Architects firm 7N becomes employee owned

THE Scottish architecture practice behind major civic developments including leading a 7,000-home masterplan for the Scottish capital has moved into employee ownership.

Edinburgh-based 7N Architects said setting up an Employee Ownership Trust with owner and founding director Ewan Anderson transferring 100% of his total shareholding to a trust acting on behalf of all the company’s employees secures the firm’s longterm future.

The practice made the announcement in advance of an event at its Randolph Place studio celebrating 15 years of operation today.

The company’s leadership will now be spearheaded by a board of directors composed of Mr Anderson and co-directors Ben Watson and Craig Tait.

Named 7N Architects after the seven company members who wanted to stay in the “north” following a breakaway from a previous architectural practice, the company now employs 24 staff. According to Mr Anderson, with a formidable track record combined with a burgeoning project pipeline, now is the right time to secure the company’s long-term future.

“7N Architects has come a long way since the practice was formed during the financial crisis of 2009,” Mr Anderson said. “Despite many challenges, we have grown steadily and incrementally, and through a defined focus and commitment to putting placemaking at the heart of everything we do, we have had the privilege of being involved on some of the most transformative development projects in Scotland and the UK.

“We’ve created the City Centre Strategy for Glasgow, masterplans for University of Glasgow and Inverness Campus, a new station concept for Network Rail, built hundreds of new homes in some of the most deprived and affluent parts of Scotland and have developed transformational proposals for new workspaces.”