We chose State of Design as our architects when upgrading our unmodified 1930s semi-detached house because they were the only company whose previous work stood out as both stylish and.original within a generally homogenous market. Our original plan had been to turn the garage into a spare room, to do a loft conversion to create a fourth bedroom, and to add a conservatory onto the lounge, and several architects we consulted confirmed that they would be happy to fulfil these requests. Only one of the architects we consulted, Sabin from State of Design, went further and proposed a more radical and comprehensive renovation of the property within the available budget. Our initial consultation with Sabin lasted about an hour and a half – time he gave to us without charge. We discussed not only our ideas for expanding the property, but also our needs as a family, both in the immediate, as well as long-term, future. Sabin made several suggestions for alterations we had not considered, and showed us many examples of previous similar conversions State of Design had completed, so that we had a real sense of what we might achieve. We also talked very frankly about budget, timescale, and how much flexibility there might be with either. At our next meeting, Sabin presented us with three alternative designs, with detailed plans and rough costings for each. We chose to go with the most ambitious of the options, even though it was costed at slightly above our initial budget, because it was clear to us that the end result would be significantly bigger and a better use of the space, and well worth the relatively modest extra expenditure. From this point until the beginning of the actual work, things went incredibly smoothly and efficiently. Detailed plans were drawn up and these, together with interactive 3D visualisations were made available to us, so that we could get a real sense of what the final house would look like, both from the outside but also when moving from room to room. Despite the radical redesign of the entire property – especially at the back, where the most ambitious design elements were on display, the project received planning consent immediately and without dispute – clearly thanks to Sabin’s knowledge of the procedures involved, his attention to detail with regard to what was permissible within the existing regulations, and his personal efforts to ensure everything was done as smoothly and efficiently as possible. In consultation with the architect, and after a careful selection process, a builder was chosen. By this point, Sabin had already drawn up an incredibly detailed plan of works which was then discussed, costed and revised until all parties were satisfied. This might easily have been the subject of a great deal of argument, but with Sabin acting as intermediary between builder and client, the process ended up being very straightforward and all disagreements and revisions were sorted quickly and amicably. Once the building work began, Sabin was always available to deal with any issues which might arise and to answer any questions we had, either by email or phone. We had regular weekly meetings at which client, architect and builder could all get together and discuss any problems or alterations to the schedule and Sabin also set up a comprehensive website for the project, where the plans and schedule were always available, where the minutes from each weekly meeting could be posted, and where any other communications and useful information could be shared. At no point did we ever feel as though we, as clients, were being kept out of the loop, or where important information was being withheld from us. We never had any problem contacting Sabin, or receiving a reply to any inquiry almost immediately, and we truly felt that he was arguing our case with the builder just as much as he was trying to explain their issues to us, and suggesting remedies and compromises we certainly would never have considered ourselves. Once the work was completed and we were able to move back into the property, Sabin continued to make himself available to us whenever necessary, to ensure there were no issues between client and builder during the first few months when any teething problems needed to be ironed out. In fact, Sabin has continued to take an interest in the property and has continued to offer extremely helpful advice and assistance with regard to any maintenance work which has become necessary over the years, despite the fact that he has no contractual obligation to do so. The property itself is everything we could have hoped for and is an absolute pleasure to live, and to work in. The large open area of the south-facing lounge/dining room, with its mostly-glass end wall, is bright all year round, extremely warm in winter, and a much better solution to our needs than an add-on conservatory would have been. The loft conversion provides us with the largest of our four bedrooms. Its cleverly-designed, angled ceiling gives us more headroom than we ever imagined possible in a loft room and this, together with the full height, south-facing window creates a truly wonderful sense of light and space. But by far the most important and useful part of the redesign has been the entrance area at the front of the house. By abandoning the idea of turning the garage into what would probably have been an unnecessary extra room and instead using the space to expand the entrance area, Sabin was able to provide us with a downstairs WC, a beautiful staircase almost twice the width of the previous one, a generous storage area for shoes and coats, and still provide enough space for an external storage area for bicycles. What was previously a narrow hallway and a steep staircase with limited headroom has now become a wide, bright and significantly more useful and welcoming entrance area to our home. I would not hesitate before recommending State of Design for an architectural project of this type. Their stunning and innovative designs, their attention to detail at every stage of the process and their commitment and professionalism have provided us with a house that is both beautiful to look at and a constant delight to live in.