JSA

Tamworth | architects

Tamworth architects who don’t waste an inch

Tamworth doesn’t have room to waste, and neither should your drawings. It’s one of the most tightly bounded boroughs in the Midlands: built up, unparished, and short enough on land that the council is reviewing its own Green Belt to find more. You’ve already got a plot, a house or a small site in mind, and a rough shape of what you’d like from it. We turn that into something the council will sign off, and make sure it earns every inch it’s been given.

local proof

A borough that ran out of spare land before it ran out of demand

Ten wards, not one civil parish, and a council currently reviewing its own Green Belt because there isn’t much left to give.

Tamworth doesn’t hand you a blank canvas. Most of the borough is built up already, plots are modest, and the sites that come up for an extension, an infill home or a small development rarely have room to be generous. That’s not a constraint we design around, it’s the actual brief: get the massing right, protect a neighbour’s light, and make a tight footprint read as more house than it is. It works whether you’re adding a kitchen extension for your own family or squeezing genuine value out of a development site for someone else’s.

Tamworth Borough Council administers one of the more tightly bounded planning authorities in the Midlands: ten wards, no civil parish anywhere in the borough, and a Local Plan currently under review specifically because there’s so little land left to allocate, including an active Green Belt review as part of the emerging 2022–2043 plan. One thing worth knowing before you start: not everything with a Tamworth postcode answers to Tamworth Borough Council. Fazeley, right on the town’s own doorstep, is decided by Lichfield District Council, the same authority behind our Lichfield studio. Tell us the address and we’ll confirm exactly which authority you’re dealing with, before you spend a penny on drawings.

Traditional living room with pale blue walls, yellow velvet sofas, and a period fireplace with brick surround

the part everybody dreads

In a borough this size, your neighbour is part of the application

Ask anyone who’s had an extension refused round here and the reason is rarely the design itself. It’s the neighbour three feet away. Plots in Tamworth sit close together and gardens are modest, so a scheme that would sail through somewhere with more breathing room can trip over lost light, overlooking, or looking too big for the plot it’s sitting on.

That’s on the drawing board from the first sketch: where windows sit, how the massing steps down, and how the new work reads from the neighbour’s kitchen window, not only from the street. It’s less exciting than arguing heritage policy, but in a borough this compact, it’s the argument that decides most applications, and the case officer has usually walked your street before.

Dusk view through full-height windows of a stone-clad house showing warmly lit living spaces with armchair and potted plant

architectural services in Tamworth

However tight the plot, it starts with a proper look at it.

Working with a tight site in or around Tamworth?

No cost, no obligation, only an honest first conversation. You’ll be talking directly to one of our team, never a switchboard.

Book a consultation

01527 313746

JSA Architects, serving Tamworth from our Lichfield studio

what to expect

How it goes, from a small plot to a finished room.

Free consultation

We walk the plot with you, face to face or over video, and give you a straight read on what a site this size can genuinely take.

Design & feasibility

Options tested against the boundary, the neighbours and the council, so you’re not choosing blind before the formal drawings start.

Planning submission

We assemble the application, submit it to whichever council has jurisdiction, Tamworth Borough or otherwise, and take on the case officer’s follow-up questions.

Building Regulations

The technical drawings, specs and schedules your builder and the inspector both need, done properly so nothing stalls once work starts.

Site support

We don’t disappear once digging starts. A phone call, a site visit, or a fast answer when your builder runs into something the drawings didn’t quite cover.

Articles

News & Insights

Project updates, practice news, and the occasional hot take. You might just find the spark you’re looking for.

View all articles
Bat Surveys and Building Projects: Seasons, Licences and Costs
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Bat Surveys and Building Projects: Seasons, Licences and Costs

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JSA Appointed for Listed Building Extension in Amber Valley

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The New NPPF Is Here: What the 2026 Rewrite Means for Your Project

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Lichfield’s Local Plan Might Be Delayed to 2029. If You’re Thinking About a Project, Here’s What That Means for You
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Lichfield’s Local Plan Might Be Delayed to 2029. If You’re Thinking About a Project, Here’s What That Means for You

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Planning Submitted: Brooklands' Redesign Heads to South Derbyshire District Council

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JSA Architects Appointed to Redesign Brooklands, a Luxury New Build in Weston-on-Trent
15 April 2026

JSA Architects Appointed to Redesign Brooklands, a Luxury New Build in Weston-on-Trent

A permission existed and a design was on the table. Golden Brook Developments decided it wasn't good enough. They were right, and they called us.

