Grade I and Grade II listed work, with consent and care. Stone, cob, lime, oak and lath in buildings that have stood for centuries and will stand for centuries more if what goes on them is the right material. Repairs, extensions and full renovations, with the consent process handled as part of the job.
What the walls are made of, how they were built to handle water, and which parts are original decides everything that follows. A survey that answers those questions first is what keeps a renovation from becoming an expensive undoing of somebody else's repair.
Solid walls need to breathe. Cement render and modern mastic trap moisture inside masonry that was designed to let it out, and the damage shows up as damp, spalling stone and rotten timber. Lime mortars, lime plasters and breathable finishes are specified as a matter of course.
Applications, heritage statements, conservation officer meetings and the conditions attached to a consent are part of the work rather than something you are left to sort out. Thirty five years of these conversations means we know what a case officer will and will not accept before the drawing is submitted.
Masons, lime plasterers, thatchers, leadworkers, joiners and stained glass specialists from a network built up over decades. These are not trades you find at short notice, and having them already is most of what makes a heritage job run to time.
Heating, insulation, wiring and bathrooms brought up to standard in a way the building can carry. Services routed where they can be removed again, insulation chosen so it does not push the dew point into the wall, and interventions kept reversible.
A new part that is clearly of its own time, proportioned to the old, and joined with a light touch. Almost always an easier consent than an imitation of the original, and a far better building at the end of it.
You need consent for anything that affects the character of a listed building, inside as well as out, and that catches far more than most people expect. Repainting in a different finish, changing a floor, moving a partition and replacing windows can all need it. We handle the application, the heritage justification and the conservation officer conversation as part of the job, working with a heritage architect where the building warrants one.
It is common and it is usually resolvable, but it is not something to ignore, because unauthorised work to a listed building is an offence with no time limit. The route through is a frank conversation with the conservation officer, a survey of what was done, and either a retrospective application or a scheme to put it right. Having somebody who has had that conversation many times before makes a considerable difference to how it goes.
Because a solid stone or cob wall has no cavity and no damp proof course. It gets wet and it dries out again, and lime lets it. Cement does not: it seals the face, the water goes further into the wall, and it comes out somewhere it can, which is usually through the softer stone or into the timbers. Repointing an old building in cement is the single most expensive mistake we are asked to reverse.
Yes, carefully. Roof insulation at ceiling level, draught proofing, secondary glazing and floor insulation between joists get you a long way with very little risk. Internal wall insulation is where damage happens, because the wrong material in the wrong place moves the dew point into the masonry and rots the wall plates. It is a matter of specification rather than a straight yes or no.
Allow for the consent period before anything starts, which is normally eight to sixteen weeks depending on the authority and how well prepared the application is. On site, heritage work runs slower because lime has curing times you cannot shorten and because opening up a building reveals things a survey could not. A realistic programme with contingency in it beats an optimistic one every time.
Yes. Our award-winning church work has been in Grade I listed buildings, and the same approach applies to a Grade I house: more scrutiny, more consultation, and a higher standard of recording what is done. The grade changes the process rather than the principles.
Somerset, Devon, Wiltshire and Dorset, with the towns and villages in between covered as a matter of course. Work further afield in the South West is taken on where the project suits us and we can give it the attention it needs.
Every project starts with a conversation, long before it starts on site.