Hayward Smart Architects Ltd

13/06/2026

Old Mullions, a Grade II listed dwelling on the edge of the village green in South Warwickshire.

Dating from the 17th century, the house is built from local natural stone under plain tile roofs. An unsafe 1970s rear extension had to go - and in its place, working closely with the Local Authority Conservation Officer, we secured planning and listed building consent for single and 1.5 storey extensions to the rear.

The result is improved kitchen, dining and utility space at ground floor, with a new bathroom in the gabled first-floor extension. The contemporary design deliberately contrasts the traditional house while sitting harmoniously within its setting. Large expanses of glass open the interior to the garden and keep the original stonework on view, while expressed structure and carefully controlled detailing preserve and enhance the character of the listed building.

Thinking about extending a period or listed property? Get in touch to discuss your project.

Hayward Smart Architects
The Coach House, 3a New Street, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire CV36 4EW
01608 661000 | www.hsarchitects.co.uk

06/06/2026

At Hayward Smart Architects, our work extends well beyond the home. Among the projects we value most are those designed for shared use: schools, sports clubs and community buildings intended to serve their users for generations.

Such buildings carry a particular responsibility. They must accommodate many people rather than a single household, perform and endure over decades, and respond sensitively to the communities and landscapes in which they sit. Across the education and community sectors our approach remains consistent: a careful reading of the brief and context, a fabric-first commitment to sustainability, and considered detailing that gives each building lasting value.

In the education sector, our award-winning Design & Technology suite for Beachborough School provides a state-of-the-art teaching facility, where exposed timber trusses and brickwork, generous rooflights and a courtyard workshop create an environment built to inspire. At Forest School, a new sports pavilion combines changing facilities with rooms for outdoor learning, extending the school's offer to its wider community.

In the community sector, the Red Kite Pavilion in Aston Clinton was conceived as a sustainable, low-maintenance facility to serve local people for the next fifty years, bringing a park café, multi-function hall and sports changing rooms together beneath a distinctive butterfly roof. At Shipton under Wychwood Cricket Club, a new clubhouse provides accessible, robust facilities for a club established in 1920, crafted in timber that will weather gently into its Cotswold setting.

Whether a classroom, a clubhouse or a village pavilion, the principles hold true: listen closely, respond to context, and craft buildings that serve the people who use them.

If you are considering a project for a school, club or community organisation, we would welcome the conversation.

📍 The Coach House, 3a New Street, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire CV36 4EW
📞 01608 661 000
🌐 www.hsarchitects.co.uk

04/06/2026

Fairfield House: Breathing new life into a period home at the heart of a South Warwickshire village.

Set within a conservation area, Fairfield House is a substantial dwelling that had been allowed to fall into disrepair before our clients took it on, purchasing the property with a vision to refurbish, repair and extend. Our first priority was the building itself: careful repairs to roofs and walls to stabilise the structure and make the home weathertight once more. With the host dwelling secured, we set about reimagining how the family could live in it.

A single and two-storey rear extension provides generous new kitchen, living and bedroom spaces. Set against the original stone walls, the addition is crafted from kiln-dried Oak post-and-beam structures, large expanses of glazing and natural timber cladding, a contemporary language that offers contrast and interest while letting the character of the original building shine.

Completing the scheme is a detached studio building, offering flexible ancillary accommodation or a dedicated workspace within the grounds.
Old and new, in careful conversation. Context-driven, and crafted for the way our clients live.

Swipe to explore Fairfield House.

Thinking about reimagining a period property of your own? We'd love to hear from you.

📍 The Coach House, 3a New Street, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire CV36 4EW
📞 01608 661 000
🌐 www.hsarchitects.co.uk

03/06/2026

Orchard View | Five years on 🌳

Some homes reveal themselves slowly. Orchard View keeps its biggest secret from the street entirely.

Built on the site of a derelict former kitchen garden in Chipping Campden, Orchard View is a contemporary, light-filled house set almost entirely below ground. From the road, there's little to see, just an entrance structure and a frameless glass balustrade. Passers-by have no real sense of the home that lies beneath.

The whole house is arranged around a south-facing courtyard, drawing daylight deep into spaces you'd never expect to feel so bright and open. Traditional Cotswold stone and roofing slate sit alongside contemporary detailing, exposed steel and dark zinc cladding, while a restrained, considered palette creates a calm, quiet sanctuary below ground. Designed from the outset to be well insulated and low in energy use, with a full MVHR system woven invisibly into the fabric of the home.

Five years on, the garden has come into its own. Our client has shaped the outdoor spaces into a series of rooms that work with the sun as it tracks across the day, an extension of the same light-led thinking that shapes the house below.

Appointed in 2016, completed in 2021 and shortlisted for a RIBA South West Regional Award in 2023, a home that continues to grow into its setting.

Thinking about creating a home of your own? We'd love to hear from you.

📍 The Coach House, 3a New Street, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire CV36 4EW
📞 01608 661 000
🌐 www.hsarchitects.co.uk

01/06/2026

A sensitive restoration and extension of a Grade II listed former inn in the Cotswold village of Bledington.

Tucked behind an early-18th-century façade on Church Street, The Five Bells is one half of a former village inn, set within the Bledington Conservation Area. Its handsome listed frontage remains untouched, but to the rear, a series of awkward, ad-hoc additions had left the cottage disconnected from its courtyard garden and full of compromised, modern interventions.

