The chances are that your project will involve:
- A detached house you want to extend.
- An empty plot of land you want to develop.
But please don’t start your project by discussing the building. Let’s start by discussing you and your dreams for it. You don’t need to understand construction or planning, architecture or engineering. What matters is WHY you are thinking of developing your space.
Do you want to live in it or sell it for as much as possible?
If you are staying, do you want your home to be bigger, brighter, more discreet or more practical?
What exactly do you want to achieve and why?
These might sound like simple questions, but they help define exactly what to do from that point on. It could even be that your ‘extension’ could be a more expensive way of creating a new living room than converting your attic.
By understanding what you are trying to achieve from a lifestyle perspective, I can help you introduce ideas to make the space do something really special and relevant to you. That could mean floor to ceiling glazed doors that fold back to enable unrestricted access to your garden. Or a balcony created from steel and glass. Or a new extension featuring a wood burner. Or a walk-in dressing area that feels like Hollywood.
There are so many ways to plan something perfect for your property. And because I work for a fixed fee (including getting you through planning), my only motivation is to offer you the best, most creative advice.
I’m a person not a business. So before we speak, I’m sure you’d like to know who you will be talking to.
First things first. I love what I do. I’m passionate about people and about property – helping the former get the very best value from the latter!
I didn’t start offering design and planning services. I qualified as a Civil Engineer at Cardiff University and worked at Wimpey Homes on housing development groundworks. I then joined a locally based housing developer designing houses and housing estates, then worked with a London based private property developer managing multi million pound housing developments. This included the development of grade 1 Listed buildings.
I then moved on to South West Water and specialised in how infrastructure effects planning – as you can imagine, this never ceases to be relevant, as there’s nothing more annoying than a simple plan for a side extension being complicated by the discovery of a sewage pipe running directly underneath it!
Whilst there I became a business development manager, combining technical knowledge with an understanding of what clients were trying to achieve. I was instrumental in setting-up a domestic leaks and repairs service. We extended that, first into septic tank design and then private waste water treatment works.
My journey continued by honing my construction and design skills with a firm of builders and an architect. At which point, having amassed such a wide range of insights and experience working for others, I decided to set-up on my own.
I now have over 20 years’ experience of working with numerous clients (like you ) providing them with a design . planning and building regulation plans approval for their home projects
All of which have given me a huge span of experience and a number of complimentary skills. Together they enable me to design, plan, and work with councils to gain permission for new houses, extensions and loft conversions. My clients are spread across South Devon, Cornwall and Cardiff.
