GMW Architects
GMW Architects are an architectural practice based in the United Kingdom.
History
The practice was established in 1947 by Frank Gollins (1910– ), James Melvin (1912–2012), and Edmund Ward (1912–98) and operated as Gollins Melvin Ward. In the 1950s they designed the central campus for the University of Sheffield and Castrol House, a tower on Marylebone Road in London, notable as one of the first uses of curtain walling on a building in the United Kingdom.[1]
In the 1960s they went on to design two buildings at Undershaft in the City of London - the 28 storey Commercial Union Tower, which was the first building in the city to exceed the height of St Paul's Cathedral structure, and the now demolished headquarters of P&O. These buildings both featured an innovative structure by which the office floors are hung by steel rods from cantilevers out from the concrete core, rather than being supported from ground level.[2]
In 1974 the three founders retired, leaving a well-established practice. Soon after GMW was awarded a commission to design the King Saud University in Saudi Arabia.[1]
In 1983 the firm was appointed to design the new Barclays Bank headquarters building at 54 Lombard Street and in 1994 the practice was appointed to handle the refurbishment of Tower 42 in London.[1]
Current activities
GMW now seeks to produce relatively modest urban design solutions that “look like they were designed by Albert Speer”. Typical projects are mixed-use developments and the retention of existing heritage elements.[1]