A Townhouse in Margate Design

Design concept · Conservation area · Margate, Kent

This one didn't get approved. We're sharing it anyway.

The concept was developed with Jack — our late co-founder — and it remains one of the most considered pieces of design work this practice has produced. A Georgian townhouse, the last unresolved plot in its terrace, sitting in a conservation area that demanded absolute precision from every decision visible from the street.

The proposal kept the façade entirely intact. All the creativity went inward and backward — a secret courtyard and garden house at the rear, hidden completely from the street, calm and considered and entirely its own world.

Planning said no. The concept says otherwise.

What this means for you

Heritage and conservation work at this technical level requires specialist expertise — and we will always be straight about that.

But owning a period property doesn't mean living uncomfortably in it. The spatial psychology of old buildings is something we understand deeply — how to work with thick walls, difficult light, and layouts designed for a life nobody lives anymore. Colour, zoning, flow, material choices — none of this requires a planning application, and all of it changes how a heritage home feels to live in every single day.

If you have a period property that works against you, that's a conversation worth having.