Nic Antony Architects | Essex | London

Contrary to the other reviews I had a terrible experience with this practice.. No site visit I went with Nic based on outstanding reviews I read on Google and Houzz. We agreed the work, paid the 50% fee and had an initial meeting on Zoom. This was towards the tail end of the Covid pandemic and restrictions were relaxed to allow face to face meetings. After the first meeting which I thought was more of a brain storming session, to my surprise, I was told that no other meetings are required until draft plans were ready. I casually asked if youd like to come to the property to which the answer was NO - Not required. Well I guess I should have taken a step back there and then but I thought may be this is how experienced architects work. Not once did Nic visit my property through out the process which is a very strange experience. No creativity As one can imagine, the draft plans created were not to my brief and one would wonder how could they be given the site was never visited. I requested for a face to face meeting to update the plans. Went to their office which went ok. Most of the changes were being proposed by me and nothing creative was suggested by the architect or his assistant. Poor comms Communication was sub-standard. All comms were via email and no phone calls were made. When I called for updates or to talk to Nic to discuss something I was often told that he was in a meeting and would call back. The call backs never happened. When I chased the next day again some other assistant would pick up the phone to tell me that Nic is now away for 3-4 days on holidays or he is out for site visit or some other meeting. Biting more than one can chew Throughout the process I felt that the practice took on more work than they could deliver. I was told this by their receptionist Paula and Nic himself that they are very busy due to workload. Its fine I guess but one should bite only what one can chew. To my surprise while the work was being under-delivered due to workload I saw fliers and ads in local newspapers to book in a free consultation with Nic whereas existing clients were suffering. To summarise, Nic may be good for small projects like your typical loft or rear extension but if you need creativity and a personal experience where youd want to work with an architect to build your dream house hes probably not for it. Your mileage may vary.
May 22nd, 2022

Positive: Professionalism
Aug 27th, 2020

Feb 1st, 2020

Thank you to Nic Antony Architects for helping us to achieve our dream home and within budget. I highly recommend Nic and his team.
Mar 27th, 2019

I am a property developer and have used this company for various projects including new build, conversion into flats and permitted development lofts and garden extensions. Besides the high quality design and consultation work, you get a dedicated team relentlessly arguing the merits of your application with planning departments. In particular, they recently constructively argued my application through to approval when I had privately thrown in the towel. Highly recommend.
Jul 29th, 2017