About Scenario Architecture’s Experience in East London
With more than a decade of experience and an extensive portfolio of completed residential projects across East London, we’ve developed a deep connection to this part of the city. Our clients have made us the architects of choice in East London, where each project contributes to the area’s evolving architectural landscape. East London has become a haven for families seeking a community that balances historic character with contemporary vibrancy. From cobblestone streets echoing centuries of history to the rich mix of cultures that define each borough, East London offers homes full of character and charm. It’s a place where affordability meets quality of life, with a diverse range of housing that caters to both creative aspirations and everyday needs. We founded Scenario Architecture in 2007 with a vision to create a truly collaborative architecture practice. Our approach is always thoughtful and personal, turning each homeowner’s ideas and aspirations into a space that feels distinctly their own. Their needs and way of living are the driving force behind every design decision we make. A beautiful, highly functional home begins with a deep understanding of how each client lives. Every tailor-made space we create tells the story of its owner, not the architect. Our landmark project, Scenario House in Stoke Newington, London, received widespread media attention and was shortlisted for several prestigious awards, including the 2018 RIBA London Award. The project stands as a testament to our considered and collaborative approach to residential architecture.Architecture and Design Across East London
As leading architects in East London, our team is dedicated to creating residential and commercial spaces that capture the spirit of this dynamic part of the city. Whether managing a complex residential scheme in Hackney or a sensitive renovation within an Islington conservation area, we bring a deep understanding of local character and a proven record of securing planning approvals. Rooted in the tradition of the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, Scenario Architecture is an RIBA-chartered practice that blends design innovation with technical precision. Our expertise spans interior architecture, listed buildings, and contemporary design, each project approached with the same balance of creativity and rigour. From new-build homes and house extensions to refurbishments and multi-unit developments, we provide an end-to-end design and planning service. This includes 3D visualisations, close coordination with planners, surveyors, and structural engineers, and meticulous guidance through building regulations and control, ensuring a seamless journey from concept to completion. Our work across East and Central London, from the City and Clerkenwell to Bethnal Green, Stratford, and the Olympic Park, reflects both our versatility and our enduring commitment to architecture that enhances how people live, work, and connect with their surroundings.Projects
Full renovation of a family home, exploring the connection between living spaces
The Scenario House, Stoke Newington during NLA Open house event
Starting your Fulham project
Fulham Architects Your Fulham project
Most building projects in Fulham require approval from the local authority. Fulham architects can help you through the process, collaborating with council officials to see through your application. Scenario Architects has successfully steered clients through the permissions stage.
We’ve drawn up an illustrated synopsis to help guide you through the planning process for a Fulham-based renovation, restoration, addition or new-build.
Focal Shift fire place, first project as local architects in Hackney E9
The Scenario house, Hackney during NLA Open house event
2017
Your East London project
If you’re considering a residential architectural project in East London or North East London, we’re here to help, whether it’s a renovation, extension or a new-build. We’ve put together a brief illustrated overview to help you understand every stage of the design process, whether you’re planning a home extension, renovation or a new-build in East London or North East London. Most architecture projects in London require planning permission from the local council. With our successful record of securing planning permission on behalf of our clients, we can claim home advantage across all of East and North East London. To help you understand what it takes to obtain planning permission in London, we’ve created this helpful guide. Download it below.If you are thinking about starting an architectural project in Hackney, be it a renovation, or an extension to an existing property or even a new build house we are here to help.
We created a created a brief and illustrated overview of the process to help you understand what to expect through the various stages of a residential, extension, renovation or new build project in Hackney, E9.
Most projects would need planning permission, which in Stoke Newington, Clapton, Dalston, Shoreditch and all other Hackney Neighbourhoods will require obtaining planning permission from Hackney Council. Our extensive track record working with Hackney planning department and successfully securing planning permissions for our clients enables us to consider Hackney our home court.
TIP: To find out the actual track record which any architects you may be considering has with your local council, go to the planning application search page on your local council’s website and use the search by agent option.
Tip
Working with Scenario Architecture on your Fulham project
Fulham Architects Your Fulham project
Our boutique studio specialises in residential architecture, offering bespoke services for home additions, renovations and new-builds. Based in Hackney, we practice across London and beyond.
