Residential designin Bristol

Victorian and Edwardian terraces in Bishopston, Horfield, Southville, Bedminster and Totterdown. Larger semi-detached villas in Redland, Cotham and Westbury Park. Georgian and Regency houses in Clifton and Kingsdown. Inter-war and post-war family homes in Henleaze, Stoke Bishop and Westbury-on-Trym. Each has its own construction, its own problems and its own opportunities.

Terraces typically need light brought deep into the plan, so rooflights, side returns and lowered floors are common moves. Villas often have a generous but dark rear, where an extension can transform the kitchen. Clifton houses frequently combine a basement, steep gardens and listed status, which calls for a measured approach.

Bristol City Council is the planning authority for the whole city. A large part of the inner city lies within conservation areas, including Clifton, Cotham and Redland, Montpelier, Kingsdown and Totterdown. Some streets are covered by Article 4 directions that remove permitted development rights, for example for changes to windows, doors or roofs facing the street.

The council publishes design guidance on house alterations and extensions, including dormer windows. We follow it closely, and we make use of pre-application advice where a proposal tests the guidance. For basement work and work near the Avon Gorge, additional structural and ecological information is often required.

Rear and side-return kitchen extensions. Loft conversions with rear dormers. Basement conversions in Clifton and Cotham. Whole-house renovations of tired family homes. Garden rooms and studios. In almost every case the brief includes better daylight, better connection to the garden and lower energy bills.

Bristol's hills shape many projects. Steep gardens in Totterdown, Windmill Hill and Clifton often mean retaining walls, level changes and careful drainage, but they also offer views and the chance to stack rooms in interesting ways. Pennant stone rear walls, common across the city, need breathable repairs where they are kept, and careful structural support where they are opened up.