Services

Architecture

 

Our architects work to create buildings that both inspire and perform. Combining a questioning attitude with an uncompromising belief in design quality, we aim to deliver original solutions that:

• exceed client expectations and are completed on budget and on programme
• create living spaces that enhance the lives of those who use them
• make a positive contribution to their surroundings
• make efficient use of resources such as land, materials and energy

We view scheme design and project delivery as a continuous, integrated process involving creative, technical and ‘hands on’ project management skills. This approach has been applied successfully across a broad range of building types, including housing, sport and leisure, cultural, commercial and industrial projects.

Cass Associates is a Chartered RIBA Practice and has specialist expertise in conservation architecture. We provide all aspects of architectural design, from feasibility studies to completion, and can also offer Principal Designer Services if required.

We have developed a bespoke home design service through studioCass, a division of Cass Associates tailored specifically to provide design and planning services for private residential clients. Please see ‘Private Houses’ on the main menu for further information.

Planning

 

Cass Associates’ planning team has a very strong track record covering all sectors from small, one-off domestic projects through to large-scale multi-million pound schemes. In particular the practice has worked extensively on projects that secure the self-sustaining regeneration of disadvantaged urban areas and strategic industrial sites.

Efficient project management is key to achieving cost effective and sustainable outcomes, and our multi-disciplinary structure enables us to efficiently reconcile the fundamental planning issues of environmental, design and social considerations, as well as development economics, supported by our architecture, masterplanning and landscape specialists.

Communication and collaboration are at the heart of our approach to planning consultancy. We have many years’ experience in managing public consultations and stakeholder engagement through workshops, exhibitions and community liaison groups which secure the genuine involvement of local people.

Services include:

• Preparing and managing planning applications, and other related applications
• Preparing planning appeals and providing evidence at Inquiries
• Neighbourhood planning
• Listed building negotiations and consents
• Planning feasibility studies
• Public consultation and stakeholder involvement
• Area-based regeneration/development strategies
• Promotion of development opportunities.

Landscape Architecture

 

Our landscape architects create attractive, sustainable and ecologically rich places which also provide an efficient, attractive and durable setting for development.

Cass Associates’ integrated, multi-disciplinary method of working allows creative landscape architectural solutions to be embedded within the wider scheme concept from the outset.

We have extensive experience of habitat creation and management, including lowland heath, coastal exposure and erosion, species rich grassland, wetlands (often as part of SUDs) and soil-making techniques, including the use of waste materials.
We frequently co-ordinate Environmental Statements in support of planning applications and carry out detailed Landscape and Visual Impact Assessments (LVIA’s) for both large and small sites.

We have well-established links with a wide range of ecological and arboricultural specialists and are able to engage constructively with statutory protection agencies and other interest groups at an early stage in the planning process.

Masterplanning

 

We have extensive masterplanning experience across the commercial, industrial and residential sectors, with particular expertise in dealing with large sites where a wide range of complex issues may need to be addressed, such as planning policies, poor environment and contamination, community needs and funding and economic performance.

Cass Associates’ work includes new or expanded towns and villages, business parks, residential areas and leisure projects. Through good masterplanning we aim to optimise social and economic assets for our clients, to create a climate for investment confidence, and bring about development which is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable.

We also works in established urban areas, liaising with existing stakeholders and communities, to develop urban design strategies that address underlying problems such as market demand, social deprivation and poor environments.

Our specialist planners and landscape architects and conservation specialists are on hand to provide expertise as required to our masterplanners, providing a seamless integrated multi-disciplinary approach to all our work.

Conservation

 

Securing a meaningful and financially viable role for the future of historic buildings and landscapes has been a major theme in our work over many years. 

Our conservation experience includes working with listed buildings, including private houses, within Conservation Areas, historic parks and landscapes.

We are frequently called upon to negotiate development agreements with local authorities and conservation agencies such as Historic England as part of the planning process and are skilled at providing heritage statements to support planning submissions and appeals.