village has once again moved our client’s brand forward, and perfectly complements the other restoration and refurbishment schemes we have designed for Audley across the UK, such as Audley Ellerslie Retirement Village. This scheme completed in late 2018 and Audley owners, GFA project architects, the design team, and members of the local community came together to celebrate the opening.

More recently, GFA has been appointed as Architects for an ambitious project to redevelop two historic buildings on Westgate Street. The old Post Office and adjoining County Court buildings next to the Principality Stadium will be extended and transformed into a 175-bedroom luxury hotel, which will commence in July 2019 subject to planning consent. 

A key part of growing our business has been to develop graduates entering the profession into fully fledged registered Architects, mentoring and helping them to realise the final component of their architectural education. This commitment has been demonstrated by two of our employees, Maxim Hutton and Bianca Dumea, who recently gained their Part III Postgraduate Diploma in Architecture from Cardiff University and who will both soon be registered by the ARB. Bianca was also awarded the prestigious Stanley Cox Prize for best Diploma student at the Welsh School of Architecture. The whole GFA family could not be more proud of them, and all our staff at GFA, without whom none of the achievement of the past year would be possible. Here’s to another 21 years of success. 

 

We are very excited to share with you images of our new office in Cardiff city centre! Womanby Street is one of the oldest and most iconic streets in Cardiff and has been our home for a little over two months, but felt very much at home from day one!

We now occupy a beautifully refurbished, five-storey warehouse building in the heart of the city centre in an area where Cardiff Council hopes to establish a creative and musical quarter.

GFA Managing Director, Alan Francis, says: “We were looking for good quality accommodation in Cardiff with a less corporate feel. We were drawn to the strong architectural style and character of the property which reflects our role as a creative commercial design studio. Another important aspect was the large, well proportioned windows which provide a generous amount of natural light.

“Womanby Street is one of the oldest streets in Cardiff with such a colourful historical background and a great location close to the Principality Stadium , Castle Street, and St. Mary Street.”

More images in the slideshow below!

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