JLArchitecture

James was absolutely brilliant. We brought him in after we had a bad experience with another architect and he immediately added value re-ordering our design and maximising our space. He is super-responsive, has contacts in every corner of the industry and was on hand when needed through the build. His interaction with the planning team at the council was great and was able to enter into a positive dialogue with them. And through all, he's a very nice person to deal with!

We highly recommend James! He is a fantastic architect who has a great vision and ability to turn our ideas into a home that we are truly proud of and has gained a lot of external appreciation. James listened to our needs and ideas closely and was able to create a proposal that was original and not your typical design, whilst still creating a comfortable family home. The final design of grey bricks and black timber cladding makes sure our house is one that gets noticed! He listened and communicated well throughout the process and visited through the build and once completed, showing a vested interest in the outcome for us. We have been really pleased in not the final outcome but also the whole process of working with James cans we would recommend him to anybody looking to start a project.

I Couldn’t recommended JLArchitecture enough! I embarked on this renovation journey knowing absolutely nothing and James really should get a medal for putting up with my indecision and incessant phone-calls! He is innovative, well connected and supremely patient. His troubleshooting skills are second to none and the knowledge that he brings will set you up for a very successful building project. There is quite literally, no better man for the job !

We chose James as the architect for our recent house renovation – and what a great decision this turned out to be! Our experience with James throughout the whole process was very positive. James helped us with the initial consultation; draft plans; planning application; tendering; M&E; and site visits during the build. James’ professionalism and experience was invaluable and made the daunting prospect of renovating our home a lot easier in reality. James is highly recommended!

We have been working with James for almost 2.5 years on our house extension. James has provided a range of layout and design options throughout and just generally good advice. He has been strategic in how to approach the planning office and led our numerous preplanning meetings in a well prepared and professional manner. Basically he knows every millimetre of our house off by heart! Now that the build has started, James is always at hand for advice on suppliers etc. James is a very easy, honest and reliable person to work with, he is relaxed under pressure - which is exactly what we needed as we are the total opposite! James’ drawings are thorough and very detailed and on a large complicated project that helps a lot when discussing the scheme with the planning office. It’s been a pleasure working with James and now we are excited to finally see our house take shape!

James at JLArchitecture has been amazing to work with. He is extremely talented, creative and patient in making our dream home come to life! He listens carefully and most importantly understands his clients brief, making a stressful process a total pleasure. James has extensive knowledge and worked closely with the planners, engineers, surveyors and contractors to make sure the process was plain sailing. We would highly recommend his services on any house which needs modernisation and taking into the 21st century.

James is a fantastic architect - extremely creative but efficient with excellent ideas to utilise the maximum amount of space. He listens to the client's requirements and caters for everything, making sure the basics are covered but also throws some quirky designs in to challenge (!) but inspire you. James works closely with the planners and builders making sure that every detail is covered. His planning knowledge is brilliant too. James is extremely easy to get along with and makes what is normally a stressful process, enjoyable! I would highly recommend James and look forward to working with him again.

We have been working with James Lai on our big project and he has been fantastic throughout. From the initial stage of designing to getting our plans approved from the local authority and now during the build. He is always there to answer questions and concerns. We can't recommend him enough. Thank you so much James it's a great pleasure to be working with you!

We consider ourselves very fortunate to have partnered with James. We had been living in our dated dormer bungalow for a few years with two young children and the time came for a rethink of the space and layout to achieve a functional family home. Just having an extension was not going to be enough. We needed to bring the home up to modern standards (futuristic even?) while retaining the unique charm of the property. The first meeting with James was incredibly relaxed. We had a rough idea of what we wanted to do with our home, i.e. complete redesign of the internal and external layout, with an extension that would add rooms and optimise daily family interaction space. James heard everything we said and pushed us with designs that would not only achieve these ambitions, but also be innovative. He helped lift our build from a mundane extension to a next level of aspiration in how we thought about it. This helped us gain a home not developed just to current standards, but also future-proofed what would probably be our forever home. No kidding, when people see what we have done, they always say, “your architect is good!” So, thank you James; a real pleasure working with you and we will always recommend you for your innovative ideas, technical vision, attention to detail, and, importantly, your gentleman-like approach which has hints of fun.

It has been a pleasure to work with James. James has been extremely professional throughout and been exceptionally accommodating. He was always very pleasant to talk to, always happy to answer our questions even if we contacted him out of hours and always had a solution. I would have no problem using James again and will continue to recommend James to friends and family. Thanks for all your help James you quite literally are the best!

We are currently abroad and came across James by chance as we were searching for a London based architect. We had an initial meeting over a video call to get to know James and were impressed with his knowledge and liked his personality a lot. James has been very clear about costs from the outset. James has assisted with the extension designs, and offered various layouts on how we can best use our space, given the remit we provided. James is very patient and has a lot of creative ideas. Further to this, James has assisted with the architectural drawings, submitting our planning application, as well as recommending structural engineers, building control, building contractors, and other designers. James has been a massive help to us, and we fully appreciate what he has done for us so far, he has been very accommodating in answering the many questions we have had via messages, email and video calls, as well as our constantly changing ideas and plans. We would absolutely recommend James, and look forward to seeing the completed extension and refit of our home.

James provided an outstanding service for our rear extension and we absolutely love the final result. We have already recommended him to friends and neighbours. The whole job went smoothly from start to finish. The costs were clear from the outset. During the planning stages he was very collaborative and gave us a lot of good ideas. He was always on hand if we had any queries and made frequent visits during the project. We had planning accepted very quickly with no amendments needed. He also recommended the builder, building control and structural engineer to us and that helped the whole project go without a hiccup as everyone knew each other. Would highly recommend as an architect and a thoroughly decent person to work with. Thank you for making our house into a home!