There’s been an ongoing planning permission dispute and legal argument between Robbie Williams and Jimmy Page in London, which highlights the importance of good organisation in these areas. As leading London architects, we are monitoring the case with great interest, and are noting all the problems and pitfalls that we work to avoid with our own services.

On a superficial level, many see the case as one wealthy rock star trying to stop another from making changes to a mansion. At its core, however, the matter is not quite so trivial. The proposed changes to one property carry the very real risk of indirect and inadvertent damage being caused to the other. This could be via vibrations created by construction equipment, and the long term impact of weaknesses in the foundations due to a new basement being created. These are the sort of challenges which one needs to bear in mind when looking at any renovation or extension work.

We make sure to gain a comprehensive understanding of the environment in which we will be carrying out our architectural services, gaining insights into what damage could be caused and finding the means to avoid it. We take great pride in carrying out our services in as eco-friendly a way as possible, which includes showing respect to the buildings surrounding a site as well as to the natural environment.

Understanding the impacts and effect work will have in all aspects is crucial to carrying out any architectural work, with this being all the more important in London. The generally close proximity of buildings to each other in the highly built up capital means that virtually any extension or renovation work carried out will have a degree of impact on the structures near it. With a full assessment carried out and the correct permissions applied for, we will minimise the risk of problems when working on any type of residential or commercial architecture project.