Lee Boyd does not have a prescriptive house style but our work is, on the whole, characterised by a crisp and contemporary approach, intimately connected to the challenges of the design context and the brief. The result is a broad portfolio of specifically detailed buildings that is underpinned by our belief that design excellence is possible, regardless of budget or aspiration.
The origins of the practice were concerned with attention to detail and the translation of ideas and language from concept to detail design. This is still very important to Lee Boyd irrespective of the scale or type of building under consideration.
Many of our projects have won awards and plaudits but the most rewarding aspect of our contribution is receiving positive feedback from our clients and building users, many of whom return with new commissions.
Continuous dialogue and open friendly communication are essential to the practice and form a key part of our approach, whether with clients, consultants, contractors or building users. This is to ensure that projects are delivered with best value and all concerned have a sense of shared contribution.
Our projects are coordinated and delivered effectively with continuous emphasis on quality of design, budget and programme control, efficient project management and proactive teamwork. The directors at Lee Boyd are actively involved in all of the projects from concept to completion as are the project architects, reinforcing our belief in the benefit of long term commitment.
Our architectural service will be carried out in accordance with the current Scottish Conditions of Appointment (RIAS) SCA/2014 (Rev April 2015) and set out against the standard RIBA work stages.
Lee Boyd was established in 1989 by Scott Lee and Stephen Boyd. This original two man partnership has grown and evolved in the intervening years into a successful limited company. In 2004 Scott Lee retired from the practice and John MacKenzie, Nicola Hall and Alan Thomson took over the management and ownership of the practice. Steve Boyd retired from the practice in 2014 and in the same year Mike Doherty was made an Associate.
One of the Practice’s early projects was to convert a former police station on Canaan Lane in Morningside, Edinburgh into a purpose designed studio space, where the company is still based. From this office, the partnership very quickly established a portfolio that included projects for the National Galleries, Library and Museums of Scotland (in the days before public procurement!). Scott and Steve pursued an approach founded on attention to detail, an aspect of the profession they felt had diminished in the commercial climate of the 1980’s.
These guiding principles on which the practice was founded have been retained and developed since the early years; we provide a high quality, friendly, design-led service to each and every client and project. Our current portfolio of work includes residential, public, commercial and interior projects for clients within the public and private sectors.
We have many repeat clients, some of whom have worked with the practice since its early days, demonstrating our commitment to providing a service tailored to the individual needs of each commission.
Lee Boyd has developed a sustainable agenda taking advice from environmental specialists that promotes a common sense and pragmatic approach to all projects.
We believe that the best results are obtained through careful consideration of fundamental design issues, such as:
the layout and orientation of the building to create a favourable micro-climate and take advantage of solar gain;
through optimum levels of thermal insulation and air tightness, and;
the use of appropriate materials (recycled where appropriate) and construction in the building fabric.
We give these issues first priority to ensure that the initial design proposal already has an extremely efficient energy model.
We have experience of a wide range of renewable technologies, including solar thermal, air and ground source heating, photovoltaic and wood chip boilers. Our first approach, however, is always to reduce the demand for energy consumption, maximising the passive opportunities latent in good design, and only supplementing this with renewable energy technology where necessary and appropriate.
Our office policy is based on the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ mantra. We travel by bicycle or public transport wherever possible or by City Car Club where it is not and prefer to issue documents electronically and print double sided. Our stationery is from sustainable sources and any waste that we generate is recycled including obsolete IT equipment and ink cartridges. Also we have worked with our suppliers to reduce packaging used in our orders and we are continuing to look for other ways in which we can reduce our carbon footprint.
Lee Boyd has its own quality manual, which is based on the principles of ISO:9001. Our policy covers all aspects of our work, including CAD management, project reporting and administration, CPD and training and staff welfare. We have invested in Solution, a custom designed Email and Document Management system for project led Practices. This integrates with Microsoft Office (including Outlook), Microstation, Revit and the Creative Suite to manage all aspects of our project correspondence, including letters, emails, certificates and instructions, site reports and meeting minutes. The system also integrates fees and job costing, providing an holistic document management solution.
Lee Boyd is committed to acting responsibly in our dealings with our clients, suppliers, employees, our local community and the environment. We conduct our business in a fair, open and transparent manner and listen to our clients and employees, taking on board feedback and comments received. We take care to ensure that the companies who supply us conduct their business in a responsible manner and we seek to support local businesses and charities whenever possible.
Our staff are encouraged to support our local community by volunteering in a number of ways. These include, for example, Scout Leader, After School Club Director, Girls’ Community FC Welfare support and volunteer with a local charity shop. Financially, our charitable support is also focussed on local charities but we have supported our staff fundraising and participation in events, such as the McMillan Run, Social Bite Fundraising, Disabled Riding school, and NewStart.
We support local schools, attending career’s fairs at Secondary Schools and presenting at Local Primary Schools. We also provide work experience opportunities for young people considering a career in Architecture. We have also supported the University of Edinburgh, providing critique and feedback to the architectural students. More recently we engaged with local primary school children, holding a workshop to allow them to help design a new office for the Childrens’ Commission
Lee Boyd are members of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), with individuals also holding their own membership. Individuals are also members of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), and all architects are registered with the Architect’s Registration Board (ARB).
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