Castletown-based HLA will this month unveil a new corporate identity as it celebrates 10 years in business with a reception for clients and associates at the Bradda Glen.
The reception on Friday, July 25th comes at a time of significant change for HLA, with Director Hugh Logan looking ahead to a bright future for the business after a difficult few years following the economic downturn in 2008.
Hugh’s designs include some of the most prominent projects around the Island, including Skandia House in Onchan, Callow’s Yard in Castletown, and the Old Courthouse in Douglas.
‘The business developed steadily in its first three years,’ Hugh explained, ‘with work in both the public and private sectors. In 2007 we expanded our offices in Bridge Court, little suspecting what was to happen – the worst of all economic downturns. It led to three very difficult years, where we had to make redundancies.
‘Then, at the start of 2013, I suffered a minor stroke, but had already started to put in place a plan, working with my accountant and fellow director Roger Barrs, to form a company and spread my load of responsibilities. The company was formed late last year, and comes into operation now in combination with the new corporate identity.’
Hugh said: ‘With careful management, the last 18 months has seen significant improvements in turnover back to, and now exceeding, earlier levels. New blood and experience has been brought in at board level and a platform set for future growth. We are especially grateful to the support of Haven Homes Limited in its own development and expansion which has helped HLA to survive and move forward.’
Born in the Scottish Highlands in 1957, Hugh was brought up in North Yorkshire and studied at the Oxford School of Architecture, completing undergraduate and postgraduate studies and passing his final Royal Institute of British Architects exam in 1983.
A keen follower of Middlesbrough Football Club and Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Hugh’s passion for architecture can be traced back to studying O-levels in the North-East of England, when his maths teacher showed him a pamphlet about careers in maths, and Hugh realised that architecture took in the other subjects he loved – geography and art.
Hugh’s first position with an architect’s office was in Swindon, which he says gave him the model on which to base HLA in later years. After 15 years in Swindon, which included sojourns to Darlington, Dubai and Oman, he worked in London and Bristol, before moving to Worcester where he was appointed director of a ‘very forward looking practice’, which he again drew heavily from when setting up HLA.
Economic recession in the 90s led to Hugh being made redundant twice in two years, and he applied for several jobs in Island locations – including Shetland, Papua New Guinea and the Isle of Man – and he was offered a job at Davidson Marsh Barua (formerly Davidson Marsh & Co) in 1994.
Hugh recalls: ‘After a three-day visit to the Island, my wife, Linda, and I sat at the Sound looking across to the Calf and cogitated. Neither of us had been to the Isle of Man before, although I had a Scottish uncle who had lived (on a yacht) in Ramsey and Castletown from the mid-70s to the mid-80s.
‘We agreed to try it for a year, and despite Linda bursting into tears on arrival at the house I had rented in Port St Mary, after travelling over in a separate car with a two-year-old and a new-born baby – I had our five year old – we all soon settled in and made the Island our home.’
Hugh moved to Kellett and Robinson in 1995, and Dandara two years later, where he was appointed Director and principal architect for the larger commercial and apartment projects the firm had started to develop, such as The Majestic and Douglas Head apartment complexes. Seven years later, he left Dandara to set up HLA.
‘This has been a wonderful place to bring up our family,’ said Hugh. ‘As Project Architect at DMB, I signed the Completion Certificate and handed over Scoill Phurt Le Moirrey, where my eldest daughter, Gail, was one of the first pupils to walk through the door, to be followed by her sisters, Hannah and Nicola.’
Having weathered the difficulties since 2008, Hugh believes HLA is ready to prosper once more and is proud of how far the business has come in the last 10 years.
The main lesson from that period and earlier recessions is about the volatility of architecture as a career,’ Hugh explained, ‘which they don’t tell you about much in school of architecture, or about how to run an architectural business.
‘But there have been many highlights too. A former employer in Worcester told me that the first few years in practice would be the most enjoyable and this was true. One of my first clients was Ronnie Buchanan and Lorne House Trust, former resident and occupant of Lorne House, Castletown. Ronnie was a colourful character, a former naval man, who would often meet me in the grounds with a large, colourful and defecating parrot perched on his left shoulder. Unfortunately, his desire for two harbour side houses in the grounds of Lorne houses did not find favour with the planners.
‘Of the projects we’ve undertaken at HLA, the design of an apartment block, Ellan Veen, in College Green, Castletown gave me great satisfaction, as has the affordable housing scheme at Hampton Farm at the top of New Castletown Road as it leaves Douglas. There is an old adage in architecture that you don’t really start maturing, or perhaps feel comfortable in your skin as a designer and practitioner, until you reach the age of 40. I certainly found this to be true. The counter to that is that you need to be established by then in order to make hay before you are 50. In truth I probably left it five years or so too late, but it has been a hugely rewarding journey.’
Outside of work, Hugh is heavily involved with the Southern Nomads Rugby Club (his last outing on tour was at the age of 50), and says the camaraderie he has enjoyed within rugby and as a member of Round Table have helped create a sound balance between work and leisure.
‘I’m also a member of the Rotary Club of Rushen and Western Mann,’ said Hugh, ‘which threw up an opportunity for me to satisfy a 40-year-old ambition to visit Machu Picchu in Peru. To get there, I walked the length of the Inca Trail with a party from the Isle of Man and personally raised more than over ?3,000 for the Isle of Man Children’s Centre, which was incredibly rewarding – and I’ve plans in the pipeline for more treks in the future.’
