Developer Residential Archives

Conversion of Dinham Hall in Ludlow

KODA architects provided full architectural services for the conversion of a Dinham Hall, a former mansion house into seven unique luxury apartments. Dinham Hall is Grade II listed and is one on Ludlows finest buildings located in the Town centre, just outside of the Castle walls.

Built in 1792, by Samuel Nash for Richard Payne Knight of Downton Castle, the building has a long and interesting history. Once a grand private Georgian home, the building was complimented by a generous garden, ice house, stables and views over Ludlow. The building remained a private house until the mid 20th Century when it was converted into a boarding school with fond memories of former pupils. Recently the building had regained an element of grandeur of its former self in use as a boutique hotel boasting fine dining, to critical acclaim.

KODA Architects submitted planning and Listed Building consent applications for the conversion, provided detail design and full contract administration through to the completion of the project. The project was finished to an extremely high standard creating unique benchmark residencies in Ludlow.

As part of former historic interventions to the property, the building had lost a significant amount of historic detailing including cornice, fireplaces and finer elements such as architraves and doors. As part of the new conversion project, the conservation team at KODA architects replicated historically accurate features to enhance the buildings significance. KODA Architects conservation team are complimented by a wider design team including agent, Fire Engineer, lift manufacturers tanking specialists, and mechanical and electrical Engineers. Part of our appointment included historic mapping of the building and a carefully detailed schedule of repairs and sympathetic interventions to the historic fabric were undertaken.

The new apartments provide unique accommodation with classic Georgian design with the modern benefit of lift access. The refurbishment of the entrance hall grand central cantilever staircase provides a great sense of theater as you enter the building. Each apartment boasts fine historic details, private parking and landscaped gardens together with long reaching views over Ludlow, countryside and of course, the adjacent grade I listed and scheduled ancient monument of Ludlow Castle.

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New Housing in Abergavenny

KODA architects have worked closely with a large design team to include landscape designers, planning consultants, drainage and transport planners to prepare a master plan for the development of 60 low impact housing to Monmouthshire Council including landscaping and amenity spaces.

Abergavenny is a town in Monmouthshire, known for its beautiful scenery, rich history, and lively culture. Situated near the Welsh-English border and is surrounded by the Brecon Beacons National Park. The town has a rich history dating back to Roman times and is home to several historic buildings and landmarks, including Abergavenny Castle, St Mary's Priory Church, and the Market Hall.

KODA architects have been busy planning the latest housing developments in Abergavenny is the Brecon Road development, which is located on the outskirts of the town. The development offers a rang of house types including a mix of two, three, four and five bedroom homes that are suitable for both first-time buyers and families.

60 new houses on the Brecon Road development is designed to provide modern living spaces that are energy-efficient and built to a high standard. The homes come with a range of features such as open-plan living areas, en-suite bathrooms, and private gardens. The development also offers ample green spaces, parks, and playgrounds for residents to enjoy.

The new housing has been design with landscape designers and environmental consultants to achieve a low impact, and highly sustainable development promoting the health and well-being of the new residents. The layout has been designed to maximise views out towards Abergavenny’s beautiful scenery whilst the generous plots and the sites excellent connectivity encourages cycle and other sustainable travel methods.

To minimise the new buildings impact on the environment, each house has been oriented to achieve passive solar gain through the winter months, whilst a high performing fabric minimises energy consumption. Each house will benefit from solar panels and other active technologies, further reducing the impact of this new development.

The development focuses on each unit of a southern orientation to maximise solar gain in the winter month whilst carefully managing the gains in the height of the summer. Through active and passive sustainable technologies, together with a rich planting scheme, each house maximises fabric performances and reduceds heat losses. The net result is a new new housing development with generous accommodation and low environmental impact, adding a unique place to live within a stones throw away from the centre of Abergavenny.

Being sensitive to the proximity of the Brecon Beacons National Park and the setting of Abergavenny, the new housing development follows a landscape approach to the setting out of the site. Landscaping opportunities have been enhances the existing biodiversity and green infrastructure to provide a sensitive housing estate with generous plots and amenity space.

Enhanced planting, Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUDs) and wild flower meadows provides a verdant urban extension to the existing settlement.

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Sustainable self-build homes in Ludlow

KODA architects have successfully secured planning approval for 3 new sustainable self-build homes in Ludlow. The site combines an underused hidden parcel of land with part of a large formal garden within the Town. Sustainable design was at the forefront of the brief and the homes are positioned to take full advantage of the southern aspect whilst also affording views of St. Lawrence's Church.

