Commercial architecture

Commercial projects run to a lease, an opening date and a budget that is already committed. The drawings have to be right first time, and the approvals have to land in the right order.

We work with operators, landlords and fit-out contractors nationwide, and we understand that an extra fortnight in planning is rent you are paying for an empty unit.

Sectors we work in

Retail and shopfronts

New shopfronts, signage and advertisement consent, roller shutters and accessibility upgrades. Shopfronts in conservation areas and on listed buildings need particular care, and most boroughs have adopted shopfront design guidance we work to.

Restaurants, cafés and bars

Change of use, kitchen extract ventilation and odour control, external seating, acoustic separation from flats above, and the plans needed for a premises licence application.

Offices and workplace fit-out

Category A and B fit-outs, space planning, occupancy and means of escape, landlord licence to alter drawings and reinstatement schedules.

Industrial and warehouse

New units, mezzanine floors, loading and yard layouts, and extensions to existing sheds. Mezzanines over 20 square metres generally need building regulations approval and often planning permission.

Healthcare, clinics and gyms

Dental and medical practices, aesthetic clinics, veterinary premises and fitness studios. Layouts have to satisfy both planning and the relevant regulator or inspection body.

Places of worship, nurseries and community use

Change of use applications, capacity and escape strategy, external play space for early years provision.

Use classes and change of use

Since the 2020 reforms, most shops, restaurants, offices, gyms, clinics and light industrial uses sit inside the single Class E. Moving between uses within Class E does not usually require planning permission — but it is not a free pass:

• Conditions on an earlier permission can restrict the use of a specific unit.
• Restrictive covenants and lease terms operate separately from planning.
• Physical works — extract ducts, shopfronts, plant, signage — normally need their own consent.
• Article 4 directions in some boroughs restrict changes out of retail in designated frontages.

Drinking establishments, takeaways, cinemas and live music venues sit outside Class E in the sui generis category, so a change to or from those uses does need an application.

The consents a commercial project usually needs

Fire, access and energy

• Means of escape and compartmentation under Part B, coordinated with a fire engineer where the building is complex.
• Part M and the Equality Act 2010 — level access, accessible WCs, and reasonable adjustments to existing premises.
• MEES. Commercial property generally cannot be let with an EPC rating below E, and the minimum standard is expected to tighten, so fit-out is the right moment to fix it.
• CDM 2015. On projects with more than one contractor, a principal designer must be appointed. We can take that role.

Typical programme