Heritage

Our dedicated Heritage Team have a wealth of experience working with all areas of the built historic environment, including listed buildings, Scheduled Ancient Monuments and World Heritage Sites.

The focus of our work is determining significance of designated and non-designated heritage assets to advise clients on appropriate interventions and design, this is often submitted in support of Listed Building Consent applications as a Heritage Statement.

We advise on the townscape effects of development; assessing conservation areas, character areas and views for Environmental Impact Assessment chapters, or discharge building recording conditions. We support clients in the purchase of listed buildings by undertaking comprehensive due diligence to ensure necessary consents are in place to avoid risk of enforcement.

We’ve advised on individual alterations and extensions to listed buildings to tall buildings and large scale transformative masterplans.

Our services

Tall buildings

We advocate for tall buildings, providing informed strategies to promote their development. We collaborate with design teams, challenging assumptions, and employing various tools to support robust promotion in discussions with planning authorities for individual proposals or wider masterplans.

Heritage research

We conduct detailed historic research and on site analysis to identify the significance of the site. This knowledge informs and supports our clients with their proposals.

Heritage statements & HTVIA

We outline the effects of change on heritage and townscape receptors in tailored documents, facilitating proactive engagement with statutory authorities.

ES Heritage & townscape chapters

We provide technical assessments of built heritage and Townscape impacts for Environmental Impact Assessment.

Listed building consent

We project manage the submission and monitoring of LBC applications and liaise with the authority throughout the determination period, to ensure a timely decision.

Implementation

We oversee the implementation of works to listed buildings to ensure that they comply with the consent or if there are any amendments required during the course of construction.

Scheme advocacy

We provide independent reviews for schemes, often after negative feedback or planning refusals. We define a strategy to address concerns or assess appeal viability for clients.

Pre-purchase due diligence

We undertake detailed assessments of properties to understand the extent to which unauthorised works may be present and the risk of enforcement action.

Heritage & design advocacy

We work closely with clients, managing projects from pre-application to planning. Our solution-driven approach and role on Design Review Panels make us effective design advocates.

Designation review

We assist clients in heritage risk management, advising on potential designations for single or multi-asset sites during acquisition or redevelopment. We engage with Historic England to provide formal clarity on the heritage value of buildings.

Certificates of immunity from listing

Certificates of Immunity are a helpful tool to clarify the architectural and historic interest and provide clarity in moving forward. Assessed on the basis of whether an asset meets the criteria for designation, we can identify the level of risk and an appropriate course of action.

Certificates of lawful development

A legal mechanism which is often employed on complex sites where a client may wish to progress an initial stage of works, whilst we negotiate permission/consent for a wider package of works.

Appeal representation & rebuttals

We support a wide range of clients in our role as expert witness, providing expert heritage and townscape evidence for complex cases at appeal.

Portfolio asset & management

We help clients with their property portfolios, advising on ongoing maintenance works as well as supporting applications for the extension of existing properties, maximising best value from a site. Our pragmatic and honest advice is sought after and valued by our clients.

Hear from our clients

Chris Dawes, Telford Homes — “Paul and his team provided an exemplary service advising on the Chrisp Street project which ultimately led to an extremely successful planning application.”

Emma Thorpe, BeFirst — “The team’s input proved indispensable for this project and. The team’s considered approach demonstrated their top-of-class knowledge and experience; they added value by providing a clear, step-by-step recommended programme of works to guide the client and project team through the issues at hand.”