Architectural Designers in Guildford
Architectural design for houses in Guildford, Merrow, Shere, the Horsleys and the other villages of the borough. We design extensions, remodels, conversions and replacement homes, and see them through from the first survey to the finished build.
In Guildford the planning answer can change within a few streets. A house near the town centre may sit in a conservation area. A mile further out, the same house could be in the Green Belt, where what you are allowed to add is measured against the original building rather than the house you bought. Parts of the borough fall inside the Thames Basin Heaths zone of influence, and to the south the ground rises into the Surrey Hills National Landscape.
We have been designing homes in and around Guildford since 2012: loft and dormer conversions, garage conversions, and side, rear and two-storey extensions in places such as Burpham, Effingham and Normandy, including extensions to houses in the Green Belt.
We have designed and gained planning for homes for 26 years. In Guildford the work starts by establishing which of those pictures your house is in, because that decides what is worth drawing.
Services
Designed, Approved and Built
For a house in Guildford or one of the borough’s villages, the work begins with a measured survey and a planning feasibility study, so you know what Guildford Borough Council is likely to accept on your site before detailed drawings are made.
We then design the scheme, prepare and submit the planning application, and produce the building regulations drawings. Where a house is listed we make the listed building consent application alongside it, and if you want one point of contact through to completion, we can manage construction too.
Landscape design and interior design are part of the same service, so the garden, the kitchen and the finishes are designed with the house from the start.
Recent Projects
PEPER HAROW
ELSTEAD LANDSCAPE
FERNHURST NEW BUILD
Looking for an Architect in Guildford?
In Guildford, the first question is which planning picture your house sits in.
If you are searching here, it is worth knowing what you are choosing between. We are architectural designers. We have designed and gained planning for homes for 26 years, we take a project from the first sketch through planning and building regulations to construction, and the planning application is handled in house alongside the design rather than passed to another firm.
Who decides planning applications in Guildford?
Guildford Borough Council, for the town and for the villages around it, from Shere and Peaslake to Effingham, the Horsleys, Send and Ripley. Unlike Petersfield or Midhurst, there is no National Park involvement.
Which plans apply?
Guildford’s development plan comes in two parts, and a third is being written. The Local Plan: strategy and sites 2015 to 2034 was adopted in 2019, and the Local Plan: development management policies was adopted on 22 March 2023. Some policies from the 2003 Local Plan are still saved, and the council is now preparing a new Guildford Local Plan. The policies a neighbour’s application was decided under a few years ago may not be the ones that decide yours, so we check which plan applies before we draw. Source: Guildford Borough Council, local plan.
What changes in a conservation area?
The council lists thirteen: Abbotswood, Bridge Street, Charlotteville and Warren Road, Chilworth, East Clandon, Holmbury St Mary, Onslow Village, Pirbright, Ripley, Shere, St Catherine’s, the Town Centre and Waterden Road. In its own words, permitted development rules do not always apply in them, and it uses Article 4 directions to control change. Where work faces a road, path or open space, that can bring doors, windows, roofs, porches, hard surfaces, fences and walls, satellite dishes, and painting the outside of the house under planning control. A chimney cannot be removed or altered without permission, and tree work needs six weeks’ notice to the council. Source: Guildford Borough Council, conservation areas.
What if your house is in the Green Belt?
National policy allows the extension or alteration of a building provided it does not result in disproportionate additions over and above the size of the original building, and the replacement of a building provided the new one is not materially larger than the one it replaces. So on a Green Belt house the first thing we establish is not what you would like to add. It is what has already been added, and where the measurement starts from. Source: GOV.UK, National Planning Policy Framework, Green Belt.
What is the Thames Basin Heaths zone?
Parts of the borough sit inside the zone of influence of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area. Between 400 metres and five kilometres of the protected heathland, a net new home has to pay towards mitigation, known as SANG and SAMM. Within 400 metres there is a presumption against anything that adds a new home at all. A replacement house is treated differently: the council’s avoidance strategy says replacements will not generally be required to make a contribution, but one with more bedrooms than the house it replaces is judged case by case. If you are weighing up replacing a house rather than extending it, that is worth knowing early. Source: Guildford Borough Council, special protection areas.
Is the Surrey Hills boundary changing?
Possibly. The Surrey Hills became a National Landscape in 2023, and its boundary, unchanged since 1958, is under review. In September 2026 Natural England sent its proposals for adding land to the Secretary of State for confirmation, and as of November 2026 no decision has been published. If your house is near the current boundary, the line may move. Source: GOV.UK, Surrey Hills boundary variation.
Planning information checked by the Alchemy team, November 2026.
Where we work around Guildford
Guildford · Merrow · Burpham · Onslow Village · Stoughton · Shalford · Chilworth · Albury · Shere · Gomshall · Peaslake · Compton · Puttenham · Effingham · East Horsley · West Horsley · Send · Ripley · Worplesdon · Normandy
Our other town pages: Haslemere · Godalming · Farnham · Petersfield · Midhurst · Fernhurst · Chichester
Awards & Press
The Waverly Design Awards Scheme
New Buildings - The Tannery Godalming
LABC Building Excellence Awards 2018
The Tannery, Godalming - Regional Finalist
Country Homes & Interiors
The Gatehouse Feb 2023
International Property Awards
Best Development in Surrey 2020
House Builder Awards
Finalist 2021