The SOANE Method
Vision to Value™
Every heritage asset holds more than the records show — a house, an entire estate, an agricultural holding, an interior, a single piece of furniture. Our method moves each one through three pillars: read the asset, respond with discipline, resolve every detail. The value is already there. We bring it into the light.
Understand the asset
Every commission begins with understanding — the building, the land it stands in, and the records that surround it. Whether the asset is a listed house, an entire estate, an agricultural holding, an interior or a single piece of furniture, we read it before we touch it.
Aligns with RIBA Stages 0–2
Asset Story
The building's history, fabric and designations — what the archives show, and what they do not yet show. The story establishes everything that follows.
Significance Audit
What makes the asset singular — its architectural, historic, evidential and communal values, assessed honestly and recorded clearly.
Constraint Map
Planning, heritage, structural and ecological constraints, mapped before design begins — so nothing surprises the project later.
Hidden Value Scan
The latent potential others miss — underused space, consentable headroom, estate-wide opportunity. The value is already there; it has not yet been seen.
Reveal the value
A considered response that honours the listing and the life within it. Design, evidence and consent strategy move together — one discipline, not three — so the scheme that is drawn is the scheme that is approved.
Aligns with RIBA Stages 2–4
Design Response
A scheme shaped by the reading — proportionate, reversible where it should be, ambitious where it can be. The hidden value, brought into the light.
Heritage Case
The justification assembled — heritage statements, impact assessments and the policy argument, written to the standard consenting authorities expect.
Consent Strategy
Pre-application advice, listed building consent and planning applications, sequenced deliberately to give the project certainty.
Value Proposition
The scheme tested against brief, budget and the asset's worth — so every decision is made with the whole picture in view.
Finish the building
Architecture, interiors, furniture and construction management — resolved end to end, under one roof. No handoffs, no seams: the practice that designed the work sees it built, furnished and complete.
Aligns with RIBA Stages 4–7
Technical Resolution
Detailed design and specification with conservation detailing at its core — drawn for the craftspeople who will build it.
Maker Coordination
Joiners, conservators, consultants and contractors brought under one direction — chosen for the work, briefed with precision.
Construction Management
Site oversight from first opening-up to final decoration. The practice remains present, and accountable, throughout.
The Finished Asset
Interiors furnished, records completed, the asset performing as it should — its value revealed, realised and protected for what comes next.
One practice, from first idea to finished building.
If you own — or are considering — a listed or historic asset, the conversation starts with a reading, not a sales pitch.