A London studio built around planning outcomes

Who we are

Magna Studio is a group of architectural designers with more than 15 years’ experience, working from London on extensions, loft conversions, outbuildings and conversions for homeowners and builders. We have spent that time inside the householder planning system: reading Local Plans, sitting in pre-application meetings and learning what each council's officers will and will not support. The studio does one thing and does it thoroughly: documentation that planning officers can approve and builders can build from.

You deal with one designer from survey to decision, with the rest of the team checking the drawings, the planning case and the Building Regulations package behind them. Where a project needs a structural engineer, a party wall surveyor or a specialist report, we say so early and coordinate it.

We are hiring: see our open roles.

Our track record, and how we count it

Members of our team have prepared more than 200 planning and Lawful Development Certificate applications for homeowners, the large majority approved at the first submission. Planning applications and Lawful Development Certificate applications prepared by members of our team, including at previous practices, up to September 2026. "Approved first time" means approved on the first submission without a resubmission or appeal. We will publish the approval rate as a percentage once every decided application is recorded on this site with its council reference, so that anyone can check the figure against the councils' public registers.

How we work

• One designer, from survey to decision. The designer who measures your house draws it, writes the planning case, submits it and answers the case officer. You have their direct line and hear from them at every stage, not from an account manager.
• Drawn for your house, not adapted from the last one. Every set starts from our own measured survey and your council’s policies. Nothing is lifted from a template, because the officer reading it can tell, and so can the builder pricing it.
• Our approval commitment. If a council refuses an application we designed and advised on, we revise the scheme in response to the reasons for refusal and resubmit it at no further design fee. We can make that commitment because every scheme is designed to the council’s own policies from the first line. The conditions are set out in our terms.
• Planning-first. We design for the officer who will assess the scheme and the neighbours who will see it. Approval is the brief.
• Buildable. Drawings are coordinated with structure and services so the builder can price and build without guesswork.
• Fixed fees. You know the fee before you commit. Scope changes are agreed in writing before they cost anything.
• Plain English. Every report and email is written so a first-time client can act on it without a glossary.

Where we work

We are based in London and work across every London borough and the towns around the capital, from Watford and St Albans to Sevenoaks, Woking and Windsor. We keep council-by-council notes on Local Plan policies, Article 4 directions, conservation-area guidance and the design expectations of each planning department, and we publish the useful parts on our area pages.