Benson Design

25/07/2026

The hard part starts now.

Around 170 new jobs are set to be created at a Wearside factory after plans to expand it were given the go-ahead.

04/06/2026

Planning permission received this week on this conversion of a domestic 3-bed property into two self contained 1-bed flats.

Technical drawings to follow and we'll oversee the conversion for our client.

28/05/2026

Delighted to have been formally engaged for the next phase of the works at Bernard Matthews, Sunderland. Following on from carrying out the preliminary design and planning application last year we have now formally been engaged for the Technical and Construction stages (RIBA stages 4 to 6).

Looking forward to continuing to work on this and delivering the final project.

31/03/2026

One of a few listed / conservation projects we've been working on. Genuine pleasure to be involved with a bit of history.

09/01/2026

Has having everyone round for Christmas dinner made you realise you need a bigger house (or a smaller family)? There are plenty of options to explore without the need to move or murder, we specialise in all of the following;

- Large 'rear' extensions - Kitchen, Living, Dining
- Knock-throughs and renovations / re-plan layouts with no extension.
- Loft conversions for extra bedrooms.
- Garage conversions / build-overs.

All of these can be explored to see which is right for you in terms of space, budget and timescales.

08/01/2026

First planning permission of 2026 secured!

Renovation of a dilapidated 19th century cottage into a modern, spacious 4-bedroom dwelling with rear picture windows over the huge garden. We retained the cottage frontage in order to maintain the street-scene vernacular, with modern large-scale glazing to the rear.

Business in the front, party in the back.

18/12/2025

We carried out a site visit yesterday on a project prior to a full site start in the new year - we only recently received planning approval for this after a long, protracted process, due mainly to one of the parts of the building being listed.

We will be turning this collection of barns, stables and agricultural outbuildings into two stunning private dwellings, with original features retained but modern living standards exceeded.

Onto the technical drawings and specifications for this now that the design stage is complete.

Property conversions sought for 2026, get in touch.

16/12/2025

When we say 'no project too big' we genuinely mean it - earlier this year we were tasked with masterplanning the re-design of pretty much an entire village!

4 separate housing sites and 2 commercial sites were explored in this overall design proposal.

There are a lot of land-ownership and planning hurdles to overcome on this one yet, but the base proposals to secure investor funding for our client did exactly that.

15/12/2025

One of the projects on our desk at the moment is a plot of land in Lincolnshire that we are looking to develop alongside our client - feasibility study carried out with varying options to determine the best use of the site taking into account build costs, end values and planning considerations. Once the land purchase is formalised this one should move along in the new year.

If you have a plot of land, are looking to purchase, or if you're looking for a self build plot then please get in touch - we'd love to help.

13/12/2025

Small projects need love too - a couple of garden room / outbuilding projects we've worked on. One of these is in for planning and the others have achieved planning permission - many outbuilding projects can be carried out under permitted development too and we would always advise the best way forwards on this.

Booking work in for 2026 - get in touch to discuss any ideas you may have.