Residential architecture across North Yorkshire for existing homes, rural buildings and development opportunities that require careful site-led design.
From the first idea to planning and technical drawings, choose the support your project needs. Each stage has a clear scope and fee.
More useful space, better daylight and a clearer relationship with the garden.
Explore this service 02Roof-space feasibility, stair layouts and technical design for a more capable home.
Explore this service 03Site-led design and early feasibility for replacement homes and small developments.
Explore this service 04A proportionate planning route supported by clear drawings and local context.
Explore this service 05Coordinated technical drawings that carry the approved design into detail.
Explore this service 06Early appraisal of access, constraints, capacity and likely consultant input.
Explore this service 07Planning-led layouts for HMOs, flat conversions and other residential changes of use.
Explore this serviceSelected projects and design studies from the practice. Explore the brief, design and thinking behind each proposal.
A brick rear extension in Stokesley with a pitched tiled roof, glazed gable and garden-facing doors. The design combines traditional materials with generous daylight and a direct connection to the patio and garden.
A sensitive yet bold reinvention of a Victorian stone villa. A single-storey rear extension in charred timber cladding creates a deliberate counterpoint to the original sandstone façade — dark against light, new against old. Full-height glazing and folding doors open the extended living space entirely to the garden, while a crisp stone terrace and lush planted borders mediate between architecture and landscape. Heritage preserved, contemporary life enabled. A quiet confidence in the dialogue between past and present.
A sensitive transformation of a traditional stone home, introducing a sleek contemporary rear extension with expansive glazing and strong indoor–outdoor connections.
Read clients’ own accounts of working with Hepburn Architects.
North Yorkshire's scale means there is no single local building type or planning context. Market towns, villages, farmsteads and open countryside each require a different reading of character and landscape. We establish the authority, designations and site constraints before deciding what architectural language or level of development is appropriate.
Extensions to rural and village homes should improve everyday use while maintaining a clear relationship with the host building. We consider massing, roof geometry, materials and important views alongside internal planning. The objective is not imitation by default, but a coherent composition that can be explained through drawings and context.
New homes, barn-related proposals and replacement dwellings need a sound planning principle as well as attractive design. Access, landscape, ecology, drainage and services may determine feasibility. Early consultant advice can be valuable, and we help define what evidence is proportionate before a client invests in a full application.
We establish the brief, site conditions and likely approval route before fixing the design. Once the spatial approach is agreed, the work can progress into coordinated information for planning, structural input and Building Regulations without treating those stages as separate design exercises.
North Yorkshire Council handles most applications in the county. Sites inside the North York Moors or Yorkshire Dales national parks are determined by the relevant National Park Authority. Depending on the property and its precise location, landscape, heritage, ecology, access or settlement policies may be important. We confirm the authority and constraints for the specific address.
Planning and Building Regulations are separate approval systems. We can prepare the architectural information for both, but every decision remains with the relevant authority or approved inspector.
Each commission is scoped around the decisions the client needs to make. Later stages are not assumed before the earlier evidence is understood.
We discuss the property, priorities, budget and programme, then identify the surveys and early checks needed.
Options are tested in plan and three dimensions before the agreed proposal is prepared for the appropriate approval route.
The approved design is developed with construction details and coordinated consultant information for Building Control and pricing.
North Yorkshire Council handles most of the county. The North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Park Authorities determine applications inside their respective boundaries.
We can assess the site, planning principle and likely supporting information. Rural planning is highly site-specific, and an appraisal is not a guarantee that permission is achievable.
Yes. We can develop an approved design into coordinated technical information for Building Control and construction, working with structural engineers and other specialists where their input is required.
Tell David about your property in North Yorkshire, what you want to change and what matters most. We will help you identify a useful first step.
North East studio · Acklam Hall, Middlesbrough
Site visits and meetings by arrangement.