Our ethos

We recently purchased a terraced house in North London and are working with Pencil & Brick on a renovation of the 4-bedroom house (built in the early 1900s, last owner has lived here since the 80s). Neither myself or my husband have done a renovation before (this is also our first home purchase) – after talking to a few different architects, Pencil & Brick were the obvious choice.

Sean and Jana have listened to our vision and worked to accommodate, while also offering a ton of advice from the practical (moving into the house before we start work in order to save money and experience living in the house) to design/layout suggestions (adding entryway storage for post-walks with the dog, considering different kitchen layouts to balance storage and comfort). I’ve also been impressed by their focus on sticking to our budget – every stage involves a review of tentative budget and suggestions around potential ‘watch outs’. And last-but-not-least – the whole team are good people that you’ll enjoy getting on a call with, which makes whole process much more fun and enjoyable.

It’s been excellent working with Seán and Matt on the renovation of our house. They listened closely to what we needed and developed thoughtful and exciting designs that responded to our brief and budget. They also made some great suggestions for things we hadn’t even thought of, which has strengthened the design further. We’ve just submitted our planning application, and we can’t wait to see their designs turn into reality.

I commissioned Pencil & Brick’s construction arm to carry out a two-storey rear extension on my property in East London between September and December 2022, for which I had already completed architectural and structural designs. Being my first construction project, I was hugely grateful for the insight and guidance that Pencil & Brick’s highly experienced and dedicated team provided throughout the project. The project was well planned and executed, and I received regular updates and feedback from developments on site. I always found Pencil & Brick to be totally honest and transparent, and this is something that the company clearly prides itself on. Pricing estimates were accurate and realistic, and costs at all stages of the project were clearly broken down and explained.

In 2020 I decided to look for a design and build team that, initially, could help me to get planning permission to use my flat roof as a zoned outdoor space with some structural shading etc. I used Houzz to find firms to discuss the requirements with, and after being contacted by Sean it was immediately obvious that they were going to be the right partners in the project.

Through all the initial and then planning discussions I was guided through what the planners would and wouldn’t allow, and how we could design something that would give additional rooms, increase the value and give me the outdoor space I was after. The end result is much more ambitious than my initial vision, and will be so much more usable once complete than a plain roof terrace. The biggest surprise has been that we sailed through the planning, building regulation and construction process with minimal concessions being required. The construction team, everyone in Pencil and Brick, made the inherently difficult process of complex inner-city construction as enjoyable and as simple as could be hoped.