Together we can...
GSSArchitecture is a national, award-winning architectural practice with a dynamic and forward-thinking approach. Operating across the whole of the UK with offices located in Kettering, Leeds, London, Newcastle, Harrogate and Milton Keynes, we specialise in projects where a collaborative approach is required.
We design tailored architectural solutions and place sustainability and inclusivity at the heart of our design ethos. Our project experience includes a diverse range of public and private sectors covering the entire process from inception through to completion, all of which are supported by in-house specialist divisions including Graphics and Conservation and Heritage.
We have substantial experience across many sectors, including all aspects of residential but with a particular focus on larger scale high-density housing. Our work ranges from new build apartments and housing to heritage refurbishments across many sectors including multi-room, Build-to-Rent (BTR), private rented sector (PRS), student accommodation, care homes, sheltered accommodation, one-off houses and affordable and council housing. Our clients include councils, developers, housing associations and individuals.
Together, we can bring your vision to life.
599 Grafton Gate
Working with a national developer, we have designed a Build-to-Rent scheme within Central Milton Keynes that, once complete, will provide 302 residential units and ground floor commercial space.
The 34 storey building, located in a prominent position, will act as a landmark for Central Milton Keynes which recently was awarded city status. The building will house a mix of high quality one and two bed apartments together with communal amenity spaces including roof gardens, a club room/residents lounge, cinema, home working suite and gym. Double height commercial retail spaces and the residential foyer are located at ground floor level to maintain an active frontage and engage with the street scene.
The building design includes reference to the characteristic Milton Keynes ‘Porte Cocheres’ in the portals at the roof levels and the facades will incorporate relief designs and feature cladding created in collaboration with a local artist.
St Thomas Street Student Accommodation
We designed a new 9-storey, 8,575m2 student accommodation scheme in Bristol City Centre. The accommodation block provides 357 student bedspaces, and was delivered specifically to support the University of Bristol.
The project sits in the Redcliff Development Quarter of Bristol and forms an important part of the exciting regeneration of the area. The demolition of an existing office block facilitated the delivery of the new student accommodation, which comprises a mix of cluster flats and studios, student social areas, a dedicated courtyard, commercial space, laundry facilities and games area.
The building is one of the very first in Bristol to connect to the Councilrun district heating network, ensuring delivery of a new low-carbon building that forms the first stage of transforming Bristol into a carbon-neutral city by 2050.
Tewin Waterhouse
Originally built in 1689, Tewin Water House in Hertfordshire has a long and interesting history, with many alterations and purposes throughout its life.
Handed down and inherited to a multitude of families, Tewin Water House was once a country club and a school for children with hearing problems. After the school was relocated in the 1970s, the building was left to enter a state of disrepair. It was converted into luxurious apartments in 2001, and in 2024 has undergone a careful and complicated roof replacement and external joinery repairs.
The Grade II listed building is a landmark near Welwyn, set in peaceful gardens and surrounded by greenery.
We have utilised our skills and knowledge in specialist heritage projects to lead the complex roof replacement and refurbishment project, including traditional leadwork, stone slating, Welsh slating, lime mortar render repairs, redecoration, and repairs to timber windows.
Stanton Cross Mixed Use Local Centre
The new neighbourhood centre at Stanton Cross is a mixed-use scheme at the heart of the urban extension in Wellingborough, including 37 apartments, 8 retail spaces, office facilities, a convenience store, a nursery and a gym.
The development features 1- and 2- bedroom dual aspect apartments, designed to maximize natural light and ventilation and offer generous living spaces and amenities. Every apartment includes outdoor amenity space, a garden room or private balcony, predominantly south facing, and overlooking the public square. Additional amenity space, and off-street parking is provided in a large central courtyard.
The designs blend contemporary and traditional features to enhance the local area, with refences to the train shed architecture of the railway land to the east of Wellingborough, and particularly the Roundhouse building. The scheme creates an exciting hub and public realm for the development at Stanton Cross where residents will
Orient House Student Accommodation
The new student accommodation involves a three-storey development on the site of a disused industrial unit to the rear of Orient House, which, whilst not a listed building, sits within the Boot and Shoe Conservation Area, between the Unitarian Chapel and War Memorial, both of which are listed.
The new building will provide five student flats, each with 5-6 beds creating a total of 28 beds in this sustainable town centre location. Additionally, the ground floor area of the retained Orient House building will be refurbished to provide two retail units.
The designs have been carefully developed, considering suitability of materials and overall appearance within this conservation area.
