Reduced depletion of natural resources.

Architects Khalifa Abubakar, Shaun Obinna Ihejetoh and Colin Cheng became friends whilst studying at Edinburgh College of Arts in 2006.After honing their craft at a number of renowned practices in the UK and abroad they came together in 2016 to form the RIBA Chartered architectural practice,.

West Port & Co. .They are now working on a variety of projects from residential extensions, student housing, and even a boutique hotel on the Isle of Skye.. GWS is their first HQ.Prior to taking the space they were doing a mix of working at home and in coffee shops.

‘Moving in here has made me realise that there are some really bad office spaces out there,’ says Shaun, ‘but this place makes you realise that an environment can make you work harder and make you happier.You spend so much time at work, it’s really important.

I feel really happy coming here.

It’s a place that is conducive to creating great architecture.’.Speaking about the innovative qualities of the Circle project, Co-Founder Martin Wood comments that Circle Reading was the first exercise to really connect design and construction in such an intimate way.

‘The platform principle completely enshrines design and construction as a single entity,’ he says.‘It’s effectively a way of thinking, a principle where the rationale in design supports the rationale in construction in a fully unified, virtuous circle effect.’.

Johnston elaborates, explaining that the project employed an ‘evidence based approach’ to ‘balance various and often contradictory [stakeholder] needs.’ These included those of individual clinical specialisms, nursing staff, catering providers, facilities and maintenance providers, the Care Quality Commission etc...Ultimately, Johnston explains, this facilitated an ‘overall optimum outcome,’ which he describes as being a combination of fantastic patient experience, minimised costs, optimised use of DfMA and more.