Great - thanks so much for your suggestions guys, i'll add them to the list of firms to check out!

I can really recommend Kevin Gauld.
He redesigned our house on Webbs Road a few years ago and I would certainly use him again.
http://www.gauldarchitecture.com/clapham-street/

Hi, we live in the W Common area and did a full house refurbishment last year (no basement but pretty much everything else). We used Will McGuinness of UV Architects and he was great. UV have done lots of houses in this area (I took up 4 references before using them). I believe they will consider small to large sized projects. We found them to be courteous, thorough and very professional. The have their own website http://www.uvarchitects.co.uk/174880/gallery
and the end result is shown in the below link.https://www.affleckservices.co.uk/gallery/refurbishment-pattern-wandsworth.aspx
Please PM me if you want to chat about our experience any further.

We had a very good experience with Granit Chartered Architects.
They have over 25 years experience and they are local (which in my opinion is a plus for many reasons).
They are very professional, they assist you even after the project has been completed if you need them to, and they do not have the big ego that other architects indeed have, so you are always in control of the whole process!

http://www.granit.co.uk

Last but not least, if you undertake a major project I would highly recommend you hire an architect, no matter how much spare time you have to "project manage" your works. Contractors, no matter how good they are, always try and take "shortcuts", and before you know it you may waste much more money than you think you may have saved buy doing it yourself.

PS I should have said whilst it is not completely necessary to find or use a local architect if you do need to apply for planning permission to the local council someone local with know how each council works and have warm contacts within. This can save valuable time and money.

After lots of conversations and meetings with various architects we have commissioned Dyer-Grimes to do our house renovation and extensions.
We really liked their knowledge of the local area, the office which is in Putney had a nice feel plus they were very, very honest about what they could and couldn't do.
The costs were all explained thoroughly and we were very impressed by suggestions that we had never thought of before along with our options.

Yes, it takes time but if your project is a big one (which it sounds like it could be) then chat and meet as many architects as possible.
Some of the ones recommended on here sent me a 'copy and paste' email outlining their costs for a meeting which really didn't impress me.
We had two consultants with Dyer-Grimes before making our decision and not once did they try and charge us a fee.

If you would like to speak to someone I would suggest dropping John Dyer-Grimes and email http://www.dyergrimesarchitects.com

Good luck

I'm also looking for an architect... is it completely necessary to find a local architect? thoughts?

We've just bought a house and its a complete dive... It needs a complete overhaul and re-planning (it's currently two separate flats, but we want to convert it into a 3 bedroom house). We're also looking to extend so might need planning permission. It's in Clapham. I'm not sure that it matters where the architect is? I've found lots of architect listings online, but don't really know where to start!?

Thanks Magnificentseven :D

Thank you so much dudette we will take a look.

I won a competition on Nappy valley and, wanting to use the free consultation had the architects (below) come round to my son's flat, despite the fact that we thought we knew exactly what was possible/desirable. They were very VERY good, came up with lots of new ideas, far better than ours, pointed out the problems with our ideas, soled others and produced a sketch drawing & perspectives. When he has enough money it will be done. I cannot recommend them enough!


Landmark Group (UK) Ltd
13 Ensign House
Admirals Way
Canary Wharf
London, E14 9XQ

Tel. 020 3150 0505

I can highly recommend Quartet Architecture. [url]http://www.quartetarchitecture.com[/url] They offer a bespoke service split into stages so you can just get them to do the parts you need them to. They are based in Wandsworth and do a lot of refurbishments in the local area so are very good at understanding the planning process with the council. We used them for a big refurbishment and they were great - very efficient and lovely to deal with.

Thanks so much Cambell2 the ones that we are chatting to we are making it clear what we want control of; mainly the interior design.
It's useful to have feedback :-)

We are in the process of doing our place and have to say that my experience with Architect have not been great. Once the architect takes over, you don't have much to say about anything.
I like the idea of Payas you go Architect. I think you will have more control on what you want to do in the house.
Good luck with your project

Thank you it's a great option although I don't think its for us.

Incidentally I know someone taking the pay as you go route, have a look, it might be what you're looking for:
http://www.architect-yourhome.com