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Paul Millard Design

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‘21 Certificate of Excellence, 2021

About

With over 20 years experience I provide architectural design and project management services across primarily the residential sector, although I also have experience within the education, hospitality and sports sectors. Working from my base in Surbiton I'm able to cover a significant area across London, Surrey and Berkshire.

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2 hires on Bark
9 min response time

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Reviews (1)

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5/5

1 customer review

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25 September 2019

Architectural Services

Straight forward and professional service. Kept me updated also reasonably priced.

Paul Millard Design
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Reply from Paul Millard Design

Thanks very much Jo, you're welcome, was a pleasure to work with you. Paul

Q&As

Generally garages are not built to the sames standards of insulation, ventilation and damp-proofing as habitable spaces. As a result, upgrading of the floor, walls, doors and windows is almost always required to meet current Building Regulation standards. Depending upon the type of property and it's location garage conversions can often avoid Planning Permission and be classed as Permitted Development. This is made easier if the garage is already attached to the house, particularly for conversion to a bedroom. However, the conversion of detached garages for home office / gym / etc. rather than an extra bedroom, is often possible.

The first stage would be to assess if the upgrade of the walls, floor and roof are physically possible without compromising the size of the space and the floor levels. The current structural condition of the garage should also be initially reviewed at this stage, it wouldn't make sense to upgrade if repair works significantly impact upon the cost.

If the garage appears to be suitable for conversion after this, then the next step would be to check if there is a necessity for Planning Permission to be sought. Often garage conversions do not require full Planning Permission and are considered to be Permitted Development. A number of factors can however effect this, including the following:

- Is your house in a conversation area or a listed building?
- Is the garage detached or attached and what is the proposed use. Self contained "granny annexes", detached from the main property are often frowned upon these days?
- Have your general permitted development rights been removed? (i.e. as a result of the permission to build the original house)

If the development is considered to be permitted development then a Certificate of Lawful Development should be applied for (although this is no mandatory, it's council confirmation that full planning was not required and worth having should you ever sell the property). Alternatively a full planning application should be submitted. Both would require basic level architectural drawings to be produced.

At this stage the necessity for a Party Wall agreement should be reviewed. This will depend on the nature of the upgrading works and the location of the garage. Either way it's worth talking to the neighbours once you have drawings to show them and before planning submission is applied for.

Once some planning certainty is achieved it is worth starting to prepare more detailed architectural proposals for Building Regulations approval. While Planning will assess the impact of what you are doing upon the neighbourhood, this will assess the technical suitability of the upgrading of the fabric of the garage. At this stage it is also wise to start to engage with builders and begin to assess cost.

Having satisfied the Planners and Building Control, put the appropriate Party Wall agreement in place and selected a suitable builder then work can commence! It may sound like a lot of work to get there, but my service does much of this for you, largely in the background.

The first thing to assess will be suitability of access to the loft space and the available head height. Often loft conversions stall at this stage, as raising the main roof is rarely granted planning permission and, while it can be done, lowering the loft floor (existing bedroom ceilings) can be problematic and very disruptive. Ensuring that space is available for suitable stair access is also important at this stage.

If the height is suitable and access possible then the next step will be assess the size of the space to be converted. This will help to determine if planning permission is required or not.

The variety. No job is too big or too small and every project is different. I thrive on a challenge!

A desire to have complete control over how I address my clients requirements, maintaining a high quality of service.

I offer a thorough professional service, empathetic to the clients requirements while also bringing fresh insights and ideas to the table at a competitive cost.

Services

I offer a full range of architectural services from basic design advice through to a complete start to finish package and am happy to consider anything in between. Services include:

Feasibility studies and design advice.
Sketch designs and initial proposals.
Surveying for Planning Application purposes.
Planning Permission and Building Control Approval advice.
Full Planning Application package.
Full Building Control package.
Structural Engineer recommendation and liaison.
Party Wall Surveyor recommendation and liaison
Builder recommendations.
Builder tender reviews and advice. (See Project Management below)

In addition to architectural design I offer a range of Project Management services, which can be tailored to the project's individual needs. These include:

Advice and oversight of the builder tender process.
Analysis and reporting on tenders.
Post tender recommendation.
Building contract review and administration.
Site visits and inspections, reviewing quality and assessing progress and programme.
Final snagging and defects reporting.
Post occupancy evaluation and advice.

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