Catriona Gorton Contact 07741469049 catrionagorton@live.co.uk Linkedin.com/in/catrionagorton Makants Farm, Blackburn Road, Bolton, BL1 7LH
About me I am an enthusiastic Part II Architectural Assistant with a passion for sustainability and the retrofit and adaptive reuse of heritage properties. I have an eye for detail and enjoy spatial problem solving, especially within existing buildings, and am eager to learn from the team around me as I work towards Part III. I believe in architecture as tool for social justice and am looking forward to joining a team which makes a positive impact.
Hobbies I am a violinist and singer: I spent a year as leader of the Greater Manchester Youth String Orchestra, and was part of the University of Liverpool Chamber Choir for all five years I was a student there. I am also an avid reader and beginner boulderer, and I enjoy sewing my own clothes.
Skills • AutoCAD • SketchUp • Adobe InDesign • Adobe Illustrator • Adobe Photoshop • Microsoft Office • Model-making • Presentation
Portfolio Sample Portfolio can be found at: https://issuu.com/ catrionagorton More detail on Imagined Cities can be found at: https://www. virtual-lsa.uk/march/2526/ufsgroup-1/
Experience FEMINISMS: Radical projects between architecture, city, design and gender, Politecnico di Milano | May – June 2026 • Imagined Cities accepted into an exhibition at Politecnico di Milano which explores rights, gender and the future, and how contemporary design practices are increasingly shaped by an intersectional awareness. Exhibition Designer, University of Liverpool | April – June 2026 • I had a leading role in the design team for the 2026 Liverpool School of Architecture degree show “Let’s Dance”. • I participated in design development meetings with different stakeholders, and adapted the design to balance their conflicting priorities. Part 1 Architectural Assistant, Harrison Ince Architects & Interior Designers, Manchester | June – August 2025; September 2023 – September 2024 • Part of a multidisciplinary team working mainly on retrofit and refurbishment projects in pubs and hospitality venues. • Trusted to independently design staff rooms and back of house areas for pubs, often listed, and communicate with clients and stakeholders about revisions to the designs. • Worked directly under the directors on redesigning the customer area at Grade II listed The Art Picture House, Bury, and with responsibility for feasibility plans to remove one bar and replace another, simplify the levels, relocate toilets, and increase covers. • I completed numerous site surveys, often independently. • I was given responsibility for writing and submitting many Building Control, Planning and Listed Building Consent applications, including writing Design and Access and Heritage Statements and communicating and liaising with conservation officers. • I was given sole responsibility for designing over-bar glass racks, including communicating with fabricators and suppliers and obtaining quotes. Architectural Assistant, Bradshaw Gass and Hope, Bolton | June – September 2022 • I was trusted to develop the façade design of a factory and to design and produce a tender package for a brise soleil. • I created graphics and renders for client meetings and presentations.
Education MArch, University of Liverpool | Distinction | September 2024 – June 2026 • Dissertation: “How do environmental retrofits impact the heritage value of post-war university buildings?” investigating how the retrofits at the University of Sheffield’s Arts Tower and UCL’s Institute of Education dealt with the Grade II* listed buildings’ architectural, historic and social significances. • Fifth Year project: “Imagined Cities: feminist principles as a tool for inclusive citymaking” within the Urban Form and Social Space research group, shortlisted for the Sheppard Robson Jicwood Prize. • We used feminist utopias in literary and academic texts to understand the spatial conditions of equal and inclusive cities and critique existing urban conditions. • We built on this to create a futureproofed inclusive neighbourhood close to Sheffield train station which increases the city’s accessibility and develop a rule-book to ensure the buildings promote equality and to allow the project to be replicated elsewhere. Professional Practice CPD Course, University of Liverpool | February – August 2024 • Part-time course taken alongside my Part 1 role, using my experiences in practice as live case studies to learn about the duties and responsibilities of an architect, including professionalism, procurement and contracts. BA Architecture, University of Liverpool | 2:1 | September 2020 – June 2023 • Third Year studio: Community and Contested Spaces, focusing on designing sustainable community-centred buildings, including a rammed earth community education centre and a ceramics fabrication space in a retrofitted 1960s tower. RIBA Student Mentoring, Ryder Architecture, Liverpool | February - April 2022 GCSEs and A-Levels, Canon Slade, Bolton | June 2020; June 2018 • A Levels: A* Mathematics; A* Physics; B Art; A* Extended Project Qualification • GCSEs: 1x Grade A*; 3x Grade 9; 7x Grade 8