Reworking what is already there — from a single floor to a house stripped back and rebuilt inside. We work on listed buildings and in conservation areas, and the planning strategy is set before the first drawing.
Anything from reworking a single floor to stripping a house back and rebuilding it inside. It covers layout changes, new kitchens and bathrooms, insulation and services, and repair of historic fabric. If you are not adding floor area, it is a refurbishment; if you are, see extensions.
Usually not for internal work. You will need it if the building is listed, in a conservation area, or if you are changing the external appearance. Listed building consent is separate from planning permission and both may apply. We tell you which at the first meeting, not after the drawings.
Two numbers: our fee and your build cost. Build cost varies more than anything else on this page, driven by how much of the existing fabric survives. We recommend holding 8–10% back for the unforeseen, because what is behind the plaster is unknown until it is open.
Design and any consents, six to eight weeks to submission. Construction on a whole-house refurbishment typically runs six to nine months. Phased work, where you stay living in part of the house, takes longer but spreads the cost.
Yes, and a good deal of our work is. Old Forge was a Grade II forge conversion that ran from 2016 to 2022 and was published in the Wall Street Journal. We treat existing fabric as a resource, which is also what gets consents through.
Yes. Flats bring two extra constraints: the lease, which usually requires the freeholder's consent for anything structural, and in Spain the comunidad de propietarios, whose agreement is needed where common elements are affected. We help prepare the documentation for both.
Send us the address and a sentence about what you want to change. We reply within one working day.