Property expert Dominic Arnold on making your vision a reality & within your budget
Here at Cocoon we sometimes find ourselves turning to the expertise of an architect for professional advice concerning design, feasibility and to realise a particular kind of client’s dreams.
However, while some projects may need an architect on board, this is not always necessary. Domestic buildings, particularly here in Brighton and Hove, will rarely need the vision of an architect to produce what has to be passed by the local authority through planning permission.
If you are hoping to transform a Victorian terraced house into, say, a modern vision of glass and steel, beware of the constraints and prepare to suffer appeal after appeal to get permission to build it. You may end up spending a small fortune in section and elevation plans, design changes (and countless meetings) and only end up with some very pretty drawings which will look great framed on your dining room wall to be admired by all.
“We can produce plans and elevations at an affordable price”
For us at Cocoon, we rely on an ace technical draughtsperson: a skilled individual who can take your ideas, combined with our experience about what works in local houses and can produce plans and elevations at an affordable price. Another professional body designing a kitchen extension may charge around £2,000 ex VAT for a standard quad-folding door, pitched roof on the side return and kitchen layout. We can, through our draughtspeople, produce exactly the same design for approximately £600 ex VAT. We’re so confident about these facts because we’re all too aware about what will be allowed by the planning department, particularly in Victorian homes often located within conservation areas.
So if your heart’s set on a vision of gothic revival buttresses or a glass atrium frame in zinc, you might need the help of an architect. However, if you’d just like to maximise your space in a sensitive way to the original building, then here at Cocoon Property we can help.
Dominic Arnold
Dad to three, husband to one, MD of Cocoon Property Ltd, Brighton:
specialising in full-house refurbishments, eco-retrofit, loft conversions, kitchen extensions (side returns), interior design and condensation control.
01273 556800
www.cocoonproperty.co.uk
Follow me on twitter: @PropDom
dominic@cocoonproperty.co.uk
