West Cornwall · TR26
Project Management & Full Build in St Ives
Once drawings are approved, the build is the bit that decides whether you get the home you imagined or a frustrating compromise. We deliver projects on a single contract — design, drawings, approvals and construction — so the team that drew it is the team that builds it. In St Ives, that work is shaped by the place itself — St Ives is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty town with a tightly packed historic harbour, the Tate gallery and some of the steepest streets in Cornwall, with a building stock that leans toward fishermen's cottages and granite terraces.
- Conservation Area
- Cornwall AONB
- Coastal exposure zone
Local context
Why St Ives is its own job.
St Ives operates a Neighbourhood Plan with a principal residence policy on most new dwellings — second homes and holiday lets face strong policy resistance. The Conservation Area covers Downalong, the harbour and most of the town centre, where granite, slate and lime-render detailing is non-negotiable. For full build package specifically, parts of St Ives sit within a designated Conservation Area, which means materials, fenestration and roof pitches all need to read sympathetically with the existing streetscape; the surrounding landscape falls inside the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, so massing, height and landscape impact carry extra weight in any planning decision; coastal salt-laden air around St Ives drives detailing choices — fixings, render systems and timber treatments all need to be specified for exposure. That's why we treat every St Ives project as a TR26-area job first — not a generic Cornwall job with a postcode bolted on.
Planning note
Build delivery doesn't need planning, but planning conditions often dictate site setup, materials and working hours — we read every condition and build the programme around them.
What we focus on
Full Build considerations specific to St Ives.
01
Cornish trades are a tight community; using contractors who've worked together before saves weeks on programme and arguments on site.
02
Material lead times to Cornwall are longer than the M5 corridor; sequencing orders early protects the build programme.
03
Weather windows on Cornish coastal sites are short — getting the building watertight before autumn matters more here than in central England.
Our process
How a St Ives full build package project runs.
Step 1
Pre-construction
Programme, procurement, contractor briefing and site setup.
Step 2
Substructure
Foundations, drainage, ground beams — the unglamorous bit that decides everything later.
Step 3
Superstructure
Frame, roof, glazing — getting the building watertight.
Step 4
First and second fix
Services, plaster, joinery, kitchens and bathrooms.
Step 5
Snag and handover
Final inspection, building control sign-off, handover pack and aftercare.
Full builds run from twelve weeks for small extensions to eighteen months for new build family homes.
FAQs
St Ives Full Build — common questions.
- Do you handle the whole project from drawing to finish?
- Yes — that's the model. One contract from feasibility to handover, with design, regs and build all under our roof. No coordination gap between designer and contractor. In St Ives specifically, we'd start by checking the Conservation Area boundary before committing to a direction.
- Fixed price or open book?
- Both. Fixed price suits well-defined projects with clear specs; open book suits renovations and listed work where the unknowns only reveal themselves once you start opening things up. We'll recommend the right route.
- What guarantees and aftercare do you offer?
- Standard twelve-month defects period, plus product and workmanship warranties on relevant elements. We're a Cornish business — you'll still find us in the same studio in five years' time.
- How do you handle changes during the build?
- Weekly client meetings, written change requests, costed and signed before work proceeds. No surprise invoices.
Other services in St Ives
Nearby places we cover