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Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas, Oxford
Based in Oxford, working on listed buildings and conservation area projects across Oxfordshire, the Cotswolds, Buckinghamshire and London.
A listed building or a home in one of Oxford's conservation areas raises the same questions before design starts: what can change, what a conservation officer will support, and how to fit contemporary living into a building that wasn't built for it. We work through these questions with clients on every project, then design new work that stands confidently on its own without competing with the historic fabric around it.
Cemetery House, a listed home in a conservation area in London, shows how far this can go: a double-height extension in Petersen Kolumba brick and in-situ concrete, built to meet the council's condition that it read as though it had always been there. Lakeside House, a Grade II listed home beside Hinksey Lake, shows the same approach applied more quietly: the brief was to bring the house up to modern standards while keeping the qualities that got it listed. MR House, a Victorian property in central Oxford, follows the same approach on a smaller scale. We kept the original cornicing and joinery and built the design around them instead of stripping them out.
What's Involved in a Listed Building Project
Listed Building Consent is an additional part of the planning process for a listed building, assessed on different grounds from planning permission. Planning permission looks at scale, appearance, use and wider impact. Listed Building Consent focuses on the effect the works may have on the building's special architectural or historic interest.
A conservation officer isn't simply judging whether a proposal looks good in isolation. They're weighing whether the design responds to the building's history, character, materials and construction, and whether its significance has been understood and protected.
None of this means a listed building can't be altered, extended or adapted for modern life. Successful projects often combine careful conservation with confident contemporary design; the design needs to rest on a clear understanding of the building and a convincing case for why the proposed approach is right for it.
We manage Listed Building Consent alongside planning applications where both are needed, coordinating the design, drawings and supporting information as one process. On every listed building project, we recommend seeking pre-application advice from the relevant local planning authority before finalising the design: it's a chance to test the principles of a proposal and surface concerns early, though it can't guarantee approval. We'll usually also bring in a heritage consultant early to prepare a heritage appraisal, and on more complex or sensitive projects, a planning consultant to help manage discussions with the council. Getting that team in place from the outset gives the project its best chance of a positive response.
Our Approach
We begin with the existing building.
Before developing a design, we take time to understand its historic fabric, structure, materials, previous alterations and patterns of use. This helps us identify what is genuinely significant, what may have been lost or compromised over time, and where there is scope for carefully considered change.
Listed buildings are rarely the product of a single moment. Most have evolved through generations of adaptation, repair and extension. We see our work as the next chapter in that process: protecting the qualities that make the building special while helping it remain useful, relevant and enjoyable for contemporary life.
Where new interventions are required, we generally favour a clear but quiet distinction between old and new. Rather than copying historic details, we use proportion, materiality and craftsmanship to create additions that feel contemporary while remaining closely connected to the character of the original building.
This approach allows each proposal to respond to the specific history and significance of the property. The result should feel coherent rather than imitative, with new work that sits confidently alongside the existing fabric without overwhelming it.
