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Georgian brick terrace with sash windows, arched fanlight doorways, stone steps and iron railings in London
Photograph: Lorenc Memaga

01Areas we cover

Architectural drawings for St John's Wood villas

St John's Wood is a district of villas set in gardens, and the council's audit protects the garden setting as firmly as the houses. We draw extensions, lofts and basements for these villas so that the roofline, the boundary walls and the planting all stay in the argument, with a free constraints check first.

Fixed quote after a free constraints check

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    02The record

    St John's Wood on the record

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Conservation areaSt John's Wooddesignated 2007-08-22westminster.gov.uk
    Local factThe St John's Wood Conservation Area was first designated in 1967 and extended in 1979 and 2007; its audit was adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document on 16 June 2008.No periodwestminster.gov.uk
    Local factThe north and the east and west fringes have large detached and semi-detached Victorian villas in generous gardens on wide tree-lined streets; the south-east has larger Edwardian and early-20th-century mansion blocks.No periodwestminster.gov.uk
    Local factListed buildings and largely unaltered villa groups are Category 1, where roof extensions would not normally be acceptable.No periodwestminster.gov.uk
    Local factThe council encourages repair and retention of original doors and windows; replacements should match glazing patterns and opening method.No periodwestminster.gov.uk
    Local factNew front boundary walls should harmonise with the building; permission refused if area character is harmed.No periodwestminster.gov.uk
    Local factAudit para: an Article 4 direction to protect front gardens in St John's Wood 'will be investigated' (2008); not recorded as madeNo periodwestminster.gov.uk
    Local planning considerationWestminster's City Plan 2019-2040 (2026), Policy 50, supports basements only where they extend under no more than 50% of the garden land and are no more than one storey beneath the lowest original floor level, with exceptions for large sites.No periodwestminster.gov.uk
    Conservation areas56 named conservation areas published by the councilNo periodplanning.data.gov.uk
    Article 4 directions10 Article 4 directions published by the councilNo periodplanning.data.gov.uk

    A blank value means the figure has not been published, not that there are none. Check your own address with the council.

    St John's Wood2 conservation areas
    Conservation areas named for St John's Wood
    • St John's Wood: designated 22 August 2007
    • St Johns Wood: designation date not recorded
    Upper floors of a large yellow-brick Victorian house in London with chimney pots
    Photograph: Lorenc Memaga

    03The drawing

    Constraints check: WestminsterA, Conservation areas: 56 named conservation areas published by the council. B, Article 4 directions: 10 Article 4 directions published by the council. C, Listed building entries: 4,015 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary). D, Heritage at Risk entries: 23 Heritage at Risk Register entries within the LPA boundary (Historic England)56Conservation areasA10Article 4 directionsB4,015Listed building entriesC23Heritage at Risk entriesD

    Constraints check: Westminster

    What we check first on any address in Westminster. Counts are for the whole council area.

    A Conservation areas
    56 named conservation areas published by the council
    B Article 4 directions
    10 Article 4 directions published by the council
    C Listed building entries
    4,015 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary)
    D Heritage at Risk entries
    23 Heritage at Risk Register entries within the LPA boundary (Historic England)
    A period street in three dimensions3D
    Scroll the page: the model turns with it.

    04The brief

    Villas, gardens and mansion blocks

    The north and the east and west fringes have large detached and semi-detached Victorian villas in generous gardens on wide tree-lined streets; the south-east has larger Edwardian and early-20th-century mansion blocks. Those two housing types raise different questions, and we do not draw them from one template.

    The St John's Wood Conservation Area was first designated in 1967 and extended in 1979 and 2007; its audit was adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document on 16 June 2008. The audit is the document an officer reads first, so it is the document we read first, with Westminster's own count of 56 conservation areas as the wider context.

    Rows of brick terraced houses and gardens on a residential street

    05The detail

    The most protected villas and the roof

    The audit sorts buildings into categories. Listed buildings and largely unaltered villa groups are Category 1, where roof extensions would not normally be acceptable. A mansard or a new roof storey on such a villa is therefore a hard case, and we say so before any fee for design work is spent.

    Where a villa has already been altered, the argument changes. Our page on mansard roof drawings sets out how we test the existing roofline for room to move.

    Windows, doors and the front wall

    The council encourages repair and retention of original doors and windows; replacements should match glazing patterns and opening method. We draw replacement joinery to that standard and mark the original opening method on the elevation.

    New front boundary walls should harmonise with the building; permission refused if area character is harmed. A new front wall is a small drawing with a long consequence, so we show it in context against the neighbouring boundaries.

    Front gardens and the Article 4 question

    The audit says an Article 4 direction to protect front gardens in St John's Wood would be investigated. Our records hold no direction made on that basis, so we confirm the position at the live register for your address before any front-garden work is drawn.

    Westminster publishes 10 Article 4 directions in total, so the answer for one road can differ from the next.

    Below the villa

    Westminster's City Plan 2019-2040 (2026), Policy 50, supports basements only where they extend under no more than 50% of the garden land and are no more than one storey beneath the lowest original floor level, with exceptions for large sites. Villa plots are often generous, which helps the arithmetic, and the basement conversion drawings page explains how we set out the garden calculation.

    If your villa is listed, the route is under listed building consent drawings. Westminster lists 4,015 entries, and our Marylebone guide covers the audits next door.

    Planning sheet for a single-storey rear extension: proposed ground floor plan and rear elevation, with the Property Architecture title block
    Sample drawing. Proposed plan and rear elevation from a planning application set, sheet 03 at 1:50.

    06The papers

    What the drawings rest on

    Red-brick mansion blocks and shopfronts on a street cornerMeasured surveys
    Photograph: Tom McCarten
    Building regulations section through a rear extension, with the roof, floor, wall and foundation build-ups labelled
    Sample drawing. Section A-A with the build-ups building control checks, sheet 07 at 1:50.

    07Correspondence

    Questions

    Can I add a roof storey to a St John's Wood villa?

    The audit puts listed buildings and largely unaltered villa groups in a category where roof extensions would not normally be acceptable. Altered villas are assessed differently, so we survey the roof and its neighbours before recommending anything.

    Do I need permission to replace windows in St John's Wood?

    The council encourages repair and retention of original windows and doors, and replacements should match glazing patterns and opening method. Send us the address and we confirm the controls that apply to it.

    Is there an Article 4 direction for front gardens in St John's Wood?

    The audit says one would be investigated, and our records hold no direction made for that purpose. We confirm against the council's live register for your address.

    What do villa drawings cost in St John's Wood, and which job suits a villa plot?

    Generous gardens help the basement arithmetic, because the City Plan limit is set against garden land. Basement drawings begin at £1,995, VAT included. A roof storey is the hard case for a villa in the top audit category, and we say so before you spend on design. Where an altered villa does allow one, mansard drawings begin at £845. A listed villa is quoted after the free check.

    Rear view of brick terraced houses in London with slate roofs and chimney stacks along the shared roofline

    56

    named conservation areas published by the council

    Conservation areas, Westminster. Source: planning.data.gov.uk

    Photograph: Ben Hadfield

    08Further reading

    Nearby neighbourhoods

    09Sources

    Sources and dates

    Licences

    Kensington street lined with brick townhouses and lit streetlamps beneath an orange dusk sky

    Send us the address of your house.

    We look up the conservation area, listing and Article 4 position, then reply with a fixed fee. A message before 3pm is answered the same working day.

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    Architectural drawings in St John's Wood villas