Studio
Twenty years of getting difficult Cotswolds projects through planning, and getting them right.
What we do best - experience that matters
Cotswold Architects designs prestigious renovations and extensions across the Cotswolds, blending local stone and oak with clean, contemporary additions.
What really sets the studio apart is experience navigating tricky planning environments, conservation areas, listed buildings, AONB land, and coming out the other side with permission granted. And since you work with Matt directly, nothing gets lost along the way.
Heritage materials, modern thinking, nothing off the shelf
Every project starts with the building and its setting, not a template. We lean on the natural stone, oak and flagstone that define this part of the world, then set them against something clearly contemporary, for example, a glass room against an old barn.
The palette follows the same instinct: heritage tones, Farrow & Ball style, that suit both the landscape and the client.
Where other architects hit a wall, we tend to find a way through
Most of what we work on sits in a conservation area or carries listed status, which makes planning genuinely hard to secure. It's the part of the process most homeowners dread, and the part we've built our reputation on.
We've taken on projects after another architect failed and a planner had already said no, and secured consent by rethinking the scheme rather than resubmitting the same one. Twenty years in, we know the rules well. More usefully, we know how to work with them.
Twenty years here. Twenty-plus listed buildings.
Matt has been designing in the Cotswolds for two decades, long enough to know the area's architecture, its planning authorities and its historic buildings in real depth, including hands-on work on more than twenty listed properties.
That experience earned a "Best New Build House" award in Cheltenham and an LABC nomination, both for projects that paired contemporary design with a genuine sense of place.
You work with the director. Not an assistant, not an account manager.
It's a small practice by design, so you deal with the principal from the first conversation through to completion. No handing off, no chain of people to get an answer from, just direct communication and a quick turnaround.
It suits complex, prestigious projects particularly well, where a fast, informed decision at the right moment can keep a scheme moving rather than stalled.
For clients who want it done properly, not cheaply
We work best with clients after a bespoke, high-quality result, often relocating from London, who are prepared to invest in getting it right.
Many come to us with a difficult site, a past refusal, or a listed building that needs careful handling. If that sounds like your project, we'd like to hear from you.
Get in touch for a
free consultation.
Conservation areas, listed buildings, applications that have already been refused. These are the projects we do our best work on. In 20 years designing across the Cotswolds, we’ve found a way through where others haven’t.