Published27 October 2026Updated27 October 2026
Bigger, better, more wow in the Green Belt: rethinking a 1960s house in Quarndon
A 1960s house on a Green Belt hilltop, owners who entertain in numbers, and a Pinterest board full of Georgian houses. They wanted out of the sixties, but then they fell for them.
The woods are going dark, there are headlights coming up the drive, and forty people are on their way for dinner. Out the back, someone is ferrying the patio chairs indoors, again, because there still aren't enough seats. Most of us host a crowd like that at Christmas and need a week to recover. Our clients do it about once a fortnight.
They live in a 1960s house on a wooded Green Belt hilltop in Quarndon, and they've had enough. We've been appointed to remodel and extend the house. They brought us a Pinterest board of Georgian farmhouses and a brief for bigger, better and more wow. The design we've landed on is all three, but it isn't remotely Georgian.
Forty for dinner, and nobody stuck in the hall
The new house is designed around evenings like that.
Forty people come up the drive, and their coats and muddy boots end up somewhere that isn't the hall or a bed. Twenty sit down to dinner, twenty more stand and talk, and nobody has to breathe in to let anyone past.
The washing up waits out of sight, so whoever's cooking isn't stuck at the sink while the party happens next door. The children come in from the woods without bringing half the woods through the house. And when the evening spills outside, there's a roof terrace for it to spill onto, looking out across the valley.
Then everyone goes home, and it's a family house again. Nobody wants to spend a quiet evening in a function room, so the same house has to work for the family on a weeknight as well as it does for forty on a big night.
The house they have now is a fine example of 1960s architect-designed architecture. It was drawn for a different way of living, and it doesn't stretch to forty. Inside, the whole house is redesigned around how they live now. The old limitations don't come with it, and the patio chairs can stay on the patio.
A Pinterest board full of houses from somewhere else
If you've got a Pinterest board, it's probably full of houses from somewhere else. Our clients' board was Georgian: render, symmetry and ornate detail, on houses that would look lost on a wooded hilltop in Derbyshire.
We didn't bin it. A board shows you what someone loves, even when the house in the picture is wrong for the plot. Our clients loved light creamy stone, charred black timber and steel roofs, and all three made it into the design. The Georgian costume didn't. What's left is rugged, heavy and substantial, and it looks as if it grew on the hill.
You'll see that best from the drive. Come up through the trees and the house turns its full width to meet you, low and broad, settled into the woods rather than perched on top of the hill. We try not to use words like jaw-dropping. We'll make an exception for the approach.
The house they'd fallen out with is from the 1960s. The one they've chosen is mid-century modern at heart. Same era, different idea.
Nobody falls in love with a floor plan
A 3D model lets you do what a plan can't. Stand at the front door. Walk into a room 15m by 15m and look up into a ceiling higher than most peoples houses. Step back outside and see the whole house sitting in the trees. Nobody would ever claim the rooms are small.
That's how our clients judged it: for themselves, not on our word. Changing their minds stayed cheap, because at this stage you change a line, not a wall. They've fallen in love with an idea they had no idea could exist.
Plan a major remodel and extension in the Green Belt and sooner or later someone will tell you 30% is your lot. It's a rule of thumb many planning officers start from and where there's a clear case for more, we've argued past it before. If you want the policy, it's in our guide to the 2026 planning framework.
We'll make that case here, with the same model our clients used. Most of the extra space comes from reworking the house that's already there rather than bolting more on, and the model lets the council see it for itself: how the house sits in the trees, and what's new against what was there. Then the council decides.
The importance of design development, and why you should be wary of cheap architects quotes
Before you choose, check they're for the same thing. A drawing service takes your Pinterest board and draws it. A design service asks what the board is for. If your brief is already right, a drawing service may be all you need. If it isn't, even good drawings can't fix it.
Had our clients bought drawings of their Pinterest board, they'd have got exactly what they asked for. But it may not have been granted permission, and it certainly wouldn't have lived up to the sites full potential.
