Employee Spotlight – Lee Martin
A quarter of a century is a milestone in itself, let alone when you have two Silver Anniversaries in the same year. An achievement our Associate Lee Martin is fortunate to be able to claim; celebrating both his wedding anniversary and 25th year working at HGP. Lee is one of our most senior technologists and project managers, valued for his friendly professionalism, experience and eye for detail.
We caught up with Lee to find out more about how he feels about his Silver Work Anniversary.
Celebrating your 25th anniversary of working at HGP is a significant milestone. What does it mean to you?
I feel very proud to have worked at HGP for 25 years, but if I’m honest, it doesn’t feel like I’ve been here for that long and, in some ways, I still feel like the junior technician that joined all those years ago. Being married as long as I’ve been at HGP, does make this quite a memorable year and has meant that a lot of my adult growth has occurred consistently parallel between two mainstays of home and work life.
You must have witnessed a lot of change over the years. Have any of those changes influenced you to stay as long as you have and what in your opinion has been the most significant change?
I don’t think there has been any one significant change that has influenced my stay at HGP, but I have been part of the journey that HGP has been on, having worked at HGP for almost half the number of years the company has been going and starting when the founding partner and company namesake, Hedley Greentree was still the director in charge. I’ve always been happy at HGP and though there have been a lot who have come and gone, I’ve always enjoyed the people who have worked here.
What has been your greatest accomplishment whilst working at HGP?
I think it’s probably the variation of projects that I have worked on. From predominantly working on retail projects, such as ASDA stores when I started, to large office developments and now high rise residential.
The industry has seen a lot of changes over 25 years which you would have experienced. What is one of the biggest changes you have witnessed that you feel has positively changed our industry.
BIM. When I first started at HGP, I was one of a few that were brought in to work on CAD while others were still working on drawing boards. Now our 3D workflow is a vast improvement from the early days of CAD.
What is it you like most about a career in Architecture?
It has always been the technical drawing side, from being on a drawing board when I started to now modelling in Revit. Unfortunately, I don’t get to do this as much as I’d like to now.
Do you have any advice for colleagues or prospective candidates about working in the industry?
Stay grounded and to remember that you will never know everything.
Is there anything you would change, if you could go back in time?
It may sound corny, but assuming we are talking about my time at HGP, I honestly don’t think I’d change anything.
If you weren’t working in Architecture, what would you be doing?
I’m not entirely sure. However, when I was younger I was captivated by seeing someone sat in front of a large window, at a drawing board and I think from then on I have always been drawn (excuse the pun) to a job where I would have been sat at a drawing board; so maybe a graphic designer or even a structural engineer. Who knows for certain, but the dream job now would be a DJ and we’re not talking radio or weddings, I don’t do requests!
What are 3 words to best describe your time at HGP?
Challenging, Friendly and Supportive.