Cupola Design Ltd

I've worked with Adrian and his team on a number of projects and have been very impressed by their friendly, professional manner and ability to produce elegant structural solutions that either compliment the architectural design or, if required, disappear seamlessly into the building envelope. Adrian's experience and knowledge of working with existing buildings means that he can think on his feet and quickly problem solve to to find the most efficient structural approach, even on complex sites. He does not promote cutting corners to save costs in the short term, but provides solutions that protect and enhance a client's investment. The quality of Cupola's drawings and specification is good and their solutions are always tailored to the specific requirements of the project while making sure the design is right for the building.
Dec 22nd, 2019

On the plus side, I found Adrian to be thorough and knowledgeable. He was also able to recommend a good architect who in turn recommended a good construction company, all of which helped us complete the project (converting the lower part of a two floor conservatory into an internal space) successfully. On the downside he initially provided an over-engineered drawing, which would have been very expensive to construct. It was one of the construction company candidates who pointed out that a simpler design would achieve the same objective. I then got Adrian to supply new drawings using this simpler approach, and these revised drawings had no problem getting through building control. I paid almost 1000 for the initial drawings which I couldn't use. I was billed less for the revised drawing. However I would have expected that Adrian would have been able to see the possibility of the simpler design on his first visit (given that the builders without engineering degrees were able to see this) and perhaps provide a choice of designs, rather than supplying just one design that was not the most affordable option by any measure. I don't feel that the 1,500 total paid for the drawings was value for money, given the requirements of the project.
Mar 14th, 2022

I found Adrian Ayora of Cupola Design to be incompetent and dishonest. He charged me 175+VAT, which had to be paid in advance of his visit to my property, to assess the structure of a two-meter wall - and he managed to misdiagnose one part of the wall. He decided it was brick, rather than a single piece of plywood (!), which he would have been able to ascertain simply by knocking on the wall to check whether it was hollow or solid. Instead he glanced at the wall and determined its structure without a thorough investigation, because he was too busy trying to convince me to hire him to do further work beyond the scope for which I had hired him. When I pointed out his error, he did not seem at all surprised but equally would not refund the money. He did produce another drawing, but then blamed his error on his assistant, who was not even present during Adrian's visit (meaning he's not a good employer either). Adrian also has a history of over-engineering solutions in his drawings (other customers have raised this point in their Google reviews of Cupola Design), because his contract terms mean that you have to pay extra for him to produce a simpler, straightforward and affordable design. This is obviously another ploy to extract further fees, since the cost of a new design is inevitably cheaper than the over-engineered solution. I am in the process of filing a formal complaint against him with The Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE). I suggest you find yourself an honest and competent professional - which is not Adrian Ayora.
Jan 16th, 2022

We have acted as Approved Inspectors on several projects designed by Cupola Design Ltd. They are diligent and professional and provide us with thorough calculations and details. This gives us and clients peace of mind that cracks and other issues are not going to appear down the line. They are our first recommendation when asked for an engineer. First class
Mar 20th, 2020

We have used Cupola Design Ltd on several of our projects. We first came accross them after a very tricky dispute where Building Control were concerned about the drawings provided by our original structural engineer. Cuploa was recommended to us and quickly resolved the issue and we have used them on several other projects since. We have had no problems with over-engineering and Building Control have always been happy with the drawings and structural plans.
Sep 10th, 2019