Practice
Principal:
Gail Halvorsen RIBA, RIAS, AA Dip.
Halvorsen Architects specialises in sustainable and ecological design for residential, educational and commercial buildings.
Halvorsen Architects was founded by Gail Halvorsen in 1994. Having trained at the Architectural Association and worked at leading London architects Michael Hopkins & Partners for five years, Gail Halvorsen established the practice with a view to developing her own brand of vernacular modernism. Running a small practice also facilitates one-to-one relationships with clients, which often leads to better and more imaginative designs.
Soon after setting up Halvorsen Architects, Gail Halvorsen was named as an "up and coming young female architects to watch" by architectural periodical Perspectives.
Two years later Halvorsen Architects relocated from London to Edinburgh where Gail focused on developing an expertise in sustainable architecture (at the same time having three children). Over the last couple of years, the firm has been putting its ideas into practice for designs in Scotland.
Philosophy
Halvorsen Architects' interest lies in modern design and how it may sympathetically be integrated into its context. The practice does this by letting its design philosophy govern everything from the planning strategy to the choice of materials and their careful detailing. Our buildings harmonise with their surroundings, both urban and rural.
Services provided
• New build
• Refurbishment
• Listed building / conservation areas
• Energy-conscious design
• Sustainable architecture and planning
• One-off houses and buildings
• Recreational buildings
• Parks / Zoos
• Factories
• Lightweight / tensile structures
• Interdisciplinary team work
• Buildings for disabled people
• Feasibility studies
• Master planning
Skills
• Ecological design including knowledge of sustainable materials, energy
efficiency and water management.
• Lightweight / tensile structures (see experience at Ove Arup &Partners)
• Computer aided design - 2D &3D modeling
• Interdisciplinary teamwork with engineers, environmental engineers,
landscape architects and artists.
• Civic Trust Award assessor (rural and urban, England and Scotland) 1997
- 2007
• Occasional lecturer at Heriot Watt University 2003
• ECAN (Edinburgh Chartered Architects Network) member, chairwoman 2001
- 02
• Design by Emission article on sustainable
architecture in Scotland for the Cockburn magazine 2002
Previous experience
At Michael Hopkins &Partners:
• Project architect Westminster Underground Station, London 1992-95
•Site architect Westminister Underground Station, London 1997-98
• Portcullis House (New Parliamentary Building), Westminster, London 1991-92
In Ove Arup &Partners' Lightweight Structure Department:
• La Grande Arche 'Nuage', La Défènse, Paris 1987
• Aviary, Hong Kong 1987
Awards
A Sustainable Future for Upper Heyford
Second place - Council for the Protection of Rural England Competition 1996
The New House, Buckinghamshire
Second place - The Daily Telegraph Individual Home Award 1996
Short listed RIBA Awards for Architecture 1996
Second place Copper Roofing Competition 1995
Alterations and landscaping, Essex
Short listed - Architects Journal, Buildings under £150,000 1997
Westminster Underground Station, London
Winner - Royal Fine Art Commission Millennium Building of the Year 1999