We have vast experience of designing student accommodation, in addition to having a specialist in-house Heritage Team who have experience of working on conservation projects and listed buildings, making us well positioned to design the extension and redevelopment of Orient House on this important and sensitive location.
James Barber House Student Accommodation
James Barber House, a former a residential care home that now forms part of Durham University Hatfield College’s postgraduate accommodation, has undergone extensive renovations to fully transform the existing 45 single bedrooms and shared bathrooms to create en-suite accommodation as well as improved kitchen and dining space and common room.
As well as the internal renovations, the externals received new insulation, roof, render, windows and doors which were all updated to improve the thermal performance of the fabric. PV panels have been introduced alongside a student herb garden that is located in the internal courtyard, providing opportunities for students to grow their own food, whilst improving the biodiversity of the site and the building’s sustainable credentials.
Walnut Tree Affordable Housing
Located in Walnut Tree, Milton Keynes, we were appointed as Architects for this residential scheme which provides 30 no. two bed apartments, placed ideally in the centre of the community. The apartments are a mix of private and affordable housing, including rental and shared ownership, and provide much needed accessible accommodation.
Our team from the Milton Keynes Studio have worked closely with Grand Union Housing Group to ensure that the design of the building is in keeping with the surrounding traditional style of housing. The designs include the use of buff colour brickwork and feature bronze coloured cladding panels, which provide a focal point to the building, and the ‘L’ shape design of the apartment buildings creates two main street frontages, with all apartments benefitting from balconies or Juliet balconies.
Blackbird Leys District Centre
GSSArchitecture are currently working with award-winning house builder The Hill Group, housing association, Peabody, and Oxford City Council to deliver Phase 1 of a new district centre. The development will consist of 210 homes, 83% of which will be for social or affordable rent and 17% for shared ownership.
The site will also provide green open spaces, including community gardens, new and improved shops, a new community centre and improved road infrastructure and a safe, segregated cycle route.
The project is currently on site and is due to complete in Summer 2027.
Bective Road Residential Development
We were commissioned by a national developer to produce proposals for an existing urban brownfield site in Northampton to provide residential accommodation.
This challenging town centre site included a listed shoe factory building which will be retained and repurposed as part of the proposals including the creation of a garden space within the existing factory walls.
With approximately 100 new homes, the proposals include a mix of apartments and town houses which will provide much needed dwellings for the local area.
Whitelaw Boarding House
We were appointed to design the significant extension and alteration work on the collection of Grade II listed buildings that form Whitelaw, a boarding house at Rugby School.
The works included thermal upgrades to the building envelope to reduce heating demand and improve its sustainability credentials. The scheme also involved an extension within the courtyard which provides new common room space and has a modern aesthetic to contrast with the existing structures, allowing both the historical and modern architecture to be appreciated together.
In addition to this, the remodel allows for inclusive usage, as accessible bedrooms and features have been included to the ground floor to better integrate students with different needs. The sympathetic upgrades to Whitelaw have resulted in a more modern and sustainable boarding house that students will be able to enjoy for many years to come.
Rugby Boarding House
We were appointed as Architects, Lead Consultant, Principal Designers and Quantity Surveyors for a new Boarding House at Rugby School, which is part of an eight-phase refurbishment of the School’s existing boarding facilities.
The new Boarding House provides an additional 60 bedrooms, as well as hosting a large dining hall and atrium, communal areas, including a roof terrace and accommodation for the Housemaster, Assistant Housemaster and the Matron. The sustainable Boarding House has incorporated the use of advanced off-site manufactured bathroom pods to provide en-suite facilities, reducing construction time and ensuring premium quality.
The impressive double-height atrium provides flexible spaces for socialising and study, for both pupils and staff. The new development is the school’s first purpose-built boarding house since 1938.
McMurray Boarding House
We developed the plans for the redevelopment of the old primary school site at Milton Road, Oundle to accommodate a new purposebuilt boarding house for Oundle School.
The new boarding house, named McMurray House in memory of David McMurray, the Headmaster who devised and oversaw the introduction of co-education, will accommodate 60 girls aged 13-18 years old who are currently located in New House on Stoke Hill, on the southwest edge of Oundle. The house will provide boarders with high quality accommodation facilities in the centre of town, enabling girls’ boarding to take its place alongside the historic boys’ town Houses.
This project will also allow the School to upgrade existing provision by decanting pupils into the existing New House in order to undertake a long-term rolling programme of improvement works to existing boarding Houses.
