We started Kingsgate Architects because too many good projects were dying in planning for reasons that had nothing to do with the design.
A drawing at the wrong scale. A missing heritage statement. An Article 4 direction nobody checked. A case officer who never got a call back. These are solvable problems, and solving them is most of the job.
So we built a practice around two things: drawings that are right the first time, and someone who actually manages the application through to a decision. Everything else follows from that.
Who we work for
Roughly half our work is homeowners adding a loft or an extension. The rest is landlords, small developers, restaurant and retail operators, and corporate clients on larger commercial and high-rise schemes. The same team handles both, which is why a single-storey extension gets the same drawing standards as a twenty-storey building.
How we are set up
Chartered architects, architectural technologists and planning-side staff in one office, so a query does not bounce between three companies. On larger projects we assemble and lead the wider consultant team — structural and services engineers, fire, facade, townscape, daylight, ecology and cost — and remain your single point of contact throughout.
What we will not do
We will not take a fee for an application we do not think can succeed. If the answer is that your scheme will not get through as described, you will hear it on the first call, along with what would work instead.
The practice
- Applications approvedOver 1,000
- CoverageEngland & Scotland
- Drawings turnaround24–72 hours
- ARB registration089302A
- Professional affiliationRIBA Chartered Member
- Professional indemnityIn place — certificate on request
How we work
Four things we hold ourselves to
Say it straight
If a scheme will not get permission, you find out on the first call, not after you have paid for drawings.
Fixed fees
Written scope, written fee, written programme. Third-party costs listed separately with estimates.
Answer the phone
A named contact who knows your project, and a reply the same working day.
Draw for the builder
Drawings detailed enough to price accurately and build from, not just enough to get through planning.
Regulation
Registration and professional standards
In the United Kingdom the title "architect" is protected by law under the Architects Act 1997. Only individuals registered with the Architects Registration Board may use it. We are ARB-registered under number 089302A, and hold RIBA Chartered Membership — the Royal Institute of British Architects' professional standard, which carries its own code of conduct and continuing professional development requirements.
The practice carries professional indemnity insurance and public liability insurance appropriate to the scale of work we undertake. We are happy to provide registration details and insurance certificates on request, and you can verify our ARB registration yourself on the public register at arb.org.uk.
On projects involving more than one contractor, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 require the appointment of a principal designer. We can take that role and carry out the associated duties.
Free 20-minute consultation
Talk to someone who has done it a thousand times
Send us the address and a sentence about what you want to build. We will come back with a fixed fee, a programme and the planning route we would take.