Cornwall · Free first consultation · 30 years of approvals
Architectural design across Cornwall.
Feasibility, planning drawings, building regulations and — when you want one team all the way through — the build itself. Studio in Penzance, 30 years of Cornwall Council approvals, and a free first site visit anywhere from the Lizard to Bude.
What's included
Design through to consent — and beyond.
- Free first site visit and feasibility chat
- Measured survey coordination
- Sketch options and client review rounds
- Pre-application advice with Cornwall Council where it helps
- Full planning drawing package (plans, elevations, sections, location & block)
- Design and Access Statement, heritage statement when needed
- Listed Building Consent applications
- Certificate of Lawfulness for permitted development
- Full Plans building regulations package (1:50 & 1:10)
- Structural engineer coordination, no hand-offs
- Tender-ready specification a Cornwall builder can price
- Optional full-build delivery by our own team
Why local matters in Cornwall
Most of Cornwall is constrained land. We design for it, not around it.
AONB & Heritage Coast
Around 30% of Cornwall sits inside the AONB. Landscape impact, ridge heights, materials and overlooked views all carry weight. We brief sites on this from the first visit so the design doesn't end up redrawn at validation.
Conservation Areas & Listing
Every Cornish town centre has one. Sympathetic fenestration, render colours, slate or natural-slate-equivalent roofing, and a heritage statement that actually reads the place — not a copy-paste from another job.
Cornish building stock
Granite, cob, slate-hung walls and Cornish-bond brickwork all behave nothing like modern blockwork. Junction details, vapour strategy and lintel choices on pre-1900 stock are specific decisions, not Approved Document defaults.
Process
How a Cornwall design project runs.
Step 1
Free consultation
An hour on site, an honest read of what's possible under planning, follow-up email with options and rough budget. No fee.
Step 2
Feasibility & design
Sketch options, a fixed feasibility fee, and a chosen direction before any planning drawings start.
Step 3
Planning submission
Full planning pack to Cornwall Council. Statements, drawings, planning portal submission. About 8 weeks for a householder decision.
Step 4
Building regs & structural
Full Plans at 1:50, junction details at 1:10, structural calcs coordinated alongside. Builder-ready spec.
Step 5
Tender or build
Tender pack out to your builder, or hand it to our build team for a single-contract delivery — your call.
Step 6
On site
We answer queries, attend stage inspections where useful, and see Building Control sign-off through to the completion certificate.
FAQs
Architectural design in Cornwall — what people ask first.
- Do you really offer a free architectural consultation in Cornwall?
- Yes. The first site visit anywhere in Cornwall is free — usually an hour on site, an honest read of what's possible under planning, and a follow-up email summarising options and rough budget. No deposit, no obligation, and no fee until you're ready to move into feasibility design.
- What does an architectural designer in Cornwall actually do?
- We take a site, a brief and a budget, and turn them into a buildable scheme: feasibility sketches, planning drawings, Cornwall Council submission, full building regulations drawings, structural coordination and — if you want — the build itself. We're a design-and-build studio rather than a pure practice, so the same team that draws it can deliver it.
- Are you architects or architectural designers?
- Architectural designers. In the UK only RIBA-registered architects can use the title 'architect' — but for the vast majority of Cornish residential projects (extensions, loft conversions, remodels, new builds up to a handful of dwellings) you don't need a chartered architect. You need someone who knows Cornwall Council planning, the Cornish building stock, and how to draw something a local builder can actually price. That's us, for 30 years.
- How much do architectural designers charge in Cornwall?
- Typical residential fees in Cornwall run 6–10% of construction cost across full design, planning and building regs. A single-storey rear extension fee usually lands £3,500–£6,500 plus VAT for the full design package; a substantial remodel or new build is fee-based on scope rather than percentage. We quote fixed prices for each stage so you're never on an open-ended meter.
- Which areas of Cornwall do you cover?
- All of it. Penwith, the Lizard, the Roseland, Mid Cornwall, the China Clay area, the north coast from Padstow to Bude and the south coast from Looe to Polruan. The studio is in Penzance but we treat every project as a local one — we'd rather travel than work blind on the planning context.
- Can you handle a project in a Conservation Area or AONB?
- Yes — most of our work touches one or both. Around 80% of Cornwall is either AONB, Conservation Area, World Heritage Site or Heritage Coast, so it's not a niche, it's the baseline. We design with the constraints in mind and submit the heritage and landscape statements that the cases need.
- How long does a project take in Cornwall from first sketch to consent?
- Allow three to four months from instruction to a decision on a householder planning application: two to four weeks of design, two to four weeks of refinement and pre-application where useful, then about eight weeks for Cornwall Council to decide. Full planning runs longer at thirteen weeks statutory. Building regs and structural coordination overlap with the planning period so the build can start cleanly.
- Can you also build what you design?
- Yes. We run a full-build arm for clients who want one team, one contract and one point of accountability from first sketch to handover. For clients who prefer to keep design and build separate we deliver a tender-ready Full Plans pack any Cornwall builder can price without a list of provisional sums.