Simon Lay
Director
A RIBA Prize for Houlton School
This year, the RIBA launched its very first RIBA Stirling Prize award for Reinvention. The inaugural winner was Houlton School in Rugby – a scheme on which OFR is part of the design team
Simon Lay has been appointed to the Building Advisory Committee
Simon Lay has been appointed to the newly established Building Advisory Committee which has this week hosted its first meeting. The BAC was established under the Building Safety Act 2022 as part of the Government’s reforms of building safety. The reforms are designed to create lasting change and make it clear how residential buildings should be constructed, maintained and made safe.
Setting a fire engineering precedent with significant Midlands development
As a significant development project, the £110m Octagon in Birmingham will put the great Midlands city once again on the global stage. Upon completion, this progressive project will be the tallest octagonal-shaped residential building, not only in the UK but throughout the world. Here our colleague Rich Rankin tells us more about OFR’s role in the project.
An updated look for our growing brand
This week saw us unveil a refreshed brand and a new website, with a new aesthetic that helps reflect our growing business. Here, our founder Simon Lay talks us through our company’s journey, and our updated look.
Welcoming our 100th colleague!
It was just over five short years ago that myself and Sam established this business. We’d both left big, multi-disciplinary organisations and knew we wanted to pioneer something different, that was completely dedicated to fire engineering.