Real projects, design judgement, and what it's actually like to work with a heritage architect on a listed building — from Giles Paul Shorter and SOANE Architects.
Boiler failed in a listed house? A heritage architect's questions on flues, pipe routes and radiators, and when to speak to your council before work starts.
A builder offers to start repointing next week? Frost can ruin fresh lime mortar for weeks. Here is why I would wait for spring and use the winter well.
Stain on the ceiling but clear gutters? Follow the rain through valleys, parapets and hidden gutters on a listed roof, and learn when repairs need consent.
Found small holes in the roof timbers of your listed house? What to do first, when treatment needs consent, and why damp matters more than beetles.
Three ways to insulate a listed roof: at the loft floor, under the rafters or over them, and the balance between warmth, strength and appearance.
Five roof words to know before you ring a roofer or your council: stack, pot, flaunching, flashing and like for like, and where consent may come in.
A gale has moved a slate on your listed roof. Six plain answers on what you can do that day, what the law allows, and what waits for your council.
Before you lay a path, raise a bed or replace a floor in a listed house, look at the ground first. A heritage architect walks the foot of the walls.
Damp in a listed house is rarely solved by sealing the wall. Find the cause first, keep the fabric breathing, and speak to your council before any treatment.
Before the first fire of winter in a listed house, have the chimney swept and checked. Fitting a stove or liner is different work, with its own rules.
Draughty windows in a listed house? Start with repair and draught-proofing, then secondary glazing. Councils differ on consent, so ask yours first.
Do you need listed building consent to repoint? Small like-for-like patches often don't; changing the mortar, joint style or a whole wall can. How we decide.
Do you need listed building consent to repair gutters? Routine, like-for-like repairs normally don't; changing material or rebuilding runs can. How we decide.
How SOANE decides which parts of a listed interior can change: date the fabric, map its significance, then design. A worked example from Bluecoats, Hertford.
A listed building marketed subject to planning permission has no permission yet. For a listed building, that is only half the picture — here is what to check.
The NPPF published in August 2026 changes how heritage harm is tested. Here is what that actually means for an owner of a listed building, from an architect.
Yes, in most cases — here is what a heritage architect actually does on a listed building, and when you can safely go without one.
On a first visit to a listed building, a heritage architect is reading age, alteration and risk — here is what that actually involves, room by room.
Text © 2026 SOANE Architects Ltd. You’re welcome to quote a short extract with a credit and a link back. Photographs belong to their photographers and are credited beneath each image.
Architecture is personal. I prefer real conversations over long emails. Call me directly, or send a WhatsApp voice note or video of your property to +44 (0)7737 745211.
Prefer to write? Send an enquiry instead.
Not ready to talk yet? See a sample appraisal — the plain-English report every SOANE project starts with.
