Architectural design studio · Alton, Hampshire

Considered architecture, rooted in place.

M-W-Architectural is the studio of Matthew J. Wells, bringing more than a decade of experience to homes, listed buildings and mixed-use schemes across Hampshire, Berkshire and beyond. Each is guided from the first sketch to the finished building.

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Aerial render of the principal house at Hillfields

Watercolour aerial of 75–77 London Street, a Grade II listed townhouse

Over a decadein practice

Listed buildings& conservation areas

First sketch to siteplanning, detail, delivery

BSR & FRAEWexternal walls & re-cladding

The studio

A careful hand with historic fabric,
a clear eye on cost.

Matthew leads each scheme personally, from the earliest concept through planning and Building Regulations to the day it is built.

His work spans private houses, apartments, mixed-use and heritage projects, with particular depth in Building Safety Regulator (BSR) submissions and Fire Risk Appraisals of External Walls (FRAEW).

His designs have been personally chosen by private clients including Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the hotelier Robin Hutson.

Current collaboration

Colony Architects

M-W-Architectural is currently collaborating with Colony Architects, a RIBA Chartered Practice at The Wine Store, Brewery Court, Theale. Matthew serves as Technical Design Consultant and project lead on Colony schemes across Berkshire, Hampshire and further afield.

Services

The work

Every commission is guided by the same hand, from the first conversation to the final detail on site.

Planning & consent

Considered design briefs, planning applications and Design & Access Statements, through to Section 73 amendments and the discharge of conditions.

Listed buildings & conservation

Close collaboration with Historic England and conservation officers, and the sensitive repair of historic fabric.

External walls & re-cladding

FRAEW reports and BSR submissions, internal and external, taking a holistic view of the whole building. All drawings, technical details and design-side documentation are produced in-house, with coordination of every party involved.

Technical design

Drawing packages and construction detail prepared for Building Control approval and for the contractor's hand.

Existing buildings

A fresh, in-person appraisal of the building, with survey and a considered review of earlier proposals, so that keeping a building rather than replacing it is always properly weighed.

Complete delivery

A planning consent is only half the journey; a design must also be built. M-W-A offers a turnkey service, guiding the first design through Building Control and on to construction, or picking up at whichever stage you need.

Selected work

A portfolio shaped by place

Listed townhouses and conservation streets, new terraces and apartments, and private houses set within their landscape. Select any image to see more.

Watercolour of the Oxford Road and Cheapside corner building in Reading with redesigned shopfronts

38–40 Oxford Road & 3–7 Cheapside, Reading

A corner building brought back to life

Ten apartments in the long-empty upper floors above working shops, within Reading's High Street Heritage Action Zone, for Richard McCarthy Homes.

Historic fabric is kept and repaired in lime, the shopfronts are redesigned to suit the street, and the whole scheme was modelled from a LiDAR survey of the existing building.

Role: Project Lead
Type: Heritage, mixed use

Hillfields

Vernacular houses in a private landscape

A group of oak-framed and brick houses of some £2m in value. After consent, a Section 73 application refined the design further before the scheme moved through Building Regulations and into construction.

Role: Lead Designer
Stage: In construction

Watercolour aerial view of 75–77 London Street with the listed frontage and new flats around reinstated gardens

75–77 London Street, Reading

A Grade II listed Georgian townhouse, and the garden behind it

The ground floor of a listed townhouse becomes three homes, reached through a quiet rear extension shaped with Historic England. Behind it, the former Olympia Hall gives way to two new homes on East Street, and the communal gardens are restored.

Role: Project Lead
Setting: Conservation area

Aerial render of Wayland Close showing the eight blocks with two added storeys among mature pines

Wayland Close, Bracknell Forest

Eight blocks renewed, not rebuilt

Where demolition had been proposed, a lighter answer: eight 1970s blocks refurbished and re-clad, each raised by two storeys in lightweight construction. Rockpanel Woods and anthracite Alinel sit quietly among the mature pines that give the site its character.

Role: Lead Designer
Outcome: Planning granted

Street-level render of the George Street terrace in Caversham

George Street, Caversham

An arcing terrace of six homes

A gentle crescent in the spirit of Bath, drawing its brick, render and window proportions from the surrounding streets. The ground floor sits some 800mm above the flood level, resolved within the stepped entrances rather than added as an afterthought.

Role: Lead Designer
Type: New terrace

Watercolour aerial of a private residence at Beaulieu with courtyard and outbuildings

South Coast & Iceland

Private residences for Sir Jim Ratcliffe

Designs personally chosen by Sir Jim Ratcliffe for a series of private houses, produced with PWP Architects and noted in the press for their quality and character. Shown here, original artwork for Beaulieu.

Role: Designer, in association with PWP Architects
Type: Private houses

Rear perspective of the Stafferton Way apartments with cascading glass balconies facing the canal

Stafferton Way, Maidenhead

Apartments beside the canal

New homes on a disused car park. Cascading glass balconies face the water, against A2-s1,d0 rated Rockpanel cladding, while the street front is composed in muted grey brick with aluminium spandrel bands.

Role: Lead Designer
Type: New apartments

Charles House

From offices to homes

A former office and light-industrial building converted to apartments and fully re-clad following its FRAEW. The shops below remain, with new dormer-lit homes above, each plan arranged to make the most of the building.

Role: Lead Designer
Type: Change of use

A Pig hotel: an ochre-rendered Victorian country house with a slate turret, garden parasols and lavender in the foreground

The Pig hotels

New building and restoration for Robin Hutson

Design work for The Pig, the celebrated collection of country house hotels, across both new building and the restoration of historic properties.

Role: Designer, in association with PWP Architects
Type: Hospitality

In good company

Colony Architects · current

PWP Architects

Richard McCarthy Homes

Enquiries

Begin a conversation

Whether it is a listed townhouse, a site with promise or a building ready for its next chapter, Matthew would be delighted to hear from you.

Principal: Matthew J. Wells
Telephone: 07305 770 788
Email: bim.matthew@gmail.com
Studio: Alton, Hampshire

Make an enquiry