Looking for a good Architect in London?

[mary443]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a property in West London which needs a lot of work and modernisation and looking for a good visionary Architect to help us with the rear kitchen and loft extension design. Would appreciate it if you could recommend an Architect that is based in London.

Thank you

Why do you need an architect as opposed to an architectural designer? Where in West London are you?

To be honest, I am slightly confused as to which one I need, I found it very difficult to find an architectural designer and most searchers come up with RIBA Architects and they charge an extortionate amount for just the concept design, planning permission drawings and detailed technical drawings that we can pass to the builders. Apart from the Architect fee on drawings, we need to pay for a structural engineer, party wall surveyor, and a measure survey company. I need to do a rear kitchen extension and create a loft. Our house is in a conservation area and I though an Architect would have more experience and various ideas to present us. Hence I was wondering if anyone knows a better alternative, I am not looking for someone cheap who can do a regular extension. With quality also comes cost. We are based in Ealing, W5.

You don’t need an Architect. A Chartered Architectural Technologist should be more than capable. You can find that and other professionals via their qualifying websites...

architecturaltechnology.com/find-a-practice.html

www.istructe.org/find-an-engineer/members-directory/

www.ricsfirms.com/glossary/party-walls/

You may find the CAT will have various relationships with engineers and surveyors so try there in the first instance.

Btw, the other thing you can do when looking for an architectural designer is to scan Planning applications on your Council’s website.

Thank you so much! That was very helpful. I am going to have a look at those websites. I will also look at the council planning applications.

Check out “don’t move improve”, an annual competition run by New London Architecture. All the good London architects have properties in there and they are very high quality. Some of them include the project price which is useful. You can then spot designs you like and check out the architect’s website for more - they always have plenty on their website.

Modern House is another good source.
Open House London also has a list of projects (though it was all virtual due to covid in 2020) you can scroll through to find an architect.

@mary443 - I think if you want to use an architect and it fits with your scope of works, then you definitely should!

Agreed that a CAT can do the work for you though, whilst saving you a lot of fees!

If you have neighbours who have completed similar work to what you hope to achieve, you can use these designs on the council planning website. So, if you see/want a simple loft dormer conversion and rear ground extension, then go with this route.

However, the right architect will bring vision and experience that could be valuable to your project and space. It will cost more but potentially worth it if you plan to live in that space for many years to come.

If you do opt for an Architect, my only word of warning would be don’t be suckered in by a flashy website and big, fancy firms! You should be able to have an initial FREE consultation with any architect, who having seen your brief, can give you a full ‘quote’ with breakdown of staged payments for their services.

I think choosing an freelance Architect has a lot going for it; they can be more competitively priced, you guaranteed 1-on-1 contact time (rather than your project potentially being palmed off on an associate or junior at the larger firms) and unless you need specialist experience, like renovating a listed building, they should have more than ample experience. You need to do your research by tracking down references.

Good luck!

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