Freemans Green Affordable Housing
Freemans Green is an affordable housing scheme for Luton Borough Council, consisting of several blocks of three-storey town houses. The development has been built to SUSPLAN requirements, exceeding government standards for sustainable houses with air source heat pumps and solar panels installed across the scheme.
Garages, driveways and designated parking has been allocated to each house, as well as homes for wildlife with bat, bird, insect and hedgehog boxes installed across the site.
The development will provide much needed, high-quality modern housing for this area of Luton, providing people who cannot obtain suitable private rented accommodation, or to own a home of their own, with a comfortable place to live.
Redwell Road Social Housing
We undertook this development in partnership with the Riviera Housing Trust which included two sites in Redwell Road, Paignton, comprising of 23 one-and two-bedroom flats, and eight houses with a mix of two, three and four bedrooms.
The layout of the two sites maximised the development potential and provides modern, quality housing, which respects the existing environment and residential area. The homes have been designed to provide a community feel, and feature brick banding and weatherboarding to break up the brick facades.
The project was funded by the Housing Community Agency and was completed on time and within budget through a partnering contract. The project, which achieved the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3, used timber frame construction throughout. The site-specific design followed extensive consultation with the Local Authority, residents, tenant forums, Secured by Design and the delivery team, resulting in a modern interpretation of the local vernacular, promoting ownership through design.
Rowlett Road Social Housing
We were commissioned to design a scheme of 27 affordable houses and flats in Corby. The site, which was previously occupied by a disused community youth club building, was partly owned by Corby Borough Council and partly by Woodnewton Primary School, and was sold to Leicester Housing Association, following a collaborative feasibility study that we commissioned that involved all three parties.
Encouraged by both the Council and the Housing Association, our design was modern, innovative and practical; the development offers residents a choice of contemporary accommodation configurations, and has greatly benefited this area of the town.
The project was designed to achieve Level 3 Code for Sustainable Homes, and was completed on time and on budget, under a Design and Build Form of Contract.
Upon completion of the project, Leicester Housing Association enthused about the quality of design and the distinct identity the development has created in this locale.
Haringey Housing
We were appointed by Haringey Council to design 31 new homes; the first council-built homes in the Borough for more than 25 years. The 12 houses and 19 flats were delivered under a Design and Build contract, across seven underutilised infill sites within the Borough. The challenging infill sites required innovative design solutions to ensure the amenity and living standards of the new and existing residents were not compromised and, where possible, enhanced.
We developed individual and site-specific designs to meet the requirements of the Local Authority, the London House Design Guide and Lifetime Homes, and to be fully compliant with Secure by Design and Code 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.
Harcourt Hill Student Accommodation
Oxford Brookes University is one of the leading new Universities, and this project represented the first major investment in accommodation at their Harcourt Hill Campus since they acquired the site in 2004. It involved the demolition of existing accommodation and replacing it with 318 en-suite self-catering units.
We were initially appointed by the University to provide all design and cost management services in order to successfully achieve a detailed planning consent. The extensive negotiation process with adjoining owners and the local planning authority resulted in full support for the development and meant an approval for the scheme was achieved through ‘delegated powers’, some eight weeks after submitting the application.
St Catharine’s College Student Accommodation
The works at St Catharine’s College consisted of phased internal refurbishments and reconfigurations to a number of buildings within the College estate, known collectively as Sherlock Court. Located on Trumpington Street, in the heart of the Central Cambridge Conservation Area, Sherlock Court comprises a collection of buildings of various ages set around a central landscaped courtyard, providing residential and ancillary accommodation for over 100 students.
The refurbished buildings have provided revitalised student accommodation within the College grounds. The upgraded Sherlock Court can now welcome a diverse range of people, provide modern and improved facilities, and help ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of the staff and student occupiers.
In addition to Sherlock Court, we have been appointed to carry out similar works across other student accommodation for St Catharine’s College including student common rooms, bedrooms and en-suite bathrooms.
Courtyard Student Accommodation
We provided a one-stop-shop service and led a consultant design team for the provision of a new student residences project, located at the University of Hull’s Cottingham Road Campus.
The development provides circa 600 bedspaces, including standard rooms, deluxe rooms and studio flats, together with living and learning spaces, communal kitchens and social spaces. Externally, green flat roofs provide an attractive appearance for the overlooking accommodation.