Quarndon isn't new ground for us: we also designed a new home in the village's Green Belt, replacing a 1960s bungalow. If your house fills up the way theirs does, or your patio chairs spend more time indoors than out, show us. Bring the Pinterest board too. The best version of your house might be one you haven't thought of yet.
Areas We Cover
JSA Architects Across the Midlands
We work with homeowners, developers, and landlords across the Midlands. Fees, planning authorities, and project types vary by location: find local insight and project examples for your area:
Architects in Derby → - Quarndon, Kirk Langley, Duffield, Allestree, Darley Abbey, Mickleover, Littleover
Architects in Nottingham → - The Park Estate, West Bridgford, Edwalton, Mapperley Park, Wollaton, Bramcote
Architects in Lichfield → - Shenstone, Little Aston, Four Oaks, Streetly, Aldridge, Walsall, Tamworth, Whittington
Architects in Solihull → - Knowle, Dorridge, Hampton in Arden, Shirley, Dickens Heath, Olton
Architects in Sutton Coldfield → - Four Oaks, Wylde Green, Boldmere, Mere Green, Streetly, Little Aston
faq's
Common Questions
There's no national percentage. National policy says an extension in the Green Belt can't be a disproportionate addition to the original building, and the 2026 rewrite of the NPPF didn't change that. Around 30% is often quoted as a rule of thumb, but it's a starting point rather than the test. Whether your extension is disproportionate is the council's judgement, made on your house and your site, so it pays to design with that judgement in mind from the first sketch.
It depends on the house, the site and the brief, so we quote each project. The fee for the scope in your quote is fixed, concept stage included, even though exploring ideas is the least predictable part of the work. That risk sits with us. Our quotes price Concept Design (Stage 2 of the RIBA Plan of Work) as its own stage, invoiced when that stage starts.
Before anything goes in for planning, we give you our honest view of how the council is likely to respond. If we've advised that a design is defensible and the council asks for changes, we take the redesign on the chin. If you choose to push for something we've advised won't be acceptable, the extra redesign is chargeable. This is about redesign fees only: it doesn't cover appeals, and it isn't a guarantee of permission. The council makes the decision.
Most people find it hard to judge a house from plans and elevations. A 3D model lets you see it from the approach, from the inside and in its setting, so you can judge the idea yourself and change your mind while that's still cheap. The Quarndon concept was modelled in 3D for that reason, and the same model will help explain the scheme to the council.
If it suits the site and the planning position, yes. If it doesn't, we'll say so, show you why, and look for what that style is giving you so you can get it another way. In Quarndon, the stone, timber and steel our clients loved stayed, the Georgian styling went, and they chose the result.
Design development: refining the design and choosing materials, and in Quarndon also the landscaping and the interiors. Then the planning drawings. On a Green Belt scheme it's often worth asking the council for pre-application advice first: an early view from its planning officers, usually for a fee, while the design can still change. Either way, the council makes the decision.
Articles
News & Insights
Project updates, practice news, and useful guidance from JSA Architects.
Bigger, better, more wow in the Green Belt: rethinking a 1960s house in Quarndon
No more patio chairs: how we're redesigning a 1960s house in Quarndon's Green Belt for clients who host forty, without going Georgian.
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Bigger, better, more wow in the Green Belt: rethinking a 1960s house in Quarndon
No more patio chairs: how we're redesigning a 1960s house in Quarndon's Green Belt for clients who host forty, without going Georgian.
Planning submitted for a 25-room co-living scheme in Derby: deep, dark and full of rules
Deep footprints, dark middles and three sets of rules that don't always agree. What it takes to design co-living studios, and our 25-room scheme in Derby.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A 1960s Bungalow Gets a Contemporary Rethink in Lichfield
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Little Eaton Dormer Bungalows Approved, No Amendments Needed
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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.
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.
Justin Smith Architects Is Now JSA Architects
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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.
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.
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JSA is working with British Living Group, one of the Midlands' most commercially minded developers, on a 27-room co-living conversion in Derby.
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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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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