Business Profile
Gotelee Orchard-Lisle - Building on a solid reputation
14th February 2008
GOTELEE Orchard-Lisle is the longest established architectural practice in Newbury. Located in Cromwell Place, the firm continues to occupy a row of Georgian houses in the town centre.
Since its inception, the firm has thrived on personal recommendation, with its existing clientele providing repeat business over and over again.
Unusual for these days is its ability to offer either computer aided or traditionally prepared drawings. The partners pride themselves on design sensitive work, whether they are working on listed buildings such as large country houses and churches, or on brand new developments, ranging from individual houses and community projects, through to school buildings and commercial and industrial work.
Within the practice, there are more architects than assistants, resulting in a strong emphasis towards good design and quality. They believe that the minimum standard required by every client is a service that ensures firstly, that a project is completed on time, secondly that it is on budget, and thirdly that the completed building is problem free.
Gotelee Orchard-Lisle maintains a fourth minimum requirement, that its clients should be proud of their new buildings and enjoy its design excellence. The practice is always keen to hear from architects who are anxious to work in a practice with this ethos.
The partners of Gotelee Orchard-Lisle (Mervyn Orchard-Lisle, Ian Fewtrell-Smith and Nigel Taylor) aim to provide a service rather in excess of what is normally expected of architects, this having proved a major factor in maintaining repeat business.
For example, once the firm is employed by a particular school, it continues to be retained by it. It has been been working for Bradfield College for more than 30 years, for Cheam School for nearly 20 years, for Cranleigh School in Surrey since 1997, and for Horris Hill School since 1998. These schools, among others, recognised the importance of experience, continuity and good design, and several have current projects at various stages. More recent school clients include Crosfields School in Reading, Elstree School, The Manor Prep School in Abingdon and many Church of England schools.
Domestic projects vary in size from significant extensions up to large new individual houses, including one on a privately-owned island, and another development being new houses in the grounds of a listed Georgian house, where commercial considerations had to be met while maintaining sensitivity towards the host property.
The practice is involved with commercial work, but largely outside Newbury. Recent clients have been IBM, Western Geophysical, Lockheed Martin, Havant International and Geotrace Technologies. It is finding that more and more of its commercial projects are needing a high-tech approach. Indeed, one of the projects was for was for what was, at the time, the largest computer centre in London. Recently, it worked with the Newbury Weekly News as part of a team creating a new press line at Newspaper House in Faraday Road. and It is at the early design stages for a further expansion of the premises.
Telephone: (01635) 36600
E-mail: architects@go-l.co.uk
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