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Major Family Home Remodel Proposed in Repton, South Derbyshire

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Windy Rise, Little Eaton: JSA Architects Appointed and Planning Application Submitted

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Windy Rise Gets the Green Light: Erewash Borough Council Approves the Hillside Home That Made Councillors Say 'Thunderbirds Are Go'
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Windy Rise Gets the Green Light: Erewash Borough Council Approves the Hillside Home That Made Councillors Say 'Thunderbirds Are Go'

Planning approved at Windy Rise, Little Eaton. Erewash Borough Council approved this Green Belt replacement dwelling 11-1. See how JSA Architects made the case.

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Bat Surveys and Building Projects: Seasons, Licences and Costs
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Bat Surveys and Building Projects: Seasons, Licences and Costs

Bats can hold up homes, commercial sites and listed buildings for most of a year. Survey triggers, council rules, permitted development, licences and costs.

Read more
A new appointment in Allestree: refurbish or replace?
07 October 2026

A new appointment in Allestree: refurbish or replace?

A new Allestree appointment prompts a practical guide to refurbishing or replacing a house, with a worked cost example, surveys, fees and planning questions.

Read more
JSA Appointed for Listed Building Extension in Amber Valley
21 September 2026

JSA Appointed for Listed Building Extension in Amber Valley

JSA is appointed to design a sensitive extension to a Grade II listed stone building in Amber Valley, Derbyshire, going to pre-application with CGI support.

Read more
Good Architectural Drawings Matter More Than You Think
10 September 2026

Good Architectural Drawings Matter More Than You Think

Poor architectural drawings create assumptions, delays and cost. See why clear, accurate information matters to homeowners and commercial clients.

Read more
HMO or Flats? Why Modern Co-Living Falls Between the Rules
09 September 2026

HMO or Flats? Why Modern Co-Living Falls Between the Rules

When does an HMO become flats? See how planning, licensing, building regulations and fire safety diverge, and how co-living developers can reduce risk early.

Read more
The New NPPF Is Here: What the 2026 Rewrite Means for Your Project
19 August 2026

The New NPPF Is Here: What the 2026 Rewrite Means for Your Project

The new NPPF landed on 17 August 2026 and applies to decisions now. What changed for extensions, garden plots, small sites and Midlands projects.

Read more
We're Revisiting Our Leisure Portfolio
22 July 2026

We're Revisiting Our Leisure Portfolio

Twenty years of Midlands pub, bar and restaurant projects, plus a decade behind the bar. What a busy summer tells you about the building you trade from.

Read more
We Built an App That Keeps You in the Room
13 July 2026

We Built an App That Keeps You in the Room

Datum is JSA's own project app. Every client gets a login: latest drawings, the brief, where planning's got to and what we did this week. Free on every project.

Read more
Biodiversity Net Gain: A Quick Guide for Anyone Who Isn't an Ecologist
15 April 2025

Biodiversity Net Gain: A Quick Guide for Anyone Who Isn't an Ecologist

What Biodiversity Net Gain requires for new developments in England: the 10% target, who's exempt, and how to plan for it from day one.

Read more
A 1960s Bungalow Gets a Contemporary Rethink in Lichfield
10 March 2025

A 1960s Bungalow Gets a Contemporary Rethink in Lichfield

A modest 1960s bungalow in Lichfield is being extended and reconfigured for downsizing clients. Planning is submitted to Lichfield District Council.

Read more
Little Eaton Dormer Bungalows Approved, No Amendments Needed
27 August 2025

Little Eaton Dormer Bungalows Approved, No Amendments Needed

Two backland dormer bungalows in Little Eaton have been approved by Erewash Borough Council with no amendments needed. Here's why that's rarer than it sounds.