A RIBA Chartered Practice, Scenario complies with the UK’s strict health and safety criteria. We collaborate closely with our clients throughout every stage of the process, from the design phase, through planning and construction. We aim to deliver every project on time and on budget.
Our skilled team works with the latest 3D design technology: real-time digital visualisations and virtual reality. We feel they are the most effective and efficient tools for seeing through our work, choosing fittings and simulating natural light.
This Chartered Institute of Building case study features a recent Scenario project, demonstrating the benefits of advanced technologies in designing for the domestic sphere.
Working with Scenario Architecture on your Hackney project
Established in 2007, Scenario Architecture is a boutique architecture studio focused on the high-end residential sector, working extensively throughout and around London. We specialise in every scale and type of domestic project, from interior alterations, through full renovations and refurbishments to new build homes. We offer a full bespoke architecture service tailored to fit your requirements and aspirations.
Our friendly and highly skilled team has the knowledge, experience and expertise necessary to take you step-by-step through the challenging and exciting journey of creating your new home. We will work together with you in close collaboration from initial design, through detail design and planning all the way to tender, construction and successful completion of your project on time and within budget.
Scenario Architecture is an RIBA Chartered Practice, which essentially means that we are compliant with the RIBA (Royal Institute of Chartered Architects) strict criteria, covering insurance, health and safety and quality management systems.
As early adopters of latest technology, we use as a standard for all projects a verity of innovative 3D design and visualisation tools to create and communicate design with our clients. Our experience shows that Real-Time visualisations and Virtual Reality tours are extremely powerful tools to streamline the process of choosing material finishes fixtures and fittings as well as simulating realistic natural light conditions.
When we produce accurate and reliable construction information we use the latest 3D BIM technology, (BIM stands for Building Information Modelling) which means that all project information is derived from a single accurate and coordinated 3D model. Using this cutting-edge technology collaboratively with other consultants as well as contractors has proven to save time and cost for our clients.
A case study featuring one of our projects was published by the Chartered Institute of Building, demonstrating the great benefits of this advanced technology specifically with domestic projects.
Scenario Architecture in London deliver design and architectural expertise for residential projects. We were established in 2007 by Ran Ankory and Maya Carni who both trained with the AA School of Architecture. Scenario have grown to an award-winning team of nine. We have been featured in Dezeen and Elle Decoration UK.
Our highly experienced team of architects Stoke Newington work with clients using innovative 3D and Virtual Reality technology that simulates your new home before the first brick is even laid. This simulation technique allows you to see beautiful scenarios, designed to fit your life. An organic process, it often influences the choice of materials and design methods.
If you are looking for a top architects Stoke Newington, we are based here and can help with your project. We are a RIBA Chartered Practice and we operate across the following areas and postal districts: Camden, Dalston, Hackney, Hampstead, Highgate, Haringey, Islington, East London, Knightsbridge, Kensington and Chelsea, Mayfair, Notting Hill, North London, West London, West Hampstead, Shoreditch, Southwark, Stoke Newington, N1, N6, NW3, N16 and E5.
Full-width extension opens to the beautiful garden of this Victorian property
Complete renovation and extension of a family home
Scenario Architecture is an established architecture practice focusing on contemporary residential design. We take on projects of every scale and scope, from home refurbishment, renovation and expansions to new-builds.
A genteel pocket of London, built around a dip in the Thames, Fulham is known for its peaceful residential streets and creative lore. Less industrialised than Hammersmith, to one side, and less swish than Chelsea, to the other, it enjoys a cosy neighbourhood feel with pretty workers’ cottages and pockets of green. Intimate streets with roomy Victorian and Edwardian terraces lead out to the river and Fulham Palace, an ancient bishops’ manor. These are the most attractive places to live in the area. The leafy roads leading towards Fulham Road and New King’s Road are the most fashionable. Fulham’s artisanal heritage – started with the weavers and glassworkers of the 17th century – continue today. Artisan studios occupy disused industrial buildings and a historic foundry. Hubs of design shops pop up all over the neighbourhood.
