CAD Divider

CAD Divider

Reflecting on five amazing years

Oct 2, 2018

As you can imagine, relocating a business is every bit as daunting as moving house – but about three times as stressful!

Having set up CAD Architects in 2000, we had already built up a great team and handled some wonderful flagship projects. However, by 2013 it was clear that we needed a new home in order to provide a platform for our future growth.

And for us, Truro was the natural choice. When I was interviewed at the time of our move I said: “As the commercial capital of Cornwall, Truro is the ideal place to relocate our business.” And so it has proved.

I remember how delighted we were to secure excellent new premises at Courtleigh House on Lemon Street. Not only was this right in the heart of the bustling centre of the city, it was also (appropriately enough) just a few doors away one of our most famous projects, the award-winning redesign of the iconic Lemon Street Market.

As architects, we get immense satisfaction from seeing our vision for buildings brought to life, so it is always inspiring to have a daily reminder of some of the great projects we have worked on.

Our talented team has really thrived in our Truro location and over the last five years we have expanded from 13 people in 2013 to 19 people currently. Not many architectural practices have been able to grow their team to such an extent in the current economic climate.

The fact that our business has achieved this growth is down to the exceptional skill, imagination and energy of our people. Architecture is a very demanding profession, which requires really close teamwork, with each individual making their own unique contribution. I am lucky to be leading a team that does exactly that.

We have also been able to strengthen our Board. In January 2014, Jeremy Bradley joined us as a Director, having previously run his own architecture practice in St Agnes. Then in January 2017, I was proud to see Sam Mayou, who has been with us since 2002, step up to the role of Heritage Director.

A business like our grows mainly through recommendations and referrals from delighted clients. The excellent service that our team has given has resulted in us having the opportunity to secure some fantastic new projects over the last five years.

Our work has spanned new house design, building alterations and extensions, heritage and conservation, commercial premises, leisure and tourism architecture, as well as community and education projects. You can see examples of our team in action in our Projects section.

We have evolved into a truly multi-disciplinary Chartered Architects practice and, as a team, we are really looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that the future will bring.

And I’m very relieved to say we have no plans for a further office move! In fact, from this month we will be taking over part of the second floor here at Courtleigh House, to accommodate our bigger team and to provide “growing room” for our ambitious plans for the business.

Here’s to the next five years!

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