Heritage & listed building renovations.
As an Architect based in Winchester, we love designing sensitive restoration and refurbishments of historic homes, ensuring that every proposal is sympathetic whilst meeting the requirements of your own lifestyle.
Whether you own a Grade II listed townhouse, a heritage cottage, or a property in a conservation area in and around Winchester, our guidance ensures that your renovation is carried out with precision, care, and a deep understanding of the regulations surrounding listed buildings.
Why work with us?
Experience in Listed Building Consents
We navigate the complexities of planning and regulations surrounding listed buildings. We work closely with local authorities to ensure approvals align with your modern needs.
Different Angles
We get to the root of your needs, finding a solution that keeps you and all stakeholders happy.
A Holistic Approach
Our integrated architecture & interior design expertise ensures that every material, detail, and layout choice complements the original building.
Tailored, Design-Led Solutions
Every project is unique, and we work closely with you to balance preservation with your personal aesthetic and practical needs.
We start by understanding the architectural and historical significance of your home, working within the constraints of listed building consents to develop a renovation strategy for you.
Any alteration to listed buildings requires consent. We help you create proposals that work for you, are sympathetic, and are more likely to be consented.
Our three-stage process provides an overarching strategy behind the design.
Every project is different – but the path through it needn’t be a mystery. We help manage the complexities of planning, construction and budget.
Design
RIBA STAGES 00 – 03
We start with an appraisal: likely cost, VAT savings, professional fees, which surveys you need – and how likely this is to get consent. We don’t start drawing until you have the right information to make an informed decision.
Where it’s finely balanced, we talk to the conservation officer before anything is formally submitted. Then, together, we develop the concept, layout, materials and joinery into something you love, tested against your budget as it goes. We finish by submitting the listed building consent and planning applications on your behalf.
Detail
RIBA STAGE 04
This is where the decisions that matter most get made – grout colours, hinges, how new meets old, which fabric stays, where services run, how one floor finish meets another.
We prepare the construction drawings, joinery details, lighting layouts and finishes schedules, along with the building regulations application. We run the tender with vetted builders who’ve worked on listed buildings, all pricing the same information – then put the building contract in place before anyone starts work.
Build
RIBA STAGES 05 – 06
Once you’re on site, Tim & Zofia are standing in the mud with you; visiting regularly, inspecting the work, issuing instructions, and valuing what’s actually been built so you only pay for work that has been completed.
Old buildings hold surprises once they’re opened up, we provide solutions to your chosen contractor during the works. You’ll hear from us every Friday, whether or not there’s news. Then the last of it – snagging, the furniture and finishes going in.
Working with period & listed homes?
Listed buildings and homes in conservation areas come with unique challenges and requirements, from navigating legal restrictions to sourcing historically appropriate materials.
If you are considering renovating a listed or heritage property in Winchester or Hampshire, we would love to hear about your project.
FAQs.
Do I need consent for internal alterations?
Yes. Listing covers the whole building, inside and out – staircases, fireplaces, panelling, floorboards, doors. Detached structures in the grounds built before 1 July 1948 can be covered too.
Can I extend a listed building?
Often, yes. The test isn’t whether you extend, but whether the proposal harms the building’s significance – and where there is harm, whether public benefit outweighs it. Extensions that succeed are usually subservient, legible as new work, and placed where the historic fabric is least sensitive. We resolve that argument before drawing anything.
Do I need planning permission as well as listed building consent?
Usually both. They’re separate consents judged against different tests, and one doesn’t imply the other. Internal work often needs listed building consent alone; an extension typically needs both. We handle them as a single submission.
Can a listed building be made more energy efficient?
Yes, carefully. Old buildings need to breathe, and modern impermeable insulation traps moisture in fabric that survived centuries without it. Breathable materials, draught-proofing and secondary glazing deliver most of the gain without the risk of rot.
How long does listed building consent take?
Eight to twelve weeks from validation – although this can vary subject to your proposals. A pre-application conversation with the conservation officer beforehand usually shortens the process overall rather than lengthening it. Allow longer for Grade I and II*, where Historic England is consulted.
We'd love to hear about your ambitions.
We begin with a relaxed video or phone call to hear your vision, your goals, and your budget. No charge or obligations.
We then visit your home for an in-depth consultation – listening, understanding how you live, and seeing the building for ourselves.
We’ll follow up with a detailed proposal with a clear roadmap for your project – the stages, the approach, and the fees – from first drawings to post-completion celebrations.