Hi readers, for those of you who don’t know me my name is Breege Galbraith and I am a registered RIAI architect based in Buncrana, Co. Donegal, Ireland, running the family architectural practice – Michael Galbraith Associates. My father, Michael, established the practice 27 years ago and with a very heavy heart I note of his passing last July. Dad was also a registered RIAI architect and I am one of the lucky ones to have been trained from an early age in all things design, construction and architectural. As a child, I took an interest in his office at home, acting as his ‘secretary’ and watching the master at work, drawing what true architects did back then…hand drawings! Hand drawings are masterpieces in their own right and really must be honoured for us modern designers as we are spoilt with technology today. He also brought us on many family holidays, which always consisted of visiting famous architecture all over the world from old gothic churches to modern contemporary buildings. I took an interest and here I am!!
Obviously, my role in the practice has changed significantly since dad’s passing over the past 11 months. He was my mentor and boss and I’m sure I’m not the only one out there that thinks their dad knows everything…so if it wasn’t work related in my eyes he would still know the answer! I miss not having my sidekick to guide me anymore but it has also brought new life to my professional career. I now must make decisions on my own and be a leader within the practice. To be honest deep down I know he had me trained and ready for this role, I just didn’t think I could manage it until I had to. It has strengthened my belief that no matter where you are in life we can all do anything if we put our mind and determination to it.
So, you must be wondering “where is this girl going with this piece?” but it all starts with building my own house…an architect’s dream! I thought why not jump on the blog-wagon and write my own personal experiences of the design to completion stage of our own house and hopefully it will help my clients and others along the way with their process. There are so many aspects to a project that people are unaware of so if I can use my professional background and experience to help others with theirs then it will be a job well done. I will blog as the process goes along so please feel free to contact me with any questions or if you would like a certain topic covered. I hope you’ll enjoy reading my pieces as we build what I’ve dreamed about doing since I was a little girl. Dreams do come true!
