Challenge
Turning a long-established office building into a luxury family home, requiring both clever design and a considered planning approach. The success of the project hinged on changing the use of the property, which we pursued by going down the path of a prior approval application under Class MA.
Approach
For Class MA to be applicable the building’s exterior cannot be changed, meaning the design needed to be suitable for everyday living, but only by altering its interior. To ensure we remained within these parameters, we carefully integrated internal partition walls into the design and refitted the bathrooms to maximise impact without any perceptible external changes.
Solution
With a thoughtful design and strategic planning argument, our team successfully gained prior approval for the transformation and change of use of a former office building into a spacious, countryside retreat. Because the changes are solely internal, the home’s traditional exterior remains congruent with the other premises on the property, and effortlessly adds a family home to the Leamington Spa locality.