We were approached by the clients of the Old Stables site to review and guide them through the process of constructing a family home on a plot already purchased with planning. 

Our initial assessment of the existing planning for the site showed potential construction and design flaws that could be designed out. Working closely with the clients and the local authority, we went back to planning with a fresh scheme, obtaining consent at first application before embarking on the detailed design stage.

This challenging site led to a design that is built into the natural slope of the plot, utilising a suite of renewable and sustainable technologies, which blends traditional and modern construction methods to form a family home we are hugely proud of. 

This house was entered into the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) regional awards under the ‘Best New Individual House’ category for the South East 2020. Alongside contractor Kavbro Build Ltd and the clients, we were thrilled to beat strong competition and win this prestigious title.

This project is typical of the kind of work we are commissioned for around the Kent/Surrey border. This large detached family home in a good size plot needed updating, extending and reimagining. In the UK, a large proportion of our housing stock is from the late 19th to early 20th century, and is often untouched or neglected, with living accommodation that is too small or out of proportion.

For this project, we were briefed by the clients to achieve a specific number of bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and utility spaces. Over the course of the project, we took them through the design, planning, detailed design, tender and construction phases. Working closely with the preferred contractor and clients throughout the project, we achieved a family home fit for the 21st century.

This is an example of balancing traditional building methods with modern forms of construction and technologies to provide the best solution.

In the historic town of Rye, this listed building was a tired, challenging and problematic town house that needed to be reimagined to resolve decades of ill-conceived extensions and alterations. 1960s and onwards rear additions led to structural issues within the building’s envelope, weathering and thermal concerns, and aesthetically, a series of additions that were neither traditional nor contemporary in conception. Having worked very closely with the local authorities conservation officer, we obtained planning and listed building consent to replace a series of rear additions with a contemporary solution. Care and consideration were given to drainage, party wall, building control, conservation, structure and design at all stages, working with a local contractor to complete this complicated project to the client’s satisfaction.