Every building is different, so the sequence matters more than any single technique. Five stages, in order, each signed off before the next begins. It is slower than guessing — and much faster than discovering a problem on site with a scaffold up.
Before we commit to any building we measure it, photograph it and stress-test it. A full measured survey, structural walk-through, services audit and a look at title, planning history and any heritage constraints. The output is a one-line answer — proceed, negotiate, or walk away — backed by figures. Around a third of the buildings we appraise never go further, and that is the point.
We work with local architects and structural engineers who know Sunderland's stock — the sandstone commercial palaces around Fawcett Street, the brick terraces behind them, the warehouse sheds towards the river. Schemes are shaped around what survives: original window openings, staircases, trusses and facades do the talking. Where planning permission, change of use or conservation-area consent is needed, we take it through with Sunderland City Council from pre-application onwards.
Contracts are let to North East trades and specialists we have worked with before, under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 with a principal designer and principal contractor formally appointed. Neighbours, remaining ground-floor occupiers and — where applicable — the council's conservation officer are briefed before work starts, with a named contact for complaints while the site is live.
We make the building dry, sound and efficient before we make it pretty. Roofs and gutters, masonry and pointing, windows and doors, insulation at every opportunity — then services, then finishes. Work is sequenced floor by floor so that completed sections can be handed over while later ones are still in progress, which keeps the programme honest on tight city-centre plots.
Handover means snagging resolved, systems commissioned, and a complete operations and maintenance manual for the building — drawings, guarantees, certificates and maintenance schedules in one place. We stay formally involved through an aftercare period after each scheme completes, because the first winter is when a refurbished building tells you the truth.
5
Stages, each gated before the next begins
12
North East consultants and contractors on regular framework
1
Named contact for neighbours throughout every live site
100%
Schemes delivered without demolition of the retained structure
If you have a building you think deserves a second life, the first conversation costs nothing and commits you to less. Tell us the address and what you know about it; we will take it from there.