Tag Archive for: women

In honour of International Women’s Day, here at Select Windows we have taken the opportunity to celebrate the women that have shaped and are continuing to shape the industry today.

From our factory floor, to the accounts office we have our own team of strong, inspirational women who help us run our company smoothly. To celebrate, we’ve compiled a list of the top five women who have paved the way for the industry today:

5. ELIZABETH WILBRAHAH (1632-1705)

Believed by scholars to be the first female architect, Elizabeth Wilbrahah was behind the design of hundreds of buildings, including Weston Park in Staffordshire. Having married at 19 she used her extended honeymoon to study architecture in the Netherlands and Italy. Some of her surviving drawings show the first sash windows in England, a design which is still popular today.

4. ZAHA HADID (1950-2016)

As the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize, Zaha Hadid went on to design a variety of projects all over the world. Known for her bold, unconventional and theatrical designs her projects have shaped the industry. Among  those projects, is the Aquatics Centre in London. The 2012 Olympic Venue was designed by Zaha Hadid to be reused.

3. SADIE MORGAN

Sadie Morgan is currently one of the most powerful architects in the UK. Her firm, dRMM have an impressive portfolio of designs from educational buildings to residential homes. Her first project, with partners Alex de Rijke and Philip Marsh won seven awards. Over 20 years in her career she has won a variety of esteemed awards including being shortlisted for Architects’ Journal’s Woman Architect of the Year in 2014.

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2. ELSIE MACKAY (1893-1928)

Elsie Mackay was a British interior decorator who was behind many of the interior designs of P&0 ‘R’ Class Ships of 1925. She created some stunning designs for ships throughout the company, which belonged to her father. Mackay then gained her pilots licence, as she hoped to be the first female pilot to fly the Atlantic. Sadly, she died aged 35, attempting to do so.

1. EILEEN GRAY (1878 – 1976)

 As one of the first women to attend the Slade School of Art, Irish born, Eileen Gray was a pioneer of the Modern Movement in Architecture. She was one of the first architects to utilise steel tubular structures. One of her most famous projects was her creation of the E-1027 Villa. The Villa is L-Shaped with a flat roof and features floor to ceiling windows, creating an open and light building.