Architectural Support Services, London

Specifying a compliant, fit-for-purpose waterproofing strategy is a time-consuming and liability-sensitive task that falls outside many practices' day-to-day expertise. We take it off your hands entirely. Our team designs site-specific waterproofing and drainage solutions to BS 8102, covering cavity drain systems, tanking, and sump arrangements — all coordinated directly with your drawings and specifications. We produce the documentation your building control officer needs, liaise with the structural engineer, and take full technical responsibility for the below-ground envelope. You retain design control; we deliver the specialist detail.

Planning applications for basement and lower-ground projects near trees routinely stall because arboricultural information is incomplete or poorly integrated with the architectural proposals. We work alongside qualified arborists to produce tree protection plans, root protection area assessments, and method statements that align precisely with your scheme — presented in a format that satisfies planners first time. Rather than leaving your practice to coordinate multiple specialist consultants, we bring this discipline within our service, saving you time, reducing your coordination overhead, and keeping the programme on track.

Below-ground structural design demands close collaboration between the architect and engineer — a relationship that can quickly become a source of delay when the two are working independently. As your appointed specialist contractor, we bridge that gap. We coordinate structural reports, calculations, and construction drawings directly within your project team, ensuring that underpinning strategies, steel frame designs, and load transfer details are fully resolved before work begins on site. Our long-standing relationships with trusted structural engineers mean this process runs efficiently, with fewer rounds of revision and cleaner information for building control submissions.

Temporary works are a frequent source of programme risk on basement projects — particularly where party wall conditions, tight urban sites, or existing structures add complexity. Coordinating temporary works design is rarely something an architectural practice wants to absorb into its own scope, and rightly so. We manage this in-house, producing fully compliant temporary works designs to BS EN 12812 that are integrated with the construction sequence from the outset. Your practice is kept informed without being burdened, and the programme risk that comes from unresolved temporary works simply doesn't materialise on our sites.

SuDS compliance is increasingly a condition of planning consent across London and the Home Counties, yet designing a credible, integrated drainage strategy is a specialist task that can easily fall between disciplines on a residential or commercial project. We work with your practice to embed a SuDS strategy — whether permeable paving, green roofs, rain gardens, or attenuation — directly into the proposals from the earliest design stage, avoiding the costly retrofitting that happens when drainage is left as an afterthought. Our approach satisfies local authority requirements, supports your sustainability credentials, and removes one more complex technical strand from your coordination list.