Crystal Palace Architects
About us
The remarkably varied residential architecture of Crystal Palace makes it one of the most coveted neighbourhoods in London. Victorians, Edwardians and sleek, postwar developments sit on quiet residential streets as pretty as in central London. Yet the off-piste location, among the vast green parks of South London, makes them financially accessible, too.
Most period homes in Crystal Palace have the potential to open up in unique and spectacular ways. At Scenario, we see heritage homes as an opportunity to bring in natural light, bespoke elements and energy efficiency. We collaborate closely with our clients to create these highly tailored environments and consider each detail with respect to their lifestyle.
Projects
View All >Crystal Palace Architects
Crystal Palace Architects
Crystal Palace Architects
Crystal Palace Architects
Your Crystal Palace project
Scenario Architecture is a RIBA-chartered practice founded by Ran Ankory and Maya Carni, graduates of London’s Architectural Association. We take a fresh, inventive approach to expanding and revamping period properties. with the latest methods, materials and technology.
Our landmark project Scenario House, located in East London, demonstrates our creative approach to domestic architecture. The projects was covered widely in the media and shortlisted for several prestigious architecture awards, including the 2018 RIBA London Awards.
Tip
Discover if your chosen architect has had success steering planning applications through your local council. Visit the “planning applications” page of your council’s website and enter the architect’s name in the search criteria.
Scenario 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.
Working with Scenario Architecture
As a RIBA Chartered Practice, Scenario complies with the strict criteria of the Royal Institute of Chartered Architects, covering insurance, health and safety and quality-management.
We use 3D design and visualisation tools on all our projects. Our experience shows that real-time visualisations and virtual reality are invaluable for simulating natural light and choosing finishes, fixtures and fittings.
To produce the most reliable construction information, we also use 3D building information modelling technology (BIM), proven to save our clients time and money. This Chartered Institute of Building case study features a Scenario project and demonstrates the benefits of this advanced technology in the domestic sphere.
Crystal Palace Architects
In our client's words
Crystal Palace Architects
Great ideas and vision to help with our substantial improvement of a Victorian terrace. In our experience Scenario's method prioritises the final result. That may mean more professional fees or higher quotes from contractors, as they understand the exact requirements.
Crystal Palace Architects
Great, professional service. Good drawings and models and ultimately passed planning at the first attempt with Hackney Council. Would certainly recommend!
Crystal Palace Architects
Scenario Architecture have created an outstanding design and space that was beyond my expectations. The design was through their unique process of understanding the client’s daily scenarios and collaborating with the client to come up with a unique design. The design process is one of the most memorable parts of the process and they also stretched my existing ideas to help create this unique space. A stress free journey throughout the whole process which Scenario were indispensable by giving advice on many difficult design and build decisions.
Crystal Palace Architects
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'.
Crystal Palace Architects
Scenario were great at thinking imaginatively and coming up with a design for a ground floor extension that was more ambitous than other architects we spoke to. They also helped us find a contractor who was able to complete the project working within timescale and our tight budget. I would recommend for mid to large sized projects with sufficient budget to allow for full utilisation of their creativity.
Further Reading
The South London enclave of Crystal Palace is more than its eponymous pleasure ground – though many residents would agree they spend more time in this ancient wood than anywhere else. The 400-acre common and woodland dotted with lakes, venues and outdoor art is the suburb’s Hyde Park. And in fact that’s where it got the famous iron and glass exhibition hall. The Joseph Paxton-designed Victorian structure, built for the Great Exhibition of 1851, moved from Hyde Park to Penge Peak in 1854, at which time the area around it was renamed in its honour, though some still know it as Upper Norwood. The original Crystal Palace structure was destroyed by fire in the 1930s, but the name remains and gives the neighbourhood image a hint of sparkle.