One of the biggest housing booms in Victorian London played out in Fulham. The area’s tall, sturdy, generously proportioned houses make safe and attractive prospects for a family home, with nooks and crannies to exploit and decent-sized gardens in which to extend. Because the layout of the typical Fulham home is part of London’s residential architectural canon, Fulham architects – and of course architects from across the capital – are well versed in their potential.
Victorian renovations are more compassionate today than they’ve ever been, with homeowners striving to preserve architectural elements like decorative cornicing, ceiling roses, skirting boards and dada rails. Sash windows are being replaced by specially made wood reproductions and wood-burning fireplaces recouped after being sealed off for decades. Paint companies like Farrow & Ball have built multinationals out of replicating the de rigueur colours of Victorian times. And new tile ceramicists are bringing back traditional motifs with contemporary silhouettes, for front gardens and foyers. Hardwood floors have made a comeback, with timber salvage and reproduction going strong.
Most renovations focus on transforming the core of the home, and revolutionise the kitchen and bathrooms in the process. To recoup the extra floor area today’s families have become accustomed to, Fulham architects are extending into voids in the lofts and side returns common in Victorians. Small period kitchens can open up into the side return without eradicating period features; in the recovered space, a corner can be reserved for a powder room or utility room. Ditto the loft: pushing up the ceiling and pushing out dormer windows can make new space available for an en suite bathroom.
With extending out into dead space comes the welcoming in of natural light. Upward-facing Velux windows become possible once the upper floor is properly extended and the main floor pushed out beyond the confines of the original footprint. If a second-storey extension is permitted in your plans, an internal void can bring natural light from the top floor downwards, and vice versa.
Full-width extension opens to the beautiful garden of this Victorian property
Complete renovation and extension of a family home
Fulham Architects In our clients words
We wanted to renovate our house in a conservation area in central London. Given this involved a complete demolition and new build with an extra floor on top, getting planning approval was always going to be tricky. Scenario did an amazing job on the new house 'envelope' and throughout the planning phase. We couldn't have wished for better from them and having succeeded in gaining planning approval owe them a very big 'thank you'. 
Scenario designed a kitchen extension for us, and we are delighted with the results. The process was well organised, planned and delivered, and the whole team were a pleasure to work with. I would highly recommend them for their design, planning and project management skills. 
Worked with these guys on the internal development of our office. From start to finish they were great. They got what we wanted first time and really made working with them very easy. Their aftercare has been great too helping us deal with something that they were not involved with in the first place. Will highly recommend them to anyone. See all Google reviews
Working with Scenario Architecture
Scenario Architecture is a boutique architecture firm focused on high-end residential projects, in the London area. We handle domestic projects of every scale and complexity, from interior alterations and refurbishments to full renovations and new-builds, through to our bespoke architecture service. Our experienced and highly skilled team will guide you through every step of designing your new space. From the first sketches and planning discussions to tender, construction, and final completion, we work closely with you to bring your vision to life. We are always on time and budget. Scenario Architecture is a RIBA Chartered Practice. We always comply with the strict criteria of the Royal Institute of Chartered Architects, covering insurance, health and safety and quality-management systems. As early adopters of the latest technology, we use 3D design and visualisation tools as a standard for all projects. Our experience shows that real-time visualisations and virtual reality are efficient tools for choosing finishes, fixtures and fittings, and simulating natural light. We use 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology to produce reliable construction information, so that every piece of data comes from an accurate, coordinated 3D model. Using this cutting-edge technology collaboratively with our consultants and contractors has proven to save our clients time and money. A Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) case study featuring a Scenario Architecture project demonstrates the great benefits of this advanced technology for domestic architecture.In our client's words
Dalston is less a defined London territory than it is a neighbourhood of like-minded people. Roughly defined in the west by the A10, the city’s oldest Roman-dug road, it floats between Clapton, Hoxton and Islington. But more than its geographical location, it expresses itself with its liberal, tolerant, international attitude.
The working-class population that first settled here in the 19th-century, rippling out from the Regents Canal, converted farmland into industrial sites and small Victorian cottages. They were joined by immigrants from multiple countries and religions, together building up a modest community outside the confines of the City of London. After a postwar slump, the neighbourhood came alive toward the end of the last century. Artists began settling here, spilling out from Hoxton and Shoreditch, seeking inexpensive post-industrial workspace, artistic freedom and places to exhibit their art. As per the rules of gentrification, young professionals and families followed. They’ve transformed the old warehouses, factories and stables into appealing and spacious homes. And in the brownfields between them, architects have designed experimental contemporary homes, creating housing where none existed while pushing the boundaries of their craft.