Read more
JSA Appointed to Design 'The Forest': 73 Apartments for T&T Asset Group in Derby City Centre
05 February 2025

JSA Appointed to Design 'The Forest': 73 Apartments for T&T Asset Group in Derby City Centre

T&T Asset Group has appointed JSA to design The Forest, a 73-apartment conversion in Derby city centre, covering architecture, interior design and planning.

Read more
The Grange, Finished: A Georgian Villa Restored, Warmed and Handed Back
17 July 2025

The Grange, Finished: A Georgian Villa Restored, Warmed and Handed Back

See the finished restoration of The Grange, a Georgian villa in South Derbyshire. JSA acted as both architect and project manager throughout.

Read more
Burley Lane Site Progress Update: Quarndon Home Now Taking Shape
09 July 2026

Burley Lane Site Progress Update: Quarndon Home Now Taking Shape

Site progress at Burley Lane in Quarndon: stair structure, basement golf simulator, MVHR routes, full-height glazing and November 2026 completion.

Read more
Planning Approved for Bramble Street Office-to-Flats Conversion in Derby
09 July 2026

Planning Approved for Bramble Street Office-to-Flats Conversion in Derby

A vacant period office on Bramble Street, Derby, has approval for three flats. Now the unglamorous part: stairs, acoustics, flood notes and drawings.

Read more
Justin Smith Architects Is Now JSA Architects
21 August 2019

Justin Smith Architects Is Now JSA Architects

Justin Smith Architects is now JSA Architects. Here’s the story, in Justin’s own words, and what the rebrand means for our clients and the practice.

Read more
Welcome to JSA, Joao Bravo
13 February 2025

Welcome to JSA, Joao Bravo

Joao Bravo joins JSA as our 3D artist and visualiser. A University of Derby graduate and qualified architectural technologist, originally from Lisbon.

Read more
Light at the End of the Terrace: Contemporary Rear Extension to a Victorian Townhouse in Sutton Coldfield
24 April 2026

Light at the End of the Terrace: Contemporary Rear Extension to a Victorian Townhouse in Sutton Coldfield

A contemporary rear extension brings light and space to a Victorian townhouse in Sutton Coldfield, and leaves the period terrace out front exactly as it was.

Read more
JSA Architects and British Living Group: Working Together on Derby Co-Living Development
06 May 2026

JSA Architects and British Living Group: Working Together on Derby Co-Living Development

JSA is working with British Living Group, one of the Midlands' most commercially minded developers, on a 27-room co-living conversion in Derby.

Read more
Lichfield’s Local Plan Might Be Delayed to 2029. If You’re Thinking About a Project, Here’s What That Means for You
12 June 2026

Lichfield’s Local Plan Might Be Delayed to 2029. If You’re Thinking About a Project, Here’s What That Means for You

Lichfield District Council may delay its 2043 Local Plan. If that sounds like a reason to pause your project, read this first. It probably isn't.

Read more
5,500 Homes Are Coming to Walmley. If You’re Already Living There, This Is Your Cue to Stop Putting Off Your Own Project
12 June 2026

5,500 Homes Are Coming to Walmley. If You’re Already Living There, This Is Your Cue to Stop Putting Off Your Own Project

Birmingham City Council has approved the groundwork for 5,500 new homes near Walmley. If your own project's been on the back burner, this is your sign.

Read more
Planning Approved for Brooklands Luxury Dwelling
15 April 2026

Planning Approved for Brooklands Luxury Dwelling

Golden Brook Developments had a permission for Brooklands and didn't rate the design. We redesigned it, and South Derbyshire has now approved the new scheme.

Read more
Planning Submitted: Brooklands' Redesign Heads to South Derbyshire District Council
15 April 2026

Planning Submitted: Brooklands' Redesign Heads to South Derbyshire District Council

The design's done and the application's in. Here's what JSA has proposed for Brooklands, a new home in Weston-on-Trent, South Derbyshire.

