John M Burley

We live in one of oldest dwellings in Matlock, Derbyshire, dated 1667. Our London home is in Wapping on the river Thames. We watched Chris Dyson’s architectural practice work on a stunning house restoration and extension at Pierhead, which has won several awards, including the AJ Small Project Award.

The house at Pierhead has been described as a “subtle, thoughtful yet mischievous” addition to a Georgian-style terrace in East London and described as “architecture for architects, yet a building the public would walk by and equally enjoy.”

Indeed, I did walk by, and simply had to use this firm of architects for the proposed work at Wellfield Cottage.

Chris and Gideon spent a day with us looking at the site and garden, listening to what we wanted to achieve. We anticipated planning would be difficult and the site has presented many challenges. CDA painstakingly worked with planners and we were truly amazed that we achieved planning in its submitted form.

The design has integrity, its well thought out and completely satisfies our brief. It is also aesthetically pleasing.

All I can add, is that Chris, Gideon and their team at CDA are a joy to work with. They are professional, hard- working, honest and indeed highly creative. They have designed something very special for us, it’s not just architecture for architects, but architecture that meets client’s needs and exceeds expectations.

We hope to start building very soon. Furthermore, we may have another exciting project for CDA. Watch this space.