Modern Comfort in Character Homes — Without Losing the Soul of the Building
We’ve worked on barn conversions and period homes throughout Warwickshire — in places like Claverdon, Henley-in-Arden and the villages near Stratford — where the balance is everything. You want warmth, flow and comfort inside, but you can’t lose the character that made the house special in the first place.
We take the time to look properly at what’s there — the lines of the roof, the way the openings are arranged, how the materials have aged — and build the design around that. In conservation areas, or on listed buildings, we work closely with the planners from day one. That might mean keeping an original wall exposed, designing new openings with a clear break in the brickwork, or using lime plaster internally so the structure still breathes.
We don’t fake the old bits — and we don’t force in the new. It’s a balance, and we’ve done it enough times to know where the red lines are with building control, and how far you can go before planning starts asking for heritage reports.
Designs that respect original materials and detailing
Upgrades that meet modern building regs without covering everything up
Conservation-led drawings that explain the logic behind every change
Experience with listed buildings and sensitive rural settings
Featured Project: A barn conversion just outside Henley-in-Arden — reworked to bring in light and add proper living space, without flattening the character. Lime plaster, exposed trusses, and new steel-framed glazing carefully inserted into the original bays.