Where the house should have always ended.
An architect-led studio for glass extensions, orangeries and full wrap-arounds — one team from first sketch to the last pane of glass, for houses that deserve better than a standard build.
- Typical investment
- £280,000
- On site
- 16–24 wks
- In-house architect
- Always
Elevation study — rear glass extension
Three houses, three entirely different extensions.
The Glass Box
A steel-framed rear extension replacing a 1970s conservatory, with a 4m frameless roof lantern.
The Orangery
A traditional lantern-roofed orangery on a listed farmhouse, cleared with the conservation officer before design began.
The Wrap-Around
Side-return and rear combined into one kitchen, dining and living space — the whole ground floor rebuilt around it.
Reviews we don't write ourselves.
Pulled from Google, unfiltered — we would rather you read the honest ones than only the flattering ones.
They understood the house before they drew a single line. Nothing about the extension feels bolted on.
Eighteen months of planning conversations with the conservation officer, handled entirely by Aldermere. We never once had to write a letter.
One point of contact for eight months, and he answered every single time. That alone is worth what we paid.
An architect, not a draughtsman
Every project is designed by a RIBA chartered architect in-house — not sketched by a salesperson and handed to a subcontractor to interpret.
One project at a time, per client
We run a deliberately small number of live projects, so your point of contact is never managing five other sites the week that matters most.
The awkward planning conversations, handled
Conservation areas, Article 4 directions, listed building consent — we hold the difficult conversations with planning officers so you don't have to.
Bespoke joinery, not a catalogue
Kitchens, staircases and glazing are drawn and built for the room they sit in — nothing arrives from a supplier's standard range.
What we'd want to know, in your position.
Structural engineering, planning and building control fees, party wall surveyors and bespoke joinery routinely add 15–20% to a headline construction figure. We show you the realistic total at the concept stage, not partway through.
Foundations and steel frame are loud and dusty for several weeks regardless of budget. We sequence the build to protect one working kitchen for as long as possible, but there's no version of this that isn't disruptive for a stretch.
If the site, the budget or the planning context don't support the ambition, we'll say so at the concept stage — not after a deposit and three months of drawings.
Bespoke steel and frameless glazing is ordered early in the programme precisely because of this — a late design change to the glazing is the single most common cause of delay on projects like these.
On site currently.
Four people, one project at a time.
Aldermere is deliberately small. We would rather turn work away than dilute the attention any one project gets.
Hugo Ashworth
Principal ArchitectRIBA chartered, twelve years in listed-building and conservation-area extensions before founding Aldermere.
Sofia Vance
Structural LeadChartered structural engineer, specialising in steel-portal glazed openings and heritage timber frames.
Robert Deakin
Joinery DirectorRuns the in-house workshop — staircases, kitchens and bespoke glazing surrounds, cut and fitted on site.
Elena Marsh
Client LiaisonYour single point of contact from first sketch to snagging — one person, always reachable.
Checkable, and dated.
RIBA Chartered Practice
Design led by a registered architect, not a salesperson — ask for the membership number.
Federation of Master Builders
Independently inspected member. Ask us for the inspection date.
£10m public liability
Plus professional indemnity on design work and contractors' all-risk on the build itself.
Insurance-backed guarantee
Ten years, issued in your name by the insurer — covered even if we stopped trading.
A first conversation is unhurried, and costs nothing.
Ninety minutes at your kitchen table, not a sales pitch — we'd rather understand the house and how you actually live in it before a single line is drawn.