Our Work

Selected work

A selection of anonymised projects across London. Each case is described by borough, asset type and grade, the challenge presented, the heritage and planning approach, and the outcome. Client names are withheld out of professional courtesy; references are available on request for comparable instructions.

Heritage Statements

Reinstatement of original plan form

Grade II listed Georgian terrace, Marylebone

Challenge

Earlier 1980s subdivision had stripped historic joinery and inserted a non-original staircase. Westminster's conservation team had refused two prior schemes that did not engage with significance.

Approach

Vestige produced a room-by-room significance assessment from the 1841 census, the LCC building file and surviving drawings. The heritage statement set the proposed reinstatement against NPPF paragraph 208 and the Westminster Repairs and Alterations Manual.

Outcome

Listed building consent granted at delegated level, eight weeks from validation, with no pre-commencement conditions on internal joinery.

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Listed Building Consent

Bathroom and M&E intervention in a Grade II* house

Grade II* listed Spitalfields silk-weaver's house

Challenge

An owner wanted three new bathrooms and modern M&E in a house with surviving panelling and original plan form, with Historic England a statutory consultee.

Approach

Vestige worked with the architect on a routing strategy that avoided historic fabric, then produced a heritage statement and impact analysis benchmarked to the Spitalfields Conservation Area appraisal and the listing description.

Outcome

Listed building consent granted with no Historic England objection and only minor pre-commencement conditions on services chases.

Conservation Areas

Rear and side-return extension in an Article 4 area

Conservation area Victorian terrace, Hammersmith & Fulham

Challenge

An earlier scheme had been refused for excessive bulk and non-matching materials. Article 4 removed PD rights for windows and roof alterations.

Approach

Vestige reviewed the conservation area appraisal, identified the prevailing rear extension typology and prepared a planning and heritage statement aligning the revised design with the borough's design guidance.

Outcome

Approved at first submission with no further revisions and no committee referral.

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Planning Statements

Householder application in a strict design context

Conservation area townhouse, Camden

Challenge

Camden had flagged residential amenity, design and heritage policy concerns at pre-application. The architect needed a planning statement that addressed each objection point-by-point.

Approach

Vestige prepared a policy compliance matrix mapping the proposal against the Camden Local Plan, NPPF and CPG Design and Altering and Extending Your Home, with a focused heritage section addressing the conservation area character.

Outcome

Approved within the statutory eight weeks with conditions limited to materials and obscure glazing.

Related service: Planning Statements →

Objections & Representations

Objection to harmful neighbouring scheme

Listed setting, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea

Challenge

A neighbouring proposal would have caused less than substantial harm to the setting of an adjacent Grade II listed building, and the original objection had been characterised as boilerplate.

Approach

Vestige prepared a tactical objection grounded in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 sections 16 and 66, the NPPF and the relevant conservation area appraisal, with annotated views and a structured impact analysis.

Outcome

Application refused, with the officer's report citing the objection's heritage analysis as a material consideration.

Design Review

Pre-submission review of a basement and roof scheme

Listed Georgian house, Westminster

Challenge

The architect had a coherent scheme but was uncertain whether the basement strategy and roof additions would survive officer-level scrutiny.

Approach

Vestige produced a one-week design review covering significance, basement policy compliance, roof visibility and likely officer objections, with a prioritised list of pre-submission changes.

Outcome

Revised scheme submitted and approved at first submission, avoiding what the design team estimated would have been a six-month resubmission cycle.

Related service: Design Review →

Planning Strategy

Sequencing LBC and planning permission

Mixed-use listed building, Tower Hamlets

Challenge

The client needed change of use, external works and substantial internal alterations, with LBC, planning permission and advertisement consent all potentially in play.

Approach

Vestige produced a strategy report mapping the optimum sequencing of consents, the evidence base required for each, and the pre-application engagement plan with the borough's heritage and planning teams.

Outcome

All three consents secured inside ten months with no contested committee referrals.

Related service: Planning Strategy →

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