House & Garden is a magazine we all enjoy reading in the office. It is often where a conversation about a room, a material or a garden begins, and it has shaped how many of us think about houses and the way people live in them. To be recognised by the editors means a great deal to the whole team. It also reflects the trust of the clients who have let us design their homes, and of the builders and craftspeople who have made those designs real.
The work we are known for
Bramhall Blenkharn Leonard is a RIBA Chartered Practice based in Malton, North Yorkshire. Our work spans new houses, country houses, conservation and the care of private estates, and it reaches across the North of England, from the North York Moors to Cheshire and North Lincolnshire.
New houses are at the centre of it. Families and estates come to us when they want a house that belongs to its place and will still look right in a hundred years. Some of those houses are classical. Some are contemporary. Most draw on both, because the qualities that make a good house have not changed much: proportion, good light, honest materials and rooms that are pleasant to be in.
Building a country house today
A new country house is a rare commission, and not a simple one. National planning policy sets a very high bar for a new house in open countryside. Permission depends on a design of real quality, a clear understanding of the landscape, and a case that is made carefully from the start. We spend a great deal of our time on that case alongside the design, because the two cannot be separated.
The same is true of replacement dwellings, where an existing house on a rural site is rebuilt. These projects let a family stay on land they know while getting a house that suits how they live now. They need a sound reading of local policy and a design that is plainly better than what it replaces.
Our conservation work shapes how we approach new building. Repairing historic houses and estate buildings teaches you how traditional construction works: how stone and lime behave, how a roof sheds water, why old rooms have the proportions they do. We bring that knowledge to new houses, so that they are built to last rather than built to look old.
Houses that are comfortable and cheap to run
A new country house should be warm, quiet and economical to heat. We design with a fabric first approach, getting the walls, roof, windows and airtightness right before adding technology, and the practice has Passivhaus design expertise within the team. Classical proportions and very low energy use are not in conflict. Thick walls, well placed windows and a compact plan suit both.
Working with families and estates
Many of our clients will build one house in their lives, and they want to know their architect will be there from the first conversation to the day they move in. We take projects from early feasibility through planning, detailed design and construction, and we stay involved on site. With estates, that relationship often runs across many years and many buildings.
Talk to us
If you are thinking about a new house in the North of England, whether a country house, a replacement dwelling or a house on an estate, we would be glad to hear from you. You can contact the studio in Malton on 01653 69 33 33 or mail@brable.com