Red Shed Design

Positive: Professionalism, Quality, Responsiveness, Value
Jun 28th, 2020

Have known James for a number of years...and would highly recommend him....Having initially designed our house extension, and more recently our Summerhouse. James went out of his way during both projects to ensure the designs were exactly what we wanted...and also ensured they obtained necessary planning permission without any issues. James has a sound knowledge of all aspects relating to architect design and building methods. He is particularly knowledgeable and experienced regarding timber frame buildings...something which in my experience was difficult to find from any of the other local architects we contacted.
Feb 4th, 2020

James did the design work for our 2 new classrooms, changing room and and bathroom. The process went fairly smoothly, he helped overcome a few issues along the way which meant we were able to open with only a small delay. He also helped us find a good contractor to carry out the construction and fit out work as well as managing the process of submtting applications to Building Control. We are very pleased with the end result.
Apr 10th, 2019

Very clever designer, would thoroughly recommend James, he has great ideas and lots of design flair!
Feb 20th, 2014

Extremely unhappy with the service I received. Process initially seemed OK as the architect agreed to come look at our property without a fee. James agreed to have design ready by given date but when I contacted him on the due date he said it was not ready. The time it took him to finish ultimately delayed our pre-planning application by weeks for a simple design that would only have take a few hours. I sent him many details of our desired design in an email. We requested a TWO bedroom design yet he designed a ONE bedroom without consulting us first, which completely did not meet our needs. The design also contained basic errors (such as the direction of North). I sent him several photos (a suggested requirement written on the council's pre-application checklist) to be submitted to aid the application, but after phoning the council I found he had not sent a single one and had to submit them myself. Eventually our pre-application was rejected, but not on the basis of it not being feasible but because the architect had not given the council all necessary information as requested on the checist - he had omitted key facts that were crucial to a successful application. I suppose it was because we paid a low fee as it was only for pre-application planning permission that he felt he did not need to put any time and effort into our application. However, I nonetheless was a paying client and disappointed with the service. Communication was also terrible and he very often would ignore my emails or not answer or call me back if we got cut off. The last email I sent was to express my disatisafaction and request a partial refund for the poor service. This was his reply: 'Dear Rachel, I note your comments and will respond to your email by tomorrow. James' As you would expect, after sending him a reminder I still never received the promise reply.
Feb 25th, 2019