Live-work spaces, purpose-built apartment blocks and modern terrace housing have sprung up among the historic brick and contemporary timber constructions, giving the neighbourhood a dynamic and unpredictable character. People of all cultures and brackets live side-by-side, and businesses are popping up to serve them. They combine to make Dalston an area of great potential, for people who seek a multicultural atmosphere and an unconventional lifestyle.
If you’re a fan of heritage housing, look to the streets radiating east off Stoke Newington High Street and Kingsland Road. Streets like Forest Road and Richmond Road, leading to Gayhurst Community School and London Fields, are chock-a-block with tall, broad Victorian family homes and repurposed factories. With the old brick and ironwork maintained, new residents are slowly fixing them up and maximising their potential. Further north, Shacklewell Lane, Sandringham Road and St Marks Rise are attracting new buyers to the grand tree-lined streets. Homes here rise to four storeys, many of them in need of an upgrade. Buyers seeking a fixer-upper, or a tired family home on which to put a personal stamp, would have lots of opportunity here. At the heart of this enclave sits St Marks Dalston, one of the largest neighbourhood churches in the country – larger in area than Southwark Cathedral. Its Gothic rose window and French-inflected tower, built a century ago, dominate the road.
Loft extensions are more of a rule than an exception in Dalston, as are side-return kitchen extensions. Local architects like Scenario are well versed in the expansion and renovation process here, and manoeuvre their designs successfully through the planning and heritage departments. The results are often stripped-back, light-filled versions of the original Victorian architecture, offering vast entertaining spaces and private nooks for growing families.
Further Reading
Thanks to its proximity to the ancient City of London, you’ll find some of the oldest architecture in the capital across the east end. You’ll also find some of the newest. Large gaps in the architectural fabric – a result of disused industrial land, subdivided gardens and bombing from the Second World War – have encouraged contemporary regeneration. In some places, building and renovation restrictions can be more relaxed, allowing experimental thinking to flourish. Lower prices, traditionally, have also attracted creative business and culture.
All this goes to say that East London can be one of the more exciting places to live today. The great collection of Victorian houses available on the market is ripe for improvement. And brownfield sites between those houses are available for creative development. The RIBA East Awards – sponsored by the Royal Institute of British Architects – are some of the most anticipated in the UK. In fact the RIBA London Award shortlist disproportionately honours East London homes. Our Scenario House, completed in London’s E5 postcode, appeared on the shortlist for the 2018 RIBA London Award. If you are considering building or improving a property in East London, you will have the opportunity to create something truly outstanding.
Hackney, the oldest borough in East London, is filled with three- and four-bedroom family homes with great potential for expansion into side return spaces, disused underground storage holes and lofts. The sprawling borough of Tower Hamlets, encompassing Spitalfields, Victoria Park the Docklands and Canary Wharf, is burgeoning with exciting restaurants and shopping and postindustrial regeneration. Newham began taking huge steps toward gentrification after the Olympic Games in London in 2012. It covers most of the former Olympic Park out to City Airport, and includes large tracts of prewar and postwar housing that can be easily and spectacularly reconfigured.
Living in East London means exposure to a long, storied history. Communities here survived the Blitz, saw the growth of London’s middle class and welcomed millions of newcomers over the ensuing decades. Out on the streets you’ll hear a hundred languages spoken and learn about dozens of exotic foods in the markets and restaurants, from the Bengali communities in Whitechapel to the Afro Caribbean and East Asian communities around Stratford. And you’re never far from some vestige of London’s past, from the Roman artefacts in the Museum of London, Docklands, to the Cable Street Mural in Shadwell, depicting local residents fending off a fascist march in 1936. The small Spitalfields community alone is a living witness to London immigration, starting with the Huguenots, then housing the Jewish diaspora until Asian populations arrived.
