Richmond is that unique of London neighbourhoods: a true village within the city. Its heritage landscape covers London’s most gracious architectural eras – Georgian, Regency, Victorian – and the built fabric is fiercely protected. Walking the cobbled, lantern-lit streets from park to park feels like a throwback. And yet, if you want to update a home in Richmond, there are many ways to alter a dated floorplan or a poky kitchen.
Expanding or improving a home in Richmond requires permission from the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames. Over 10 years, Scenario Architecture has forged successful relationships with planning departments across London, and will be able to see through a renovation or expansion with a deft hand and compassionate eye. We are one of the most coveted boutique residential architecture practices for our contemporary treatment of heritage London homes.
As young graduates of the Architecture Association, we formed Scenario in 2007, bringing a unique vision for a truly collaborative architecture into being. With our fresh approach to residential architecture in historic homes, we’ve built up a portfolio of striking projects that speak to the changing lifestyles of today’s Londoners. A highly functional home is the product of a deep understanding of each client. Scenario’s tailor-made homes tell a story about their owners’ needs and ambitions – not about ourselves.
We were already considered one of the top practices working in London when our landmark project Scenario House was shortlisted for the RIBA London Awards in 2018. A Victorian conversion with sweeping spaces, soaring ceilings and singular details, it demonstrates our commitment to period properties and the modern needs of Londoners today. Homeowners seeking architects, Richmond based, should examine its fresh, customised approach to a typical London heritage home.
Tell us what you require from your architects, Richmond based
Architects Richmond
Architects Richmond
Your Richmond project
Starting your Richmond project
Are you looking into architects for a residential project in Richmond? Scenario can help. We’ve put together an illustrated rundown of the architectural process to help you understand what it entails, whether you’re planning to extend your home or renovate – or even build a new home entirely.
Home renovations and extensions must be approved by the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames. Our successful track record securing planning permission on behalf of our clients will be of use when you set out to navigate that process. We will work collaboratively with Richmond officials to see through your application.
Tip
Discover if your chosen architect has had success steering planning applications through your local council. Visit the Camden Council website, click on “Planning and Building Control”, go into the search engine for planning applications and type in your agent’s name.Architects Richmond
Advice
We’ve created a tailored guide to help steer you through planning in Richmond and beyond. You can download it below.Your Richmond project & Scenario Architecture
Working with Scenario Architecture on your Richmond project
At Scenario Architecture, we tackle residential architecture of every scale and scope. We’ve taken on interior refurbishments and full renovations in the most historic homes, establishing a logical contrast between old and new. From our London studio, we offer a totally bespoke service with our team of highly skilled architects.
We collaborate closely with all our clients from the initial meetings and drawings, through planning, tender and construction. We complete all our projects on time and on budget. If you’re searching for an architect, Richmond based, check out our portfolio of high-end residential projects.
We use 3D design technology in all our work. This Chartered Institute of Building case study – featuring a Scenario Architecture project – demonstrates the benefits of this advanced technology for domestic architecture. As a RIBA Chartered Practice, Scenario complies with RIBA’s strict health and safety criteria.
Architects Richmond
Architects Richmond
Architects Richmond
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.
Advice
Though its neighbours the Sheens were mentioned in the Domesday Book, Richmond came into being during the reign of King Henry VII, the former Earl of Richmond in Yorkshire. He built Richmond Palace on the River Thames, only a few remains of which survive. Ever since, the neighbourhood hosted some of the most recognised names in British lore: writers like Alexander Pope and Virginia Woolf; actors like Richard Burton; royals back to Queen Elizabeth I, who stayed at Richmond Palace en route between Hampton Court and Woodstock.
The allure of Richmond’s location cannot be overstated. It is surrounded by green and blue: deer parks, heaths and golf courses. The spectacular Thames, which dips toward the neighbourhood on both sides, is where sculls and pleasure-boats glide all year long – to stroll along the river on a sunny morning is to be thrust back some 300 years. Just upriver is Sion Park, with its 16th-century crenellations. Downstream is Marble Hill, one of a handful of grand, old houses where wealthy city types stayed centuries ago. Abutting the old deer park is Kew Gardens, which recently reopened Temperate House, a hanger-sized Victorian glasshouse. Some say there are 2,500 deer living in the park today.
The District Line will whiz you into the City, yet breaking away from the bustle of town is easy when you’re living in Richmond, with Heathrow Airport barely 30 minutes away and all of the West Country beyond. Old Windsor is closer to Richmond than Soho.
The elegant Georgian townhouses abutting the park and lining the river bear special heritage status – they deserve it, having escaped the worst of the bombs during the Second World War. If you were after a home with history, though, you’d find a wealth of them, resembling the finest in mien and stature. A brown-brick cottage with a white picket fence, a Regency terrace as graceful as any in Kensington, a detached Georgian with a park view… they’re all available in Richmond, and each can be tailored to the needs of a growing family. Not only are the houses protected by conservation rules, but the bakeries, the schools, pubs and hotels. So even if you’ve opted to live somewhere new, your views will forever be “period”.