South Cornwall · TR3
One studio for extension in Playing Place
Extensions are the bread and butter of Cornish homes — adding the kitchen-diner the original layout never had, the bedroom for a growing family, or the light and views the back of the house should always have had. Playing Place sits in South Cornwall, and that geography ends up in the drawings — Playing Place is a residential village south of Truro on the A39, with strong commuter demand and steady infill development pressure, with a building stock that leans toward small modern estates and Edwardian and Victorian cottages on the fringes.
Playing Place sits in South Cornwall — covering TR3 from Truro, Carnon Downs outward.
- ✓ One studio — design, planning and build under one roof
- ✓ Local to South Cornwall — not a national franchise
- ✓ Cornwall Council regulars across every sub-area
- ✓ Fixed-fee planning packages, no surprise invoices
Our process
How a Playing Place extension project runs.
Step 1
Brief
We meet on site, talk through how you live now and what's missing from the current layout.
Step 2
Design
Two or three sketch directions with rough budgets, then refinement of the chosen route.
Step 3
Approvals
Planning or Cert of Lawfulness, then a full building regs package.
Step 4
Build
Either through your own builder with our drawings, or as a full build by our team.
Step 5
Handover
Snag, certify, hand over the keys to your new space.
Typical single-storey rear extensions run twelve to twenty weeks on site; two-storey and wraparound projects sixteen to thirty weeks.
Local proof — Most Playing Place homeowners come to us after a extension quote elsewhere felt vague on planning — we lead with feasibility instead.
Get a free feasibility viewWhat we focus on
Extensions considerations specific to Playing Place.
01
Extensions over a certain proportion of the original house trigger full Part L upgrade obligations to the existing building — worth knowing before brief is set.
02
Cornish granite and slate-hung walls react differently to new openings than modern brickwork — lintel choice and structural sequencing matter.
03
Wind and sea-spray exposure can drive material choices on west-facing extensions; we detail accordingly.
04
Drainage on older Cornish properties is rarely on a clean modern map; CCTV survey before design is often money well spent.
Local context
Why Playing Place is its own job.
Two things shape a Playing Place application: parish character and policy. On policy — outside Conservation Area and AONB. Kea parish operates active input on infill schemes; sewerage capacity has shaped some recent decisions. For extension specifically, Playing Place sits outside the headline designations, which usually gives a slightly more flexible starting point — but parish-level character still matters. Get that local reading right and the rest of the Playing Place programme tends to run on time. On small modern estates in particular — the kind you'll also find toward Perranwell Station — the extension brief always has to read the existing fabric first.
Planning note
Most extensions in Cornwall are either permitted development or a straightforward householder application — but Conservation Area and AONB sites need a more careful design conversation upfront.
Local watch-list
Common Playing Place pitfalls we plan around.
Watch #1
Parish-level character expectations that don't appear on any policy map
Playing Place is part of Truro
Playing Place sits inside the Truro catchment — we cover both as one extension territory.
See Extensions in Truro →Local fabric
Playing Place extensions — the local-studio difference.
Building stock
Across Playing Place (TR3) we work on 1960s estates, Edwardian and Victorian cottages on the fringes, modern self-build plots, small modern estates. Each stock type drives a different extension response — small modern estates in particular needs careful detailing here.
Parish & policy
Playing Place sits in the parish of Kea, which matters for how parish-level consultation lands on a extension application.
Coverage
We cover TR3 from our studio, with regular extension jobs also running in Truro, Carnon Downs, Feock. Most Playing Place site visits get booked within the same week.
Can you handle both planning and build in Playing Place?
Yes — design, planning, building regs and full construction run under one roof. For clients with an existing Playing Place builder we can stop at a tender-ready Full Plans pack instead.
Request a free visitWho this is for
Playing Place runs the full mix — owner-occupier, holiday-let, commercial and the occasional smallholding — so we scope every extension enquiry from the use-class up.
FAQs
Playing Place Extensions — local questions answered.
- Can you handle the build as well as the design?
- Yes — that's the whole point of the studio. One contract, one point of contact, no finger-pointing between architect and builder when something needs a decision on site. In Playing Place specifically, we'd start by checking the latest parish-level planning history before committing to a direction.
- What about the Party Wall Act?
- If you share a wall with a neighbour or build close to a boundary, the Act applies. We flag it early, recommend a surveyor and keep the programme aligned with the notice period.
- How much does an extension cost in Cornwall?
- Build costs in Cornwall typically run from around £2,200 to £3,200 per square metre for a good-quality single-storey extension, more for kitchen-grade fit-out or complex glazing. We give a realistic budget before drawings start, not after.
- How long does the whole process take?
- Allow roughly three months for design and approvals, then twelve to twenty weeks on site for a typical single-storey extension. Wraparounds and two-storey add-ons take longer, mostly through approval and groundworks.
- Do I need planning permission for an extension?
- Often no — single-storey rear extensions, side extensions and modest two-storey additions can sit inside permitted development on a typical detached house. Conservation Areas, AONB and Article 4 zones remove some of those rights, so we always check the address first.
Other services in Playing Place
Nearby places we cover
Every Playing Place extension we work on is treated as a TR3 job in its own right — local fabric, local policy, local builders.