We were approached by the resident’s association of a block of 24 flats built in the 1930’s which had major problems with their roof. The building had been leaking for many years and the cost of replacing it was prohibitive for many of the owners.

We identified a solution that resulted in the owners not needing to pay a large sum for renewal or repairs and receiving a development uplift payment.

This involved obtaining planning consent to build a new mansard roof which incorporated eight new 2 bedroom luxury apartments within the roof void.

Communal areas were also vastly improved for the benefit of all existing residents, including refurbishing the existing garage blocks and providing additional off-street parking for the new residents.

As Jai Lee, our lead consultant from JAIA Architecture in London explains, “We designed a new mansard roof, dormers and lanterns with meticulous detail. It proved to be extremely successful and blended in so sympathetically that many thought it was part of the original structure. It has regenerated the entire estate and enhanced the immediate landscape and surrounding built environment.”

Despite teaming up with a well-known national housebuilder, the owner had failed for many years to gain permission to build on his land near Ash railway station.

We looked at the site afresh, and after hugely complex negotiations with Guildford Borough Council and Surrey Highways, we succeeded in gaining outline planning consent for 154 new homes.

Many major complications were overcome, including Guildford’s insistence for a potential re-routing of the A323 through our client’s land, SANGS provision, substantial S106 contributions, flooding concerns and numerous ecology constraints. As Ian Davis, our lead consultant from architects Lytle Associates in Guildford explains, “Lytle Associates Architects worked with our client on this extensive 6 ha residential development opportunity over a considerable period of time. At the outset, the land was the subject of a negative planning history, including a dismissal by the Planning Inspectorate at Public Inquiry. Our client assembled the site from three landholdings, effectively negotiating complex access, drainage and ecological mitigation plans to create a strategic landholding capable of delivering 154 new homes and, in so doing, making a substantial contribution to the borough’s housing needs.”