Challenge
Listed building? Tick. Conservation area? Tick. Green Belt? Tick. Protected trees? Tick. The short story here is that our clients purchased a lovely home for their young family only to realise very quickly how complicated adding much-needed space was going to be. So, they hired an architect and went for a pre-application meeting with the council, only to find that what they thought was a perfectly normal extension was considered too big and too modern for the context. So, they came to us; an experienced team who have worked on a number of special Green Belt projects in our time.
Approach
Even though the previous architecture team had sought a pre-app, we decided it was still important to go through the process again, this time by submitting a design and access statement, a historical research document and a tree report, as well as our designs. This became a negotiation with the heritage officers, during which we worked out how to retain as much of the original back wall as possible while adding two new rear extensions.
Solution
This was a long and complicated project, but in the end, despite the listing, the Green Belt, the conservation area, and the protected trees, we were able to deliver the changes required to create the perfect family home that our clients had hoped for. A satisfying result all around.