Weir Cottage
A mill-worker's cottage from the 1790s, repaired with lime and opened to the river with a larch-clad kitchen. A concrete plinth steps down to the weir pool: three treads, one bench and no railings.
Read the case studyAArchitects in Harrowfold
Buildings that sit well on the ground.
We are a practice of four, designing houses, small civic buildings and deep retrofits across the Harrow Vale. Every project starts with a measured survey and a pencil, and ends with us on site for the last snag.
- buildings since 2011
- 38
- retrofits to EnerPHit
- 9
- people, one studio
- 4
ProjectWeir Cottage, Quenby Combe
DrawingAxonometric
Grid (m)x 21.40 · y 12.85
SheetPL-131 / 03
BWhat we design
Four kinds of work, one way of drawing them.
We keep the practice small on purpose, so the person who measures your building is the person who draws it, and the one who answers the builder's phone call.
CRecently finished
A cottage by a weir and a market hall full of books.
Two very different buildings, both about keeping what was already there and adding one clear new piece.
Corn Exchange Library
The town's 1868 market hall, empty for eleven years, is now its library. We restored the roof lantern, slid an oak reading gallery between the cast-iron columns and added a small brick pavilion as the front door.
Read the case studyDFrom the index
Lately on the drawing board.
Point at a project to see it drawn. The full index has every job since 2022, with filters by typology.
| Job | Project | Place | Typology | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PL-140 | Wexley Ferry | Civic | 2027 | In planning | |
| PL-138 | Harrowfold | Retrofit | 2026 | On site | |
| PL-131 | Weir Cottage Case study | Quenby Combe | Houses | 2025 | Completed |
| PL-134 | Harrowfold | Interiors | 2025 | Completed | |
| PL-136 | Quarnby Hatch | Houses | 2025 | Completed |
EHow a project runs
Four stages, each one a level higher.
Most houses take eighteen months from first visit to moving in. Civic work takes longer, mostly in committee.
- +0.0 · 2–4 weeks
Survey
We measure every wall, floor and tree, and draw what is there at 1:50 before we draw anything new.
- +1.0 · 4–6 weeks
Sketch
Three ideas, drawn by hand and talked through at your kitchen table. You pick one; often it is a mix.
- +2.0 · 3–5 months
Drawings
Planning, then the technical set: plans, sections and a specification your builder can price line by line.
- +3.0 · on site
Building
We visit every fortnight, answer the builder's questions the same day and stay for the snagging.
What a client said
They drew the cottage forty times before anyone touched a stone. You feel it in every room, especially at six in the morning with the weir going.
Anna Ferrand, Weir Cottage
Have a site, an old building or a hunch?
Tell us what you have and roughly what you would like to spend. The first conversation, at the studio or on site, is free.