Iconic AD

16/07/2026

Approved.

Nearly two years with Guildford Borough Council, and the new sports club and community pavilion at Ockham has planning permission.

It took a long road through ecological assessment and a few local issues that surfaced overnight, but the scheme is through.

The building takes its cues from the barns and estate buildings around Ockham rather than from the standard sports pavilion. A long, low form broken into linked pitched volumes, so the mass reads as a small group of agricultural buildings rather than a single institutional block. Broad hipped roofs in plain clay tile, laid to a generous pitch with deep eaves. Dark stained timber boarding runs the length of the elevations, grounded on a soft red brick base at the entrance where the building meets the ground and the arrival. A gable of open timberwork gives the pitch its one moment of ornament. Full height glazing opens the pavilion straight onto the field, so the building faces the game and keeps its back to the lane.

15/07/2026

Villa Les Rhumbs, Granville

A mediocre building can still produce a great eye.

Christian Dior’s childhood home is, honestly, a bit of a lump. A heavy Anglo-Norman villa with a fussy roofline, dormers fighting the eaves and crimson bays bolted on wherever they’d fit. Dior said it himself. Like all Anglo-Norman houses of the period, the house of my childhood was dreadful.

And yet.

He claimed his entire style came from it. Not the massing, not the plan, but the colour. Soft pink render against grey cliff. Those two shades ran through everything he ever made.

The New Look didn’t come from this architecture. It came from reacting to it. From a boy on a Normandy clifftop deciding that ordinary would not do.

What ugly building made you?

14/07/2026

Two houses,s ame headland at Saint Lunaire, on the Emerald Coast.

One holds the old Brittany romance, turrets and slate lit against a Channel sunset. The other slips low into the hillside under a living roof, glass folding right back to the sea.

Both were developed with the client, two honest directions for the same view.

Fitting to share these on the 14th of July, with France in the semifinals tonight. Vive la France.

So, which would you choose. Château or modern headland.

20/06/2026

Architecture often tells the story of what came before.

What drew me to this scene wasn’t just the building itself, but the contrast between old and new. Rusting industrial steelwork sits in the foreground, layered with decades of history, while behind it a contemporary residential façade uses colour, pattern and rhythm to create an entirely different architectural language.

The bold red panels punctuate the composition, breaking up the brickwork and drawing the eye through the image. It’s a reminder that great urban photography isn’t always about iconic landmarks – sometimes it’s about finding the dialogue between materials, eras and textures.

Do you prefer the character and authenticity of old industrial structures, or the clean lines and bold geometry of contemporary architecture?

📍 London Docklands

19/06/2026

Planning approved. 🎉

Delighted to share that consent has been granted for this new build family home in Virginia Water. A classical French inspired design with a mansard roof, dormer windows and a calm, symmetrical front elevation that sits comfortably in its leafy Surrey setting.

The rear opens up completely to the garden, with a curved bay and full height glazing bringing light deep into the living spaces. Front formal, rear relaxed, exactly how a family home should work.

Romance at the start, precision at the finish.

If you are planning something special in Surrey, we would love to help bring it to life.

📍 Virginia Water, Surrey
🏛️ Designed by Iconic Architectural Design

28/03/2026

French elegance. Modern luxury. Timeless presence. 🇫🇷✨

5,500 sqft of French-inspired architecture, blending classic symmetry with contemporary living. Natural stone, grand glazing, and refined detailing — designed to stand out and stand the test of time.

Would you live here? 🏡
Save for inspiration. Get in touch to start your own dream home.

12/03/2026

Some houses are built.
Some houses are composed.

This one was designed to feel like it’s been here for 100 years.

Perfect symmetry.
A limestone façade.
A formal arrival court centred on the fountain.

No trends.
No gimmicks.

Just timeless architecture done properly.

And then there’s the driveway…

Ferrari or Aston Martin? 👇

⸻

12/03/2026