The scheme develops an underutilised urban site to provide high quality housing utilising energy efficiency measures. They are built from highly insulated and sustainable materials. The dwellings are designed with large, glazed wall areas to the south and west elevations benefiting from passive solar gain. The first floor areas include recessed balconies featuring long roof overhangs protecting the bedrooms from excessive solar gain in the summer months. This still allows sunlight to reach the depths of rooms promoting thermal gain in the winter when the sun is lower in the sky. Internal air quality and comfort is supplemented by automated mechanical ventilation and heat recovery, MVHR.

The buildings include standing seam metal mono pitch roofs that reduce impact on the neighbouring amenity but also being orientated to the south and west present an ideal location for the arrays of photovoltaic and solar thermal panels producing heat and power for the homes. Rainwater is collected and harvested on site for re-use in the buildings and gardens.

The development resists temptation to optimise built density in preference the new high quality homes are sited within generous individual plots and will be sold to independent self-builders.

Bastion Mews Hereford

Bastion Mews Hereford is encircled by the Hereford City Wall which was constructed in the 13th Century by Royal decree, getting its name from a defensive bastion which once stood at the site, defending one of four City gates. The site has had many uses in its history with the latest use being home to Shack Revolution and more recently, Bastion Street Feast. Quickly gaining a local reputation for great quality street food the vibrant site has been a huge success for the City.

The proposed new development will build from the already successful Shack Revolution Events space and Bastion Street Feast. The scheme will provide restaurant, office and workshop spaces as well as short term residential accommodation in association with the existing Shack Events venue and their LIVE|WORK|PLAY mantra.

The aesthetic of the site is one of an industrial past which reflects the sites history as one of the manufacturing centres of the City. Originally home to ironworks, the recent success of the site is down to its honesty through great food, drink and simplicity.

To continue the sites enduring success, KODA architects have been appointed to carry out master planning and detailed design to redevelop the site. Working closely with the client and wider team, KODA architects have utilised the industrial aesthetic to develop a mixed use scheme creatively utilising shipping containers. The principle staircase is housed in a container erected vertically bolstering their creative reuse.

Part of the underpinning philosophy of the sites redevelopment a diversity of uses and users. This multi use ideal elaborates on the ethos of the highly successful Bastion Street Feast where different street food vendors pitch up their stalls and sell their high quality food in a sharing and collaborative atmosphere. The masterplan calls for a mixture of live work units as well as recreational areas and amenity space in this highly sustainable location on the edge of the City Center. Complimenting the existing uses of the site, the new proposals are testament to 21st Century design, innovative and flexible to allow them to be easily changed should the site need to in the future.

The industrial aesthetic of the site is the main visual underpinning of the design but supplemented and softened with planting and punctuation with open oak cladding. The proposals were unanimously supported by the Planning Committee and competed in 2023.

Imperial Square | Cheltenham

KODA architects Cheltenham have gained planning and listed building consent for building repairs and extensive refurbishment to this Grade II* listed property. Accompanying the planning application and listed building consent applications, the proposals were to to restore this fine Regency home back into a single dwelling.

Built in the early 19th Century, Imperial Square was built as part of the booming expansion and gentrification of Cheltenham. Built by Robert Todd and William Prosser to designs by eminent architects Cheltenham, John Forbes. The building is home which forms a terrace of properties providing a formal frontage along Imperial Square, Cheltenham. The uniformity , significant contribution to the Cheltenham Townscape and architectural evidence is the reason why the terrace is Grade II* listed.

KODAs Conservation Architect in Cheltenham Fred Hamer said: "Working with such an iconic building as Imperial square, we were very careful in how we can restore this small part of the wider terrace back to its former glory. The building has been completely renovated from top to bottom allowing the it to be a family home once again."

The regency architecture of Cheltenham is known as one of the most complete architectural styles in the UK. As such, the town is covered by the largest conservations area which protects the historic and architectural significance. Added to this layering of protection, Imperial Square is Grade II* listed and is listed as the same significance as Buckingham Palace and The Palace of Westminster.

A high quality of finish achieved at the property in the result of meticulous attention to detail. The property has been carefully designed to reestablish the house as a busy family environment. The lower ground level has a close connection with the courtyard with off street parking whilst the drawing room has extensive views over the centre of Cheltenham. The property boasts five bedrooms with four bathrooms together with preserving the period details of the original building.

Being listed however does not mean that we cannot make changes to these buildings, however we must consider the impact our proposals have on the historic fabric. Once historic fabric has been removed, it cannot be replaced. Before any intervention can take place, a closing inspection and investigation of the existing must take place.

