Architects in Essex.

Working from Essex allows us to bring a considered understanding of the county's planning authorities, its landscape character and the vernacular that runs from the Dengie coast to the Rodings. Whether the project is a new home in a Green Belt village around Chelmsford, or a sensitive alteration within a Brentwood conservation area, we approach each site with the local context clearly in mind.

Our own studio is a quiet example of adaptive reuse — a converted 19th-century feed mill on the edge of Little Waltham, carefully reworked into a working architectural office.

The Practice works across a broad spectrum of the built environment. In any given year we will be developing new-build housing for a regional developer, the sensitive alteration of a Grade II listed farmhouse, a hospitality refurbishment, a community building and a masterplan for a former clinical site. Moving between scales is part of how we think — each discipline sharpens the others.

Our long-standing clients include national housebuilders, hotel and pub operators, NHS trusts, universities and private owners of historic properties. We are equally comfortable as sole architect or working alongside a client's established design team.

Much of our work begins on site. Whether the project is in Chelmsford, Colchester, Brentwood, Braintree, Maldon or one of the county's smaller villages, we prefer to spend time in person with the people who will use the finished building. That understanding of place and purpose informs every stage of the design.

Fee proposals are set out clearly at each RIBA stage, alongside the input required from other consultants and a realistic programme. We take pride in developing long-term partnerships, often working with clients across multiple projects over many years.

We work to the RIBA Plan of Work, which divides a project into clear stages. Stage 0 and 1 establish the brief, the budget and what the site will realistically allow. Stage 2 is concept design, where the shape of the scheme is agreed. Stage 3 develops that into the drawings and supporting documents that go to the local authority. Stage 4 resolves the technical detail for construction, and Stages 5 to 7 cover the build itself, handover and the first period of use.

Setting the work out this way keeps decisions in the right order and gives clients a clear point at each stage to review progress, agree costs and decide whether to continue. We confirm fees stage by stage, so there is never an open-ended commitment.

Acanthus RH Architects LLP is a RIBA Chartered Practice, and our project architects are registered with the Architects Registration Board. We are also part of Acanthus, a network of independent regional practices across the UK, which gives us access to a wider pool of specialist experience while remaining a local, independently run studio.

Alongside architecture and interiors, the Practice takes on Principal Designer duties under the Building Regulations, and advises on conservation and sustainable design. Our clients have included national housebuilders, hotel and pub operators, NHS trusts, universities and private owners of historic properties. Much of our work comes from repeat commissions and personal recommendation, which we take as the most reliable measure of how a practice performs.