This part of London promises to improve as much as, if not more than, any in the coming years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Open-Plan Layouts: How To Overcome Fire Safety Problems
For the truly contemporary style of interior design, there is nothing quite like the open-plan layout to meet your needs. Typically, an open-plan home is one that has a lot more space, plenty of natural light, and an easygoing atmosphere. A home with this kind of layout is generally going to feel more connected as a family unit, and it also happens to be a style that is currently trendy, thereby adding considerable value to any property.
However, you might have heard that open-plan layouts can often pose issues relating to fire safety. The last thing you want is for the home to be susceptible to any such problems, of course, so it’s vital that you are overcoming those potential issues from the start. Let’s look at this in detail.
Open-Plan Layouts: Do Building Regulations Apply?
There are many wonderful plus points when it comes to open-plan layouts, some of which we have already listed above. Generally, this kind of design is a very free-flowing and easygoing way to live, and it can be a great way to have free creative reign when you are designing a home too.But like any other kind of building work, you do need to ensure you are following the building regulations at all times, and there are still plenty of regulations that do apply to open-plan layouts. These regulations are often related to safety issues, with one of the most important being fire safety concerns. It is clearly extremely important to make sure your home is as safe from fire as possible, and following the appropriate regulations is the best way to ensure that.
The main concern when it comes to fire safety is: how will people be able to safely escape, should there be a fire in the home? As it happens, you can fall in line with that need and with the fire safety regulations without having to give up on your open-plan dream.
The Risks of Open-Plan Homes
You might be wondering why open-plan layouts in particular need to be given such attention when it comes to fire safety. The fact is that this kind of design comes with its own inherent risks, just like any design has its own set of risks and flaws. With an open-plan layout, you have large rooms and few dividing walls, if any. This kind of layout redesign rarely requires actual planning permission - but even so, you need to comply with the building regulations, including those all-important fire safety rules.A common issue with open-plan designs stems from the creation of ‘inner rooms’ - those areas where separate rooms are reached solely by another living area like a communal living room, rather than with a hallway. This poses a risk because if there is a fire in that access space, someone could get trapped in the inner room, as there is no other escape route.
On other occasions, you might find yourself in a position where the windows are too small to be used as escape routes. All of these risks need to be worked around when you are designing an open-plan layout.
Meeting The Regulations
So how can you ensure you are meeting the regulations for fire safety, and ensuring that your open-plan home is not a health risk to its occupants? If you have any of those inner rooms we spoke about above, you have two primary options for ensuring that the access room and escape route is protected by fire suppression systems. The first option is to install a sprinkler system, and the second is to use a modern misting system.Sprinklers Versus Misting
If you go down the sprinkler route, you will need to bear in mind that the British Standard BS 9251 sprinkler systems were originally designed for industrial applications in large settings, not smaller homes and open-plan areas. They can therefore be something of a challenge to have fitted into a domestic scenario like your own, and that fact might raise the budget of your project considerably.There is also the fact that such sprinkler systems need to get their water from somewhere - and that means making sure that your water mains supply can deliver the right amount and pressure of water. Often, that requires a further upgrade. Installing a sprinkler system will cost you anywhere between £2,000 and £10,000, depending on the size of the home, not including the cost of any extra mains feeds you might require to make the system work.
If you decide to go down the modern misting system route, you might find that this is a much more affordable route to take. These systems use a fine mist to fight fires that break out in the home, affording an entire replacement and alternative for the sprinkler systems and being one that is much simpler and more straightforward to retrofit to your home.
The misting system is activated by a heat sensor, and is normally wall-mounted and with a swivelling nozzle that will dispel the mist, should that be required. This helps to fight the fire and also keeps the overall temperature down, because mist is being sprayed into the air at the same time. Again, the cost varies depending on the size of your home, but it is generally considerably more affordable than the traditional sprinkler systems.
Is it Safe to Have an Open-Plan Design?
With all of this, you might be wondering whether it is even safe to have an open-plan home. The answer is yes, it can be perfectly safe, as long as you are following all of the relevant building regulations along the way. Pay particular attention to the fire safety regulations, and you should be able to keep your home and your family perfectly safe in any event.As you are trying to determine which systems to use and how to design your open-plan layout to be safe, it is always best to seek the help and advice of a professional architect. They will be able to ensure your open-plan design meets all regulations, while providing you with a beautiful and contemporary home living space.