New Houses in Herefordshire

KODA architects have worked closely with many stakeholders to prepare and submit a planning application to Herefordshire Council for ten, barn style, new houses in Herefordshire. The development maximises the development potential of the site whilst meeting client defined targets of being responsible developers delivering high spec and affordable accommodation in rural communities. Biodiversity of the site is also enhanced through a carefully thought out enhanced landscaping scheme and wildlife corridors.

The design centred around a spine road which provides access across the whole site. Generously spaced along this road, the mixture of new housing is formed of plots including two, three and four bed dwellings, all with generous garden plots and garaging. The design is a contemporary interpretation of a barn style development which is the vernacular in the area. The language of the buildings, maximises views over private gardens and over the wider Herefordshire Countryside. Enhanced planting provides a verdant urban extension to the existing settlement.

Materials for the development were chosen following a close analysis of the existing vernacular and comprise of a red brick ground floor level with timber first floor. The contrast provides a grounding to the ground floor whilst the timber cladding provides a lightweight superstructure which will tone down as the materials weather creating a softer streetscene when viewed with the wider planting scheme.

The scheme is grounded sustainable building practises through limiting thermal loss and maximising thermal gain through large southern windows. Located close to the centre of an established village settlement, the development will benefit from existing services whilst encouraging families to the area, offering support. From the outset of the project, one of the design teams objectives was to retain the existing mature planting and to make enhancements to the bio diversity and the wider environment. The site is focused on these enhancements through enhanced planting and generous amenity space.

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Dutch Barn Conversion in Herefordshire

KODA architects have submitted a new planning application for a Dutch Barn conversion in Herefordshire as part of the wider redevelopment of the farmstead.

At the turn of the 20th Century the Dutch Barns across the country were built from any materials which were readily available, as such they have become part of the farmyard aesthetic. Often built from telegraph poles, their purpose was to provide sheltered accommodation for hay and straw but this use later diversified to sheltering any farm equipment. With their iconic curved roof structures, they are becoming increasingly lost in favour for larger more practical structures, as such, Dutch Barns are becoming increasingly rare in Herefordshire.

The Dutch barn conversion in Herefordshire uses the rhythm of the new steel frame with punctuations within the structure to allow views out over the Herefordshire countryside.

Using the traditional Dutch Barn forms as a key element of the proposal, the design team at KODA architects expressed the barrel vaulted roof in the first floor volume. New powdercoated steel trusses take reference from the traditional Ironmongery seen in traditional Dutch Barns. To the centre of the barn is the main double height atrium with a bespoke steel staircase and feature walls which bring in the exterior cladding to the interior. The double height volume provides a sense of space and an open feel to the traditional barn aesthetic.

The internal space is maximised through a large open plan kitchen and living area with bi-folding doors leading to an external terrace. The new five bedroom dwelling has a flexible layout, ready for a busy family environment. Additional bedrooms are located on the ground floor can be used as reception rooms or bedrooms, depending on the occupants requirements. A boot room is located off the main living accommodation adjacent to a home study, allowing the building to cater for a range of families at any stage.

The exterior takes its form from the existing farm yard materials pallet with timber cladding but with a contemporary zinc cladding referencing the crinkly tin structures on the site. The long reaching interior views over the Herefordshire Countryside contrast against the sharp grey aluminium windows providing a striking intervention sitting within the Dutch Barn structure.

Complimenting the new Dutch barn house, using the same language and materials pallet, a garage and stabling block has been developed which adds the farm yards aesthetic. The Dutch barn conversion adds to KODA architects Barn Conversion Portfolio.

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Conversion of Dinham Hall in Ludlow

Conversion of Dinham Hall in Ludlow

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Conservation Architects in Ludlow

New Housing in Abergavenny

New Development in Abergavenny

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Sustainable Design

New Housing in Abergavenny

Sustainable self-build homes in Ludlow

Planning approved for sustainable self-build homes in Ludlow

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Planning approved for sustainable self-build homes in Ludlow

Bastion Mews Hereford

Master Planning at Bastion Mews Hereford

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Master planning Bastion Mews

Imperial Square | Cheltenham

Imperial Square | Architects Cheltenham

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Architects Cheltenham

“The finish on this property is absolutely wonderful and the fittings exquisite!”

New Houses in Herefordshire

New Houses in Herefordshire

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New Houses in Herefordshire

Dutch Barn Conversion in Herefordshire

Dutch Barn Conversion in Herefordshire

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Seven New Houses in Herefordshire