But look again. Crystal Palace has emerged in the past 20 years as a pretty, green south-of-the-river highlight with heritage homes and views for miles. At the hub of four London boroughs – Southwark, Bromley, Lambeth and Croydon – the leafy village streets around the park are stuffed with prewar houses and historic church towers. Detached and semi-detached Edwardian homes are common, Victorian villas and prewar terraces radiate from those and tidy modern residential developments fill in the gaps. The development of Crystal Palace as a suburb of London means the houses here have larger dimensions and more surrounding garden than properties closer to the centre, even though the neighbourhood is now firmly part of the city – and well-connected by train and Overground.
New arrivals search for real estate around the triangle of Anerley Hill Road, Gipsy Hill and Church Road. The beating heart of Crystal Palace, it edges the western corner of the park, with its manicured gardens, and is walkable from a dozen schools – including Paxton Primary, named for the Victorian architect. The private and prep schools of Dulwich, to the north, are less than 10 minutes by car, a few more by bus. The sporting fields – including Crystal Palace Football Club, contrary to popular belief – are located a few neighbourhoods over, in South Norwood.
Frequently Asked Questions
- As a dynamic practice operating in London’s premium residential market, managing projects remotely and conducting virtual meetings was a very familiar territory for us, long before the pandemic began and ‘working remotely’ became the norm.
- Our clients have very busy lifestyles and may move between several different locations, both within the UK and beyond, during the lifecycle of a typical project.
- To accommodate such client needs and enable us to run their projects smoothly we had all the technology and know-how associated with remote working in place for several years.
- Read our full (Virtual) Process
- Scenario based design – We start each and every project with a meticulous analysis of our client’s vision, requirements and aspirations. We do this by asking our clients to imagine their everyday scenarios living in the completed house and describe their desired interaction with it.
- Uniquely interactive - Our client’s deep involvement in the process does not stop with completion of the brief. Our design meetings are highly interactive, informal and fun.
- Designed to reflect you – Based purely on your lifestyle, aspirations and requirements and free from externally imposed concepts, metaphors and pre-conceptions, a completely fresh and unique design will gradually emerge and it will tell your story not ours.
- Collaborative – We start the conversation with planners early and advise most of our clients to seek pre-planning advice prior to submission of a full planning application. Our experience shows that when properly consulted and liaised with, most planning case officers will be receptive to conduct a professional dialogue, increasing chances of successes.
- Strategic – We tailor a custom planning strategy for each project based on its circumstances such as planning history, local context and specific challenging elements. We sometimes split applications or introduce minor tweaks to the scheme during the consideration period in conversation with the officers to prevent one contentious element from jeopardising approval of the main scheme.
- Professional – Our experience shows that the quality and clarity of the submission in terms of background research, planning history of the property and context, precedent and of course the arguments presented to support the case has a tremendous effect on success rate.
- The decision period clock only starts ticking once the application is validated by the Council, This requires then to check that the forms are completed correctly and that the submission contains all the necessary drawings, statements and reports.
- Although required by law to provide a decision within the statutory eight weeks period, it is not uncommon for councils to miss the deadline of the consideration period, normally only by a few days, sometimes longer.
- In some cases the council may ask us as your agent for an extension of time, this may be requested due to internal reasons or as an acceptable result of a professional discussion that we are conducting with them about certain aspects of the application that they are not sure about.
- Our experience shows that planning officers respond better to projects when they feel consulted and collaborated with. We find that when we truly listen to their often helpful and valid feedback and treat them as consultants for the projects and not representative of an evil enforcing authority, they tend to collaborate well with us and demonstrate increased flexibility.
- Although the council in theory have eight weeks to consider your application, in practice they are constantly overloaded. They will only look at your application in the last few days of the consideration period. If this is the first time that they come across a scheme that they were never consulted about, our chance to secure permission for you in a single attempt is significantly compromised.
- The standard practice is for the council to consider the full planning application as submitted and then issue a yes or no decision. Case officers are not required or even encouraged to enter a discussion with us or accept resubmission of minor changes to the proposed scheme during the consideration period.
Guide to Extending a Period Home
If you are thinking about improving your period home, one thing you may want to do is extend the property. This will give you more room to have fun and enjoy your home.
