We have considerable experience across Residential, Commercial, Land Development, Accessibility & Healthcare, and Hospitality sectors. We also work with a wide variety of clients, from people looking to extend or modify their home, to businesses and developers procuring much larger projects. Find out more about Arkhi’s Sectors and Services.

You should start looking for an Architect as soon as you decide you want to embark on planning your project. Involving an Architect early on can help you avoid costly oversights. Architects provide important pre-design services including site evaluations, as well as helping you explore design options you may not have considered.

We are based in Congleton, Cheshire, in the North West of the UK. However, we work across the region and have been engaged on projects as far as Leeds, Surrey and North West Wales.

In the initial consultation (which is free of charge) one of our Project Architects will either come to visit you at the development site or engage with you over a virtual consultation in order to discuss your project requirements in more detail. After this initial consultation, we will liaise with you to ensure you are satisfied with the development brief. This usually includes a series of concept design workshops as well as discussions around your project budget and construction timescales.

Fairly! At Arkhi, we work out your fees depending on your specific project requirements. Some projects are best worked out on an hourly rate, some with a fixed fee, or some with a percentage fee. We will prepare a detailed and tailored quote to suit your specific requirements.

Every project has different requirements that are specific to the brief and development site. We will advise of any other consultants that you may require, for example, an ecologist or structural engineer.

Its crucial you communicate your design preferences, functional requirements, and budget. Keeping the project on track will depend on your timely response to questions and design submissions. It is also important you raise any concerns as your project develops so that they can be addressed in earlier stages. Developing this partnership is important to us at Arkhi because everything that we do is to achieve the vision established by you, the client.

As a registered and charactered practice, Arkhi follows the RIBA Plan of Work 2020 which you can download here. We have created a guide that breaks down the stages earlier in this page.

The short answer – yes! We have considerable experience in dealing with listed buildings and projects in conservation areas. To find out more about Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas, read our forum post.

To clarify, this is not retrospective planning permission. Issued by the Local Planning Authority (LPA), a Lawful Development Certificate is used to regularise unauthorised development and prevent enforcement action being taken. It is a legal document that states the lawfulness of past, present or future development.

Planning Permission (or Express Permission) is a crucial part of your construction journey. This is where you seek approval to enable you to carry out your development. Development that requiresplanning consent can include demolition, rebuilding, structural alterations or additions to a building, or any other operations normally undertaken by a person carrying on business as a builder (Town and Country Planning Act, 1990). We can give you advice whether or not your planned works will require planning approval. As well as a formal planning application, permitted development can also allow development to be undertaken within certain conditions and parameters as outlined in the Order of Permitted Development 2015. Prior Approval also allows additional development under Permitted Development route. These options can be discussed with your Architect depending on your specific project requirements. Find out more about Arkhi’s advice when it comes to Permitted Development here.

Gaining planning permission is a large achievement and usually takes around 8-10 weeks (or even more) so it is best to apply early. Once permission is granted, the next step will be the preparation of a building regulations and detailed design package. This is the point we involve a Building Inspector to ensure the project meets building regulation standards, and develop a set of detailed drawings so your builder can bring your project to life. You may need to also consider other services at this stage such as a structural engineer’s input or party wall surveyor's input – we can help organise and liaise with other professional services on your behalf at Arkhi.

Planning Permission covers principles of assessing development in conjunction with national and local planning law polices and whether or not your development complies with these. Building Regulation covers the structural aspects of the development and ensures all aspects of construction meet the minimum standards for design, construction and alterations to a building.

You can find a list of Architects on the Architect Registration Board (ARB) or with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). ARB is a statutory regulator set up by an Act of Parliament in 1997 to maintain a public Register of Architects. To be listed, you must have met the qualification standards to practice as an Architect in the UK and there is a professional code of conduct to follow.

It would be great to hear from you! Get in touch or give us a call at 01260 540170 and speak to a member of our friendly team who can discuss you project in more detail. Following this, we will book you in for an initial consultation (which is free of charge) with one of our Project Architects, who will either come to visit you at the development site or engage with you over a virtual consultation to discuss your project requirements in more detail.