The scheme also includes a large social space, named the ‘Social Hub’, which provides a collection of facilities to encourage social interaction and engagement with the wider University. This area contains features such as a ‘MasterChef’ style kitchen, a cinema space, games areas and quiet reading room.
services, specialist teams & procurement
Our work includes the full range of services covering architectural design, feasibilities, 3D graphics and animation, interior design, estate strategies, heritage and conservation, principal designer and one-stop-shop.
Our specialist in-house teams are collaborating with industry leaders to research and develop the latest technologies and processes that can be incorporated into our designs.
Professional services frameworks have become increasingly important over recent years as a method to engage construction professionals in a way that ensures compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and that promote a more streamlined way of partnering in the longer term.
As a practice, we have secured positions on a range of established, UK compliant frameworks, which enables easier, quicker and cheaper procurement routes for our clients.
Architectural Services Feasibilities
As experienced Architects we can work with you to explore your options and realise your vision.
We can bring a wide range of innovations and best practice from our different sectors to meet your specific needs and aspirations. This experience includes masterplanning, new builds, remodelling and extensions and specialist heritage advice.
We will work with you in a collaborative way to develop a workable brief to explore design concepts and options, to manage your project through the planning process, the development of detailed design proposals, details and specifications, together with preparing all necessary statutory approval processes.
Feasibility studies are an extremely important part of the development process. By carefully mapping out your options, risks, constraints, and opportunities we can present creative proposals and scheme appraisals that are deliverable, viable and fit for purpose. Developing your brief is fundamental to this process.
Our highly experienced teams work on a wide variety of projects, ranging in both sector and size. This means that the knowledge, experience and ‘lessons learnt’ can be brought to benefit your feasibility brief and our experience allows your dedicated project team to explore all the options quickly and effectively to arrive at an appropriate project delivery strategy.
Masterplanning
A good masterplan is not just about the distribution of land use, it should provide you with a sound starting point to create healthy communities and well-planned development strategies. A masterplan should give you a carefully considered and well thought out long-term planning document that serves as a conceptual plan to guide future growth and development.
Masterplanning is all about setting the standard that creates an appropriate sense of place, connecting buildings with social, public and cultural spaces to create environments that help communities to thrive.
3D Graphics & Animation
As a streamlined part of our service offering, 3DLABS is our in-house digital design studio that specialises in CGI visualisations, 3D printing and people flow modelling. They offer these services to communicate our clients’ designs, concepts, products or services to a wider audience, allowing them to be represented in the most visually appealing medium.
They have been offering these services for nearly a decade, gathering a diverse client base with their own unique needs and requirements.
The studio is made up of a highly skilled team, led by their Studio Manager who has over 15 years of industry experience. He is supported by a team who each bring their own passions and specialisms, with photorealistic renders, interior design, and graphic design to name a few.
Interior Design
In recent years, there has been an increased awareness of how the built environment can impact health and productivity, and its added benefits to help institutions flourish. Organisations are now focusing their efforts on how to use the built environment for mental health and wellbeing by encouraging choice, movement and relaxation, controlling temperature, noise levels and air quality, ergonomic furniture, plants, and adding breakout areas. These are all fundamental components of good interior design.
Our interior design services include interior layouts and drawings, internal elevations, room data sheets, space planning and interior architecture, furniture selection and accessories, custom furniture and textile design and colour palette consultation.
Estates Strategies
Estate Strategies are critically important documents to have in place to provide a framework and direction for how an estate needs to grow and evolve to support you in delivering your strategic objectives. Estate strategies are important to a number of our higher education clients for example, and we have worked with a number of UK based universities to help them define their strategies.
Good Estate Strategies can add value to other large estates, such as landed estates or multi-academy trusts. Our teams have the depth of skills and experience inhouse to work with you and your estates teams to consider whole estate strategies and how individual projects might fit into the ‘bigger picture.’
Heritage
If you are an owner or custodian of buildings with historical significance, we can help to understand your properties, advise on the best techniques to care for them and make sensitive changes that will mean your heritage assets are both successful and sustainable.
Whether a simple Grade II* Listed House or a complex World Heritage Site, all heritage assets have their own story and unique value and getting the right advice from a well-qualified, specialist team can really make the difference.
Principal Designer - CDM
The importance of the Principal Designer - Construction Design and Management (CDM) role should not be underestimated and the skills that make a good Principal Designer should never be omitted from a development project. Fundamentally, a good Principal Designer helps to ensure that everyone involved in construction stays safe during the course of their work and complies with the statutory duties and we often provide this service on schemes where we have also been appointed as Architect and/or Lead Consultant.
