Recently, we had the challenge of sourcing handmade bricks for a project in a Conservation Area in West Lancashire. The original bricks told a story; they were likely made by itinerant brickmakers around 1860 and would have been produced in a brick clamp; a traditional method where bricks were fired in a temporary kiln built on-site. Interestingly, just across the road from the building is an old fishing pond, which was likely the original clay pit that provided the raw material for these bricks.
Read moreGrosvenor Street Manchester
7 storey residential building with ground floor café bar.
Article: The ‘Grey Belt’ and NPPF 2024
The 2024 update to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has now been published by the government. This update has brought a significant shift in how development in the Green Belt will be handled. In the past, building on Green Belt land was generally considered inappropriate, with very few exceptions.
Now, however, certain types of development—particularly housing and commercial projects—will have a clearer path to gaining planning approval, as long as they meet specific criteria. Let’s take a closer look at these changes and what they mean for future developments in Greenbelt areas.
Read moreConservation Area Consent - Wigan
Private House - Stair
Fabrication by Fineline Balustrades Ltd. www.finelinebalustrades.co.uk
Feasibility Study - Stockport
Liverpool University - Proposed Entrance Pavillion
Proposed Entrance Pavilion
Read moreListed Build Consent - Liverpool Georgian Quarter
PAA obtained Listed Building Consent for a scheme of window replacement and internal modifications to a five storey Georgian townhouse on Falkner Square, Liverpool.
Guide: Converting Offices to Flats Without Planning Permission
Converting office spaces into residential flats presents a viable solution to tackle the housing shortage in the UK. While obtaining Planning Permission is often necessary for such conversions, there are specific scenarios where it is possible to proceed without it.
Through the Prior Approval application process under Class MA, it is possible to convert offices to flats without Planning Permission. This guide will provide an overview of the essential factors and necessary steps involved in this process. Paul Ashton Architects Ltd, specialize in guiding clients through this process and delivering the complete package of information required to secure approval under this form of application.
Read moreBuilding Concept, Cleeves Hill Aughton, West Lancs
Post Industrial Development - Manchester
Proposed Apartments - Brownfield Site
The proposals comprise 6 no city-centre apartments arranged over two storeys with basement parking. The site was formerly used as a workshop for light industry and is currently vacant. The site is an infill with an irregular shape derived from the fact that it was simply a piece of land to the rear of the surrounding terraced housing.
Read moreSketch Design for a Garden Office in Alderley Edge
Garden office pavilion for private client in Alderley Edge designed around a mature tree.
Proposed Dwelling - Worsley, Salford
Proposed Apartment Building - Formby
Planning Application Submitted for Green Belt Site - Stockport
Paul Ashton Architects and Landscape architects ReShaped submitted a planning application for a private orchard on a Green Belt site in Stockport. The scheme enhanced existing public rights of way and included a new access bridge.
Guide: Listed Building Consent
If you intend to extend or alter a Listed Building in a manner would affect its character then you need to apply for Listed Building Consent.
It is important to consider that an owner of a Listed Building is described as a ‘temporary custodian of the nation’s heritage’. The protection of the nation’s heritage is deemed to be so important that it is a criminal offence to carry out alterations which need Listed Building Consent without obtaining it first.
Read moreResidential Proposal for Post-industrial Site - Manchester
Residential proposal for post-industrial site in Greater Manchester
Read moreExtension to Grade II* Listed Church in Liverpool
