Deborah Weston
5/5
Paul’s architectural services were recommended to us by a neighbour who said that he
had a reputation for coming up with creative ideas with projects that demand something
out of the ordinary. Our one and a half bedroom victorian cottage was too small, damp
and configured badly but we loved it and its location in the pretty village of Lockerley. The
brief was simple, design the largest home that we could fit on the plot, maintain the
character of the 1850 building, make it as light as possible and get rid of the damp! We
also wanted to get rid of our oil powered central heating and add solar panels and an air
source heat pump instead.
We knew Paul was the architect for us as soon as we met him. He listened carefully to our
ideas and asked searching questions and how we wanted to use the space. The two
alternative designs included several nice surprises and we picked our favourite elements
from each of them.
I really appreciated Paul giving us the benefit of his wisdom about different elements of
the space. I hadn’t been keen on adding a kitchen diner but followed Paul’s
recommendation and now it is my favourite room in the house. We were seriously
constrained in relation to a staircase, but reversing the direction and adding a kite step
gave us a much improved upstairs layout.
Predictably with such a project there were a few challenges along the way, almost all
relating to the conjunction of new and old, however, Paul kept a close eye on the project
and worked seamlessly with our builder to ensure our original goals were met.
The end result is that the floor space has been doubled, we have three bedrooms, two
bathrooms, two reception rooms and a large kitchen diner. The damp has gone, we run
on green energy (the house is very well insulated) and everywhere is bathed in light.
Our neighbours, close and far are always stopping to complement what ‘we’ have done
to the cottage and we are so pleased that they feel this way because we do too.
