CEO Design Service · Heritage Architecture
A fixed-fee design and management plan prepared by a specialist heritage architecture practice — so you know exactly what is possible, what is required, and how to proceed.
Most listed building owners discover the complexity of their situation only after they have already committed to a course of action. This plan is the document that should come first.
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The problem with listed buildings
Owners of grade listed properties in London's conservation areas face a system that is deliberate, technical, and unforgiving of ill-prepared submissions. A poorly conceived application does not simply fail — it creates a record that complicates every subsequent approach to the same authority.
The conservation officer's position is formed early. The significance of the building, the character of the conservation area, and the precedent set by comparable approvals — all of these factors are in play before a formal application is ever lodged. The practices that consistently secure consent understand this. The ones that do not, learn it the hard way.
"The most expensive mistake in a listed building project is not the wrong specification. It is the right specification presented to the wrong authority at the wrong time."
The Heritage Works Plan resolves this. It is not a planning application. It is the considered document that precedes one — establishing what is possible, what is required, and what sequence of actions will produce the outcome you need.
What the plan covers
A structured assessment of your project — prepared with the depth that conservation officers expect and the clarity that decisions require.
An assessment of the building's listed status, its position within the conservation area, and the specific elements of historic significance that will bear on your proposals.
The applicable national and local planning policy — including NPPF Chapter 16, local authority conservation area guidance, and any relevant Article 4 directions — assessed against your specific works.
A considered approach to the consent process: which elements are likely to be approved, where the conservation officer's concerns will concentrate, and how to frame the proposals for the strongest possible outcome.
A sequenced programme identifying pre-application consultation, formal application, and technical submission requirements — with realistic timelines by local authority.
Indicative material and product guidance — which approaches are conservation-compliant, which are routinely approved, and which carry risk of refusal.
A clear statement of what needs to happen next, in what order, and with what resources — whether you are proceeding independently or instructing a heritage architect.
Fixed-fee service
Heritage Works Plan
Fixed fee · No hidden extras
Secure payment via Stripe. Plan delivered within 5 working days of your completed brief. Invoice issued automatically.
Heritage Works Plan + Sketch Package
Fixed fee · No hidden extras
Recommended where pre-application consultations are likely or where the works have a significant design component.
CEO Design Service
A heritage architecture practice with 15 years of conservation area experience across prime London. The practice behind the plan.
The practice specialises in the most complex end of the heritage market — institutional security, ballistic specification within eighteenth-century facades, conservation officer negotiations where the margin for error is close to zero. The Heritage Works Plan applies that discipline to the full range of listed building alteration work.
What happens after you instruct
Four steps. Five working days.
Payment & confirmation
You instruct via Stripe, giving the property address, listed grade and local authority at checkout. Within one working day we send a short briefing form covering the proposed works and any planning history. It takes around five minutes, and the five working days run from its return.
Research & assessment
We review the listed building register entry, the conservation area appraisal, relevant local authority planning history, and the applicable policy framework. No generic templates. Every plan is prepared for the specific property.
Plan preparation
The Heritage Works Plan is prepared as a formal document — the kind that can be shared with a conservation officer, a contractor, or a solicitor. The Sketch Package (where instructed) is prepared concurrently and delivered as a single document.
Delivery & option to proceed
Your plan is delivered as a PDF within 5 working days of your completed brief. If you wish to instruct CEO Design Service for the full application, the fee paid for this plan is credited against our professional fee. There is no obligation to proceed.
Fixed fee. No retainer. No obligation to proceed. Delivered within five working days of your completed brief.
Both fees are credited in full against CEO Design Service's professional fee if you proceed to a full listed building consent application. The plan costs you nothing if you instruct us for the works.
Questions
What types of listed building works does this cover?
Any alteration to a grade listed building that may require Listed Building Consent — windows, doors, internal alterations, security installations, extensions, roof works, basement excavations. If you are uncertain whether your works require consent, the plan will answer that question directly.
Which local authorities do you work with?
The practice has active experience across Westminster City Council, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the London Borough of Camden, and the City of London. Plans can be prepared for listed buildings in other London boroughs — contact us to confirm coverage before instructing.
Is this a planning application?
No. This is the document that should precede one. A Heritage Works Plan establishes your approval strategy — it is not submitted to the local authority. A Listed Building Consent application requires additional drawings, a heritage statement, and formal submission. If that is what you need, we can discuss it after delivering the plan.
What is included in the Sketch Package?
Annotated sketch proposals illustrating the recommended design approach for your specific alteration works — prepared to a standard suitable for sharing with a conservation officer at pre-application stage, or for briefing a contractor. These are design documents, not diagrams.
How is the fee applied if I instruct you for the full application?
The fee paid for this plan — £333 or £555 — is credited in full against CEO Design Service's professional fee for a Listed Building Consent application. There is no minimum spend and no obligation to proceed. The plan has value in its own right, regardless of whether you instruct us further.
How do I brief you?
At checkout you give the property address, its listed grade and the local authority. Within one working day we send a short briefing form asking for a description of your proposed works, a few photographs and any planning history you are aware of. That is all we need to begin.