Case Study: Claydon Estate
The Granary and Hayloft buildings are located at Claydon Courtyard; in the grounds of Claydon House in Buckinghamshire. Planning applications for a change of use from residential to offices were submitted to the council in July 2023. VTP worked on preparing the application forms and creating existing and proposed elevation drawings, as well as acting as agent for the project and coordinating site visits.
Currently, Claydon Courtyard hosts a range of small businesses including shops and a cafe. Creating office space is a way for our client, the Phoenix Trust, to attract a wider variety of business types to the courtyard, and hence expand into a business park.
Whilst both buildings are listed, as there were no material changes proposed to the interior or exterior, there is no reason why the change would be harmful to heritage. Changing the use from staff accommodation to office space would not affect the appearance of either building. In addition to this, the properties, whilst being under use class C3, were vacant, and so the change to office space would give the buildings a purpose. No objections were received in response and consequently no changes needed to be made to the original applications. Decisions for approval were issued in September 2023, 8 weeks after submission of the applications.