Do you need planning permission for a rear extension?
Size limits, conservation areas and when a quick check with the council saves months (sample note).
Architects for houses and small public buildings
Northlight Architects (sample) is a studio of six in Springfield. We design new houses, extensions, conversions and schools, and stay with you from the first site visit to the day the builder hands over the keys.
Project
House on Alder Street (sample)
Drawing
Ground floor plan, as built
Scale
1:100
Status
Complete 2025
Date
06/2025
Drawn
KL
Checked
MP
Rev
Date
Change
A
03/2023
Concept design issued
B
09/2023
Planning application drawings
C
02/2024
Garden room widened to 4.2 m to keep the pear tree in view
Job no.
2214
Sheet
A-101
Rev
C
Projects
Houses, extensions, conversions and schools. Each one carries its title block: where it is, how big, and the stage it has reached.
Project
House on Alder Street
Place
Springfield (sample)
Type
New house, one storey
Floor area
142 m²
Status
Complete 2025
Job no.
2214
Project
Kitchen extension, Mill Road
Place
Springfield (sample)
Type
Rear extension
Floor area
34 m²
Status
On site
Job no.
2302
Project
Eastgate School classroom wing
Place
Eastgate (sample)
Type
School, four classrooms
Floor area
610 m²
Status
Complete 2023
Job no.
2045
Project
Coach house conversion
Place
Old Town, Springfield (sample)
Type
Conversion to a home
Floor area
96 m²
Status
Planning approved
Job no.
2257
Projects, places and dates (sample).
What we design
Most of our work is homes within forty miles of Springfield, with one or two schools or public buildings each year.
New houses
From a single plot to a pair of houses: site study, design, planning, drawings to build from and help on site.
Usually 120 to 250 m², 14 to 20 months from first visit to keys
Extensions
Kitchen and garden-room extensions, loft rooms and the rework of the rooms around them.
Usually 20 to 60 m², 8 to 12 months
Conversions
Barns, coach houses, chapels and workshops turned into homes, with the planning and heritage work that comes with them.
Usually 60 to 200 m², 12 to 18 months
Schools and public buildings
Classrooms, libraries and village halls for schools, parish councils and charities, built around term dates and grants.
Usually 200 to 800 m², phased to suit
Planning advice
A visit and a written note on what is likely to be allowed, or drawings for a planning application only.
2 to 6 weeks
From first visit to handover
Every project runs through the same six stages. You can stop after any stage and pay only for the work done.
Stage
What happens
Time
You get
Fee share
1
Brief and site visit
We walk the site with you, measure what is there and write down what you need and what you can spend.
Time
2 to 4 weeks
You get
A measured survey and a written brief
Fee share
5%
2
Concept design
Two or three ways to arrange the building, drawn and modelled, then the one we develop with you.
Time
4 to 8 weeks
You get
Sketch plans, a card model, a first cost check
Fee share
15%
3
Planning
Drawings and reports for the planning application. We talk to the planning officer and answer the questions.
Time
8 to 13 weeks for a decision
You get
Planning drawings, the application
Fee share
20%
4
Technical design
Drawings and a specification the builder can price from and build from, and the building regulations application.
Time
6 to 10 weeks
You get
Construction drawings, specification
Fee share
30%
5
Tender and contract
We send the drawings to three or four builders, compare the prices line by line and prepare the contract.
Time
4 to 6 weeks
You get
Tender report, a signed building contract
Fee share
5%
6
On site to handover
Site visits every week or two, answers to the builder’s questions and a check of the work before each payment.
Time
The length of the build
You get
Site reports, certificates, as-built drawings
Fee share
25%
Times and fee shares (sample) for a typical house or extension.
Six people at one long table
The architect who visits your site is the one who draws your project, and a second architect checks every drawing before it leaves the studio. Their initials are in the title block.
In practice since
2011
Architects
Plus a technologist and a studio manager
4
Projects at a time
About 12
Where we work
Within 40 miles
Studio facts (sample).
What it costs
First site visit, two hours
Taken off the fee if you go ahead with us
$250
Planning drawings for an extension
Survey, drawings and the planning application
from $3,400
Full service, new house or extension
Of the build cost, paid stage by stage
9–12%
Schools and public buildings
In writing, after the first meeting
Fee proposal
Advice by the hour
$95
Example prices.
The first site visit
Two hours on site with the architect who would draw your project. You get a short written note within a week.
- What planning is likely to allow on your site
- A first build cost per square metre
- Which work stages you need, and the fee for each
- Who else you will need: surveyor, engineer, builder
Questions we hear at the first visit
Do I need planning permission?
Many single-storey rear extensions and some loft rooms do not, within size limits; new houses, conversions and anything on a listed building or in a conservation area do. At the first site visit we look at the planning history of your address and tell you which route applies.
How much will it cost to build?
We give a first cost per square metre at the site visit and a proper cost check at the end of concept design, before you spend on planning drawings. Builders’ prices come in at tender; we compare them line by line.
Can you recommend a builder?
We send the drawings to three or four builders we have worked with or that you know, and compare their prices. You choose the builder; the contract is between you and them.
How long does a project take?
An extension usually takes 8 to 12 months from the first visit to the end of the build, a new house 14 to 20 months. Planning decisions take 8 to 13 weeks of that.
Do you work on listed buildings?
Yes. Two of our architects have worked on listed houses and chapels (sample). We prepare the heritage statement and talk to the conservation officer early.
From the journal
Why we build card models before we draw details
A model on the table answers questions a drawing hides: light, height and the view from the street (sample).
Six weeks of timber frame: what happens on site
From the sole plate to a watertight roof, week by week, on a new house in Hollins (sample).
Send us the address and an idea
Tell us where the site is and what you would like to build. We reply within three working days and offer a first site visit: two hours with the architect who would draw your project.