Read more
JSA Architects Appointed to Redesign Brooklands, a Luxury New Build in Weston-on-Trent
15 April 2026

JSA Architects Appointed to Redesign Brooklands, a Luxury New Build in Weston-on-Trent

A permission existed and a design was on the table. Golden Brook Developments decided it wasn't good enough. They were right, and they called us.

Read more
Two Stand-Out Self-Builds Submitted for Full Planning in Little Eaton
17 July 2025

Two Stand-Out Self-Builds Submitted for Full Planning in Little Eaton

Two bespoke self-build homes in Little Eaton designed for standout architecture and smart investment returns.

Read more
Major Family Home Remodel Proposed in Repton, South Derbyshire
19 August 2025

Major Family Home Remodel Proposed in Repton, South Derbyshire

Modern extension and full internal remodel proposed for character home in sought-after Repton, South Derbyshire.

Read more
Planning Appeal Secured for Bold New Home in Quarndon’s Green Belt
21 August 2025

Planning Appeal Secured for Bold New Home in Quarndon’s Green Belt

A new home in the Quarndon Green Belt, won at appeal. How strategic planning and a strong design got a Green Belt house over the line in Derbyshire.

Read more
Windy Rise, Little Eaton: JSA Architects Appointed and Planning Application Submitted
24 April 2026

Windy Rise, Little Eaton: JSA Architects Appointed and Planning Application Submitted

The Windy Rise plot in Little Eaton lost its bungalow to arsonists in 2017, then spent a decade rewilding. Our design for the hillside is now with the council.

Read more
Windy Rise Gets the Green Light: Erewash Borough Council Approves the Hillside Home That Made Councillors Say 'Thunderbirds Are Go'
24 April 2026

Windy Rise Gets the Green Light: Erewash Borough Council Approves the Hillside Home That Made Councillors Say 'Thunderbirds Are Go'

Planning approved at Windy Rise, Little Eaton. Erewash Borough Council approved this Green Belt replacement dwelling 11-1. See how JSA Architects made the case.

Read more
Derby Assembly Rooms - Future of City Centre Development
17 July 2025

Derby Assembly Rooms - Future of City Centre Development

Why Derby's new Assembly Rooms masterplan validates the mixed-use approach JSA has advocated since 2015.

Read more

Small plot, big decision. Let’s look at it properly.

Book a free consultation, or ring and speak to a director directly. Nothing’s committed until you say so.

FAQ's

What people usually want to know before starting in Tamworth.

Often not, particularly for a modest single-storey rear addition. But Tamworth’s plots run tight, and permitted development allowances shrink quickly once a site sits close to a neighbour. Describe the project and we’ll give you a straight answer on where it stands, before any drawing gets started.

A householder decision generally lands within eight weeks of validation. Validation is the part people don’t budget for: a submission missing paperwork sits unread until it’s complete. Ours go in right the first time, so that clock starts as early as it can.

A fixed sum, worked out from your brief before anything else happens. You’re paying for someone carrying the risk and doing the scrutiny properly, not for a thick stack of drawings, and that figure is stated plainly on your quote from day one.

Not always as obvious as the postcode suggests. Fazeley, right on Tamworth’s doorstep, is decided by Lichfield District Council, not Tamworth Borough. Tell us the address and we’ll confirm which authority you’re dealing with before you spend anything on drawings.

Usually, yes. Tamworth doesn’t have much spare land, so the council is used to assessing compact schemes on their own merits rather than dismissing them for being small. The design has to work harder, that’s all.

Yes, start to finish. The drawings, the submission, and any back-and-forth the case officer raises along the way. You won’t be left staring at a planning portal by yourself, and whoever answered your first phone call stays on the project until it’s done.

Your brief stays the reference point the whole way through. We show you where things stand at each milestone, and if it’s wandered from what you originally asked for, we redraw it. That’s part of the service, not a favour.

Our Lichfield studio, at Heart of the Country Village on the A38 at Swinfen, WS14 9QR. It’s a short run down to Tamworth and covers the borough alongside the rest of our Staffordshire patch.

Ready To Talk?

Get in touch today. Start something special tomorrow.

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