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Bern’s CV
Bern Balfe studied architecture at University College Dublin. During a year out, she worked in Los Angeles as a toy designer.
After graduating in 1985 with an honours degree, she moved to London, where she gained practical experience and her professional practice qualifications, and, in her spare time worked on the restoration of a medieval gatehouse to Bermondsey Abbey.
She spent five years at the in-house architecture department of the BBC, where she built up expertise in the regeneration of buildings which had lost their original function and she began to develop an interest in the dialogue of ideas from different times and cultures which this kind of work can foster. Projects included feasibility studies to improve efficiency and use of existing buildings, and conversion works to adapt buildings to match changing needs.
In 1994 she moved to Edinburgh, and worked for RMJM, During this time she worked in the Middle East on a hotel project; on a proposal for refurbishment of the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and designed and built a small office building on the Bush Estate near Penicuik.
In 1997 she became an associate at Benjamin Tindall Architects and was the project architect for the alteration of the Grade A listed Highland Tolbooth to create the headquarters of the Edinburgh International Festival Society, and for The Queen’s Gallery, at the other end of the Royal Mile, both of which were award-winning projects.
In 2001, Bern set up her own practice, and in that time has carried out a wide range of building projects as well as teaching architecture and design. In addition to her skill in the adaptation of existing buildings to new uses she has built up a lot of experience in design for long term sustainability and reduced energy use. |
