Senior Architect joins Planning & Design Practice

Senior Architect

Planning & Design Practice are excited to announce further expansion of its architectural team with the addition of Senior Architect David Symons.

David is an RIBA Chartered Architect who studied architecture at the University of Nottingham, and with experience working in practice in both the UK and Canada.

Prior to Planning & Design David was Project Architect as part of a practice of 60 and responsible for constructions budgets upwards of £20M. David has experience leading multi-disciplinary teams and working with diverse clients including local authorities, property developers, and top-ranking higher education institutions on projects ranging from town centre regeneration utilising government future high street funding, commercial office fit outs and university projects throughout the West Midlands and Nationally.

David worked for a time in Vancouver, Canada for a large practice producing detailed designs and feasibility studies for large-scale mixed-use master plans, residential and office high-rises. He also has strong local knowledge having previously worked in the residential and domestic architecture sector in the East Midlands for 5 years, gaining an understanding of the physical and planning context of the area and developing a keen ability to translate a client’s design ambitions into reality.

On joining the practice, David Symons, Senior Architect at Planning & Design said:

“Having experience working on projects from the smallest to largest scale, it is great to be joining the Planning & Design team to assist with a strong existing portfolio of varied projects and during a period of growth in domestic enquiries and larger developer schemes. Having assisted with implementing transformative projects in other areas of the country, it is fantastic to be joining the team with such strong local connections during a time of great growth and change for Derby in particular.

I am excited to have the remit to apply creativity and innovation to all stages of the Planning and Design process with a team that are skilled and equipped to delivering fantastic projects.”

Michael Bamford, Director at Planning & Design said:

“We are excited to welcome David to the Architectural Team as Senior Architect. David is an enthusiastic Architect with a strong portfolio of large and small-scale projects that demonstrates his understanding and ability to work towards delivering the development that Clients want.

David’s early career working in Canada and the UK system has given him a broader understanding of the Architectural process and how this relates to securing planning permission and delivering projects as well as a good understanding of the complexities of designing within a historic environment, something which is vital in the work we do at Planning & Design.

David will be an integral part of the growth of our Architectural team over the next twelve months and we look forward to his role in supporting the team in achieving projects we can be proud of.“

Our approachable and experienced team comprises architects, architectural assistants, designers and technicians. Our architects have true international expertise having worked on large scale projects in Russia, Germany, Spain, Canada and the United States as well as across the UK. We offer a comprehensive design service through all the RIBA work stages from concept through to completion.

Planning & Design Practice believe in good architecture, to improve our quality of life, create real value and to drive sustainable development, creating robust, resilient homes and buildings to face the challenges of climate change. For a no obligation consultation to discuss your project or property, please get in touch.

Planning permission converts Public House to private residences

PDP_Public House

We recently secured permission for the residential redevelopment of a former public house in Derbyshire. We were able to reach an agreement with the local authority for the development of five dwellings. The scheme included the retention and conversion of the original historic element of the public house, which was converted into a pair of charming semi-detached houses. Then, we traded the floor space of the rest of the pub, which had been extended several times in an ad-hoc fashion, to be demolished with the new dwellings erected in its place.

Two key issues that we had to address were the impact the development would have on the neighbouring properties and ensuring the dwellings had safe access to the highway. Tina Humphreys, our Part II Assistant, led the design work and was able to carefully balance the design of the new properties to prevent overlooking, loss of privacy or the new properties being overbearing. The site was spatially compact, and we had to account for the minimum garden depths required by the Authority, which meant careful placement of windows and amenity space. The scheme replicated the density of the surrounding area, and the high-quality design of the new dwellings will make a positive contribution to the street scene.

The issue with the proposed access was that although we could achieve a safe visibility splay in theory, based on a speed survey that was conducted for this application, the road conditions were such that cars regularly parked adjacent to the access, and therefore blocking visibility. We were able to reach an agreement with the local Highways Authority to extend some existing double yellow lines to prevent the blockage, in doing so satisfying the Planning Officer that the development could take place safely.

Planning & Design Practice Ltd is a multi-disciplinary team of Town Planners, Architects, Architectural Assistants and Design Professionals. We can take a project through from inception to completion but we also offer the flexibility to engage a client’s own architects and provide a planning service, whilst our design team can also work with clients who have engaged other town planning professionals.

With extensive knowledge about the policies and procedures of individual councils and the approach taken by planning officers and Councillors, we can tailor our services to the site location and the individual needs of our clients. Contact us for a no obligation consultation to discuss your project or property.

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