Our task was to extend and adapt the home for modern life while treading lightly on its history. Two crafted single-storey extensions now infill the recesses either side of the existing gable, providing a generous open-plan kitchen and dining space and a discreet utility and WC. Built in coursed natural stone to match the existing, and topped with standing-seam zinc roofs, oak-framed glazing and French doors draw the garden in and open the heart of the home to the courtyard beyond.

Inside, we worked carefully to peel back the modern and rediscover the original. Later partitions were removed to open up the plan, and modern brick cladding was stripped from the inglenook to reveal the historic fireplace at its core, now restored as the warm, woodburning heart of the sitting room. At attic level, exposed timber trusses frame a characterful bedroom beneath the eaves.

Old and new, in quiet conversation. A home repaired, reconnected and ready for its next chapter.

Swipe to explore The Five Bells.

Have a listed or period property you're looking to bring back to life? We'd love to hear from you.

📍 The Coach House, 3a New Street, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire CV36 4EW
📞 01608 661 000
🌐 www.hsarchitects.co.uk

28/05/2026

At October House, our brief was to reimagine and extend an existing Arts & Crafts-inspired home while respecting the character, proportions and setting of the original building.

Rather than competing with the existing house, the extension was carefully designed to sit comfortably within its context, stepping with the natural topography of the site and maintaining the prominence of the original building. The architectural language is deliberately simple, using traditional materials, considered proportions and carefully framed views to create a subtle distinction between old and new.

At the heart of the design is a family kitchen and living space that improves circulation throughout the home and creates a stronger connection to the surrounding landscape. Large areas of glazing bring natural light deep into the plan, while the arrangement of spaces establishes a clear relationship between communal and private areas of the house.

The result is a home that feels both rooted in its setting and adapted for modern family living, an approach that continues to inform our residential work today.

📍 The Coach House, 3a New Street, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire CV36 4EW
📞 01608 661 000
🌐 www.hsarchitects.co.uk

25/05/2026

Five years on from completion, it was a pleasure for Nic to revisit Orchard View last week alongside the contractor and QS team, following a kind invitation from the clients to return to the house.

Seeing how a home continues to be lived in, enjoyed and cared for years after completion is always incredibly rewarding, and reflects the long-term relationships we aim to build through every project.

At Hayward Smart Architects, we believe the best projects are built on collaboration, trust and a shared vision from the very beginning. This testimonial reflects the importance we place on listening carefully to our clients, engaging closely with consultants and craftspeople, and maintaining attention to detail at every stage of the design and construction process.

We are incredibly grateful to receive feedback such as this and proud to have helped create a home that responds so thoughtfully to the needs of modern family living.

“We interviewed several architects before settling on HSA to help us turn our vision for a unique and highly constrained plot into our home. For us it was vital for success that our architect could both offer leadership whilst being fully engaged with us and the rest of the team.

Our trust in HSA was repaid with being listened to and supported through every step of the journey. Their personal approach and involvement extended to every individual involved in the build, drawing on the experience of craftsmen to validate and refine design. Ownership for the build across the team ensured challenges including issues around COVID didn’t de-rail the project.

HSA’s attention to detail can be seen in every aspect of our home from functional positioning of switches to aesthetics of stone-coursing and tiling layouts to all-important waterproofing design to ensure watertightness for a home largely sited below existing ground level.

HSA have done so much more than fulfil our brief – they have given us the opportunity to co-create a light-filled living space that has the complex needs and dreams of our family at its heart which is why we have no hesitation in offering a 5 star rating.”

📍 The Coach House, 3a New Street,
Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire CV36 4EW
📞 01608 661 000
🌐 www.hsarchitects.co.uk

23/05/2026

Work commenced on site last week at The Millers Cottage in Henley-on-Thames, neighbouring our Ombu project.

This project focuses on the transformation of the property’s external spaces, improving the driveway, garage access, parking and turning arrangements, whilst creating a more private and usable courtyard garden setting through carefully considered level changes and new facing brick retaining walls.

Working alongside , the proposals combine detailed architectural interventions with a considered landscape strategy, helping to enhance both the functionality and character of the site. The visualisations and drawings shown here illustrate the relationship between the hard landscaping, planting and retained architecture, and how the courtyard spaces will evolve through the construction process.

Main construction works are due for completion in September, with planting works to follow later in the season. We look forward to sharing further progress updates from site over the coming months.

📍 The Coach House, 3a New Street,
Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire CV36 4EW
📞 01608 661 000
🌐 www.hsarchitects.co.uk

22/05/2026

21/05/2026

A fantastic historic image of The Coach House in Shipston-on-Stour, captured in the late 1970s or early 1980s, before it became the home of Hayward Smart Architects.

As a practice deeply rooted in the local area, it is always fascinating to reflect on the history and evolution of the buildings and streets that form part of Shipston’s architectural character today. A big thank you to the Shipston-on-Stour & District Historic Society for their ongoing work digitising and preserving local photographs and historical records. Projects like this play an important role in protecting the heritage and stories of the town for future generations.

Today, The Coach House continues its journey as the home of HSA, a practice focused on thoughtful contemporary architecture, sensitive heritage projects and design rooted in context and place.

📍 The Coach House, 3a New Street,
Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire CV36 4EW
📞 01608 661 000
🌐 www.hsarchitects.co.uk