Brightman Clarke Architects

It was clear from Chris Brightman's preliminary visit that he was the right architect for our project. He listened to our ideas for a good-sized rear extension and produced a number of options, some of which, including the one we selected, we would never have envisaged. He showed great personal skills combined with excellent vision and he guided us through the entire project which came in on budget. We are delighted with the result and can highly recommend Brightman Clarke.

A tired 1960's house with bags of potential, Brightman Clarke understood what we wanted to achieve and came up with a design that enabled us to realise the full potential of the house and the location. Always available when I picked up the phone, flexible and patient. Couldn't have asked for more.

Fantastic service from Jonathan, nothing was ever to much trouble. We had several design consultations before the final plans were submitted to the Council, throughout the process we were kept fully informed of progress and where alterations were nessecary they were done with the minimum of fuss. The end result was a beautiful garage and side extension which compliments the main house perfectly. I would highly recommend Brightman Clarke Architects

We have worked with Brightman Clarke Architects on numerous projects and every time the customer has had an extremely positive end product. Their designs are both stunning and practical, and from a builder point of view they are achievable, which translates to a successful build in terms of timings, cost and end product. We have no hesitation recommending Brightman Clarke to anybody seeking an architect and look forward to creating many more inspirational homes in the future along side them.

We have worked with Brightman Clarke Architects on numerous projects and have always found them to be highly professional, responsive, and innovative. The quality of their work is extremely high and they are keen to develop considered and exciting design solutions that many of our clients desire. The quality of their work makes our job as a planning consultancy much easier and their designs have helped to ensure that we have obtained permission on some very difficult sites. We would have no hesitation recommending Brightman Clarke to anybody seeking architectural input and can't speak highly enough of their work.

How do you find an architectural practice that will ultimately result in a successful project? You check on Google and then maybe find this site. If you have, and you’ve found Brightman-Clarke, then congratulations. We felt there was more to extending our house than the desire to increase square footage. A couple of other architects we spoke with seemed disinterested in aesthetic appeal and spoke to ease of design and construction. That was never on the cards with Chris (Brightman). Chris warmed to the ideas we had immediately and was enthusiastic in his approach. We in turn loved his designs – he conveyed ideas we had not given any thought too. What we also didn’t appreciate initially was the working relationships between the parties involved. I can see that if you didn’t have a good understanding of expected outcomes between builder, architect, planning and client then things could go awry pretty easily. Thankfully we retained Chris as the project manager for our build and were really glad to do so. When asked by people that see our build what advise I’d give then its pretty easy. Pick and architect and a builder that have worked well together before. And wait for them. There will be a reason they are busy. But if that’s who you want then hold out for it. You’ll live a lot longer with bad design and build than you will the time it takes to get the winning combination.

We bought an old bungalow that we wanted completely remodelling and extending by a third with five particular criteria; a utility room, 2 bathrooms, internal natural light, storage, and a place for the piano that was not the lounge. We needed this quickly since the builder was almost ready to start. Chris came up with 5 plans from which we could choose having researched the immediate area. He listened and understood our requirements and we felt he was very much a partner in the whole enterprise. He liaised well with us and the builder, which made the whole enterprise smooth and easy. We are delighted with our bungalow, especially since we are in lockdown in it and are very happy to be here. We have no hesitation in recommending him.

First class Architectural practice. Very professional to work with. Their designs are innovative and contemporary. No problems in recommending them.

Brightman Clarke Architects were recommended to me by a friend to work on a new build development. Jonathan was able to offer an exciting design solution that exceeded my expectations of what would be possible on a restricted site. As a first time developer, the professionalism and guidance offered throughout has been invaluable in successfully progressing the project. I can't speak highly enough of my experience working with Jonathan and the Brightman Clarke Architects team.

We can’t recommend Chris highly enough. After 8 years of various extensions on an already extended house, our home was quite cobbled together. Chris transformed it for us to make the whole place flow, to at last create the home we desperately wanted and needed. Chris was fantastic to work with from the moment we met him. An expert with a real eye for what works both aesthetically and practically, as well as being an incredibly humble and likeable guy to work alongside.

After purchasing our new home, we hired Brightman Clarke to create plans which enabled us to knock through from our kitchen into our living area. We were required to install a steal beam to replace a supporting wall. Jonathan's expertise, professionalism, support and guidance was invaluable and meant that the project ran smoothly and the end result was exactly what we wanted. We would definitely recommend and we wouldn't hesitate to use for any further project we undertake.

We are very happy with the service we received from Brightman Clarke. We initially briefed Jonathan to design a rear extension and internal layout changes to our home. He came back with lots of great ideas, one of which was to add the extension to the side rather than the rear, meaning we didn't eat into our garden space. A design which we ended up progressing with and something we wouldn't have thought about ourselves. He was also very knowledgeable in working within the permitted development limitations and maximised our options with regards to sizing and external finishes. Jonathan is also very accommodating if you want to tweak the designs and is always available for advice. Highly recommended.

We contacted Brightman Clarke for an extension and re modelling project of our very dated 1960s bungalow in Chesterfield. From the outset we knew we had made the right choice, Johnathan had a great vision and clearly understood all our requirements! He surpassed our expectations and designed a layout that would create a great flow through the house and maximised the view which was a key requirement for us. There were minimal changes to make to the initial designs as he had created more options for us than expected giving us scope to incorporate different elements of each design. Jonathan was timely and all the stages were finished within the initial stated lead times which allowed us to get started as planned. He communicated well with our structural engineer and was always on hand for any questions after the project had started. We are really pleased with our house and very grateful to Jonathan for his vision of our home. We will definitely utilise the services of Brightman Clarke in the future and would not hesitate to recommend them to others.

We decided we wanted to build a substantial extension to the rear of our property but we had no experience of architects. I checked the internet for local companies. We decided to ask Brightman and Clarke for an initial consultation as their website showed each step in the process in detail (from initial consultation through to full tendering along with the fee structure). Jonathan came to see us for the initial consultation where we gave him our requirements which he understood straightaway and immediately started making suggestions. We had no hesitation from this point in engaging Brightman and Clarke for the project and this the best decision we could have made. Jonathan produced initial drawings where he advised against some of our ideas but embraced others and incorporated these into the highly comprehensive final drawings. The planning process was implemented by Jonathan. He further advised on what to look for in builders and named some builders he had worked with previously. He also indicated what he thought the cost of the project would be and he wasn't very far out. He consulted with our builders when required. We are so pleased with the completed extension which in no small part is due to the efficient, professional and friendly approach adopted by Jonathan. Highly recommended.

Brightman Clarke have provided professional services for us on a number of traditional and contemporary design projects, ranging from new build housing developments to individual contemporary extensions and refurbishments. When dealing with Brightman Clarke we have always received a friendly, customer focused approach with a genuine desire to understand the complex needs of our project taking account of our budget and timescale.