We have moved to a new home!

In the last 20 years Nicholas Jacob Architects has grown rapidly, working on some of the most prestigious projects in the East. Here Shaun Soanes explains how the company success has led to an exciting plan for growth – starting with a move to new premises.

We have been busy this week moving into our brand new offices on the waterfront in Ipswich. Our stunning building on Wherry Quay overlooks the marina with its beauty, bustle and boats.

The move marks an important milestone for the company in its 20^th anniversary year and saying goodbye to our old site on Berners Street has given us an opportunity to look back on our incredible heritage of talent and accomplishments.

Our history

Nick Jacob founded Nicholas Jacob Architects in 1996 alongside myself and Hugh Bunbury.

We are experts in conservation and historic buildings but have also worked on challenging, contemporary builds and larger commercial and residential projects. The company has grown from humble beginnings to a multi-award winning firm of 12 professionals. We are now firmly leaders in the market place.

Recently Nick and I changed the company status to that of a Limited Liability Partnership, which has given us the ability to grow the ownership of the practice in a structured way and create the opportunity for individuals to take the initiative. This should lead to new areas of growth as well as generate a sense of pride among the senior management team.

Expanding

We are continually investing in new generations of talented staff and are in the middle of a recruitment drive.

We are currently looking for a technician/technologist to take on a diverse and interesting workload, which encompasses commercial and high end residential projects, often with an historic building context.

Growing the team will allow us to continue to celebrate long term business relationships with our valued customers. After all, the quality of our employees and of their highly skilled work continues to receive very positive feedback from our customers who highly value our service delivery.

Our new home

Over the last few years we have grown rapidly and, while we loved our Berners Street site, we outgrew our old office. We needed more office space and room for further staff expansion.

The new office is in a prime waterfront location in the heart of Ipswich, with beautiful views providing inspiration and stimulation. It’s a wonderful place to hold client meetings and there is a lot going on outside the front door – with some lovely places to eat lunch and some beautiful spots to sit and enjoy the summer sunshine.

The future looks very bright for the business, which intends to remain in this wonderful part of Ipswich for another 20 years – and beyond.

Looking to the future

We are very excited about what is in store for Nicholas Jacob Architects and are in a robust position to support our clients as we grow. This is our 20^th year and in the last 12 months we have received several industry recognitions for various projects, which is hugely rewarding.

The firm received a ‘Highly Commended’ award for its work on The Avenue Theatre at the RICS East of England awards, and another commendation from the SJCC awards for St Lawrence Church, Ipswich.  We were also commended by the Georgian Group, a charity for the protection and appreciation of British architecture of the period, for their work on a Grade II* listed country house.

Current projects include the restoration of the Electric Palace cinema in Harwich, one of the UK’s oldest purpose-built cinemas and developing The Long Shop Museum in Leiston after it was awarded initial support by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) towards a £2.6 million project.