GSS can give you the confidence of knowing that our organisational approach to Health and Safety is led from partner level, ensuring that all our teams receive regular training, making certain that processes are in place to plan and manage health and safety throughout the project and helping to protect everyone’s health and safety.
Principal Designer - BR
The appointment of a Principal Designer – Building Regulations (BR) is required for all construction projects, from small domestic extensions to complex multimillion-pound developments. If your project is classed as a ‘Higher-Risk Building’ under the Building Safety Act 2022, then additional requirements apply.
Our Principal Designers have undergone competency assessments in line with PAS 8671 requirements and will be able to assist and guide you in navigating your legal duties under the Building Safety Act 2022. They will ensure that you fully understand your duties before any design work commences.
One Stop Shop
Successful construction projects rely on the right balance between design and project control, including project and cost management. We can offer you a streamlined consulting service bringing together all of the design team partners that you need from across our network of supply chain partners.
Using a one stop shop service is not right for everyone, but it can mean that you benefit from a single point of contact for your integrated design team. Our teams will use their construction knowledge and cost planning experience to offer expert advice on construction approaches and procurement options. This begins from the initial feasibility testing of a project, right through until the handover of the completed building.
All successful partnerships are founded on taking a truly collaborative approach to achieving common aims and objectives. Clear communication is therefore an essential part of collaboration, alongside developing and nurturing a culture of working together as one team. GSS have a successful track record of achieving excellent outcomes through working collaboratively and we can draw on our experience and lessons learnt over the years to encourage and drive collaboration.
Sustainability
With climate change being one of the biggest challenges we face in our lifetime, GSS are committed to ensuring their projects are designed to incorporate innovative, sustainable solutions that not only benefit the building user, but the wider environment.
Our in-house Sustainability Innovation Group are collaborating with industry leaders to research and develop the latest technologies and sustainable processes that can be incorporated into our designs. The basic objectives of sustainability are to reduce consumption of non-renewable resources, minimise waste, and create healthy, productive environments.
Artificial Intelligence
GSS’s in-house Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovation Group is responsible for providing comprehensive guidance and assistance, ensuring the safe and appropriate utilisation of AI within our work.
This dedicated team from across the UK actively explores both the limitations and opportunities of AI, striving to enhance quality and efficiency. We have implemented a structured plan that is aimed at identifying opportunities through harnessing the latest advancements in AI technology and the team will research and assess these to ensure that they align with our moral and ethical standards.
Fostering a collaborative environment, the group encourages innovation and integration of AI technologies that can add value to our clients. Their efforts include developing customised AI solutions, training for wider GSS team members, and overseeing a robust framework for AI governance.
Our in-house AI Innovation Group plays a crucial role in driving GSS’s commitment to leveraging the benefits of AI and maintaining our competitive edge in the industry.
Net Zero Carbon
Many of our clients have set Net Zero Carbon or Carbon Neutral targets for their buildings and estates through either decarbonisation of their current estate, or through targeting Net Zero Carbon in new buildings or investments.
We are also on our own route to becoming Carbon Neutral by 2030, a target which, although complex and challenging, we believe to be realistic and genuine.
Health and Wellbeing
There is an increasing awareness of how our environment can affect our physical and mental health and the impact that this has on our productivity and wellbeing. The Covid pandemic has reinforced the importance of good mental and physical health for everyone in society and there is an increased focus on the need for more human-centred, sustainable environments that support the people who work and live in them.
We understand that good design is at the centre of this and has real power to improve peoples’ lives and support organisations, delivering places that support health, comfort, and happiness. The quality of environment can help to reduce staff turnover, improve outputs, and attract new people to an organisation.
Our designers are trained to look at how new and existing buildings, and external spaces, can deliver high quality places that is not only functional, adaptable, and efficient but is also welcoming, inclusive and supportive.
Procurement
Professional services frameworks have become increasingly important over recent years as a method to engage construction professionals in a way that ensures compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and that promotes a more streamlined way of partnering in the longer term.
As a practice, we have secured positions on a range of established, UK compliant frameworks, which enables easier, quicker and cheaper procurement routes for our clients. In addition to our national and regional frameworks, GSS have also secured places on a number of university frameworks across the country.
For more information on our frameworks and how you can appoint GSSArchitecture for your project, please visit our website via the below QR code:
Scan for more information on our frameworks.
Architects Lead Consultants Masterplanners
HARROGATE
MILTON KEYNES NEWCASTLE