However, extending a period property is a little bit different when compared to extending a typical property. This is because you need to make sure that the extension is in line with the rest of your period property. The last thing you want is to have a home that looks like a mis-match of different styles.
Therefore, you need to make sure that you find a company that has many years of experience in the industry. They need to have worked on a lot of different period properties before so you can make sure that they have experience with these sorts of properties. This is the best way to make sure that they will do your home justice.
Of course, a lot of the original materials are not going to be available anymore, so you need a company that is resourceful and knows how to recreate the original style.
Aside from this, health and safety measures are critical. This is the case for all extensions, but even more so with period homes. The reason for this is because there may be some unstable materials or elements that need to be dealt with. Therefore, scaffolding and other health and safety matters are vital.
Scaffolding hire is offered by a number of professional firms in the industry, and you will need this service if you want to extend your period home. Their services are in high demand as well. After all, with every day that passes the world is becoming more developed, and scaffolding is vital for assisting construction works. Plus, that merely scratches the surface of why a scaffolder may be required.
No matter the task at hand, you should never cut corners when it comes to scaffolding. A professional service is the only way to go, and there are numerous reasons why this is the case. Firstly, you will benefit from a variety of services and equipment. Good scaffolders can offer everything from profile bending to cutting, and they work with a wide range of equipment, including knee braces, self-lock frames, toe boards, and much more. You can also be sure of the highest level of safety when hiring a scaffolding firm. When it comes to any construction site or even home improvement task, safety should be the first priority. Reliable scaffolding will reduce the risk of injuries and falls. It ensures those who need to be at a height have a flat and solid platform to use. It is also much more cost-efficient to use a scaffolding service as opposed to purchasing the equipment required outright. Experienced scaffolders also have the ability to deal with awkward areas and overcome any difficulties in regards to property access. They can work exactly where is needed without safety being compromised.
Safety When Scaffolding
Scaffolding way needs to be erected and dismantled with the highest levels of safety in mind. Did you know that every year there are a number of scaffolds that collapse across the country? And, this is just one hazard that needs to be considered when it comes to safety.
There are a number of safety laws that scaffolding firms need to adhere to, including the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, Construction (Health, Safety, and Welfare) Regulations 1996, Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 1994, and Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. There are also several safety factors to consider when it comes to any scaffolding job, including the stability of the scaffolds, working at a height, protection of the public, and training and supervision. The latter is arguably the most essential factor when it comes to stopping accidents from occurring on-site. If you are hiring a scaffolding firm, you also have a duty to ensure that they are following the proper safety standards and that you have hired a firm that has the necessary accreditation, with a team of scaffolders that have received the right levels of training. With regards to stability and working at a height, there are numerous roles to follow. For example, one safe procedure for working at a height is to make sure that during dismantle or erection there is the minimum of a three-board working platform and a single guardrail. Scaffolders may also require a licence to carry out any particular type of work. If you need to erect a scaffold on a public highway, you will definitely need a licence from the local authority.
Hire Someone With The Right CISRS Card
If you need to work from a height, hiring a professional scaffolding firm is a must. Nevertheless, you should not simply go for the first or the cheapest firm you lay your eyes on. Instead, quality and safety is a must, which is why you need to choose a scaffolding company whereby employees have the CISRS card.
All scaffolding firms should put their employees through CISRS training. Of course, it is not uncommon to have a number of trainees that are yet to complete the course. Nevertheless, on the whole, the vast majority of those working at the firm should have acquired the CISRS card, especially those that are leading scaffold teams. So, what is the CISRS card? CISRS stands for Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme. Individuals are allowed to apply for this course once they have taken and passed a labourer’s course, known as COTS (New Entrant Trainee and Scaffolding Labourer Course). CISRS is broken into two sections – Part 1 and Part 2. After completing Part 1, scaffolders must take the Part 2 course within two years; otherwise, the Part 1 will become void. Training usually takes place over a two-week period off-site. The individual must also have several months of on-site experience. The CISRS card shows that the scaffolder in question is capable of carrying out all scaffolding duties, and thus it is of huge importance.