What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 6pm Tuesday 9am - 6pm Wednesday 9am - 6pm Thursday 9am - 6pm Friday 9am - 6pm

Manning Holden Architects

Home
United Kingdom
Matlock
Manning Holden Architects

Call Directions Website Contact the business

Our comprehensive architectural services include conceptual and schematic design, permissions from l
(1)

05/10/2026

Well, this is turning into something rather special!

A progress shot from one of our new-build projects in Two Dales, and just look at that stonework!

We designed this house with a large circular gable window as one of its main features, but we have to give credit where it's due! The client and the very talented team at Ollie Mart Building have taken the stonework detailing and absolutely run with it. We've never seen anything quite like this done in reclaimed Derbyshire stone before.

All the stone going into this house (other than the quoins) has been reclaimed, with the client spending the last couple of years travelling around collecting walling stone, heads and cills from various sources, including eBay and Facebook Marketplace, ready for the build. The idea from the outset has been to create a new home that feels as though it could have been sitting here for hundreds of years, and using reclaimed local stone is a huge part of that.

The house itself will have four bedrooms, three bathrooms and two living/dining areas, all tucked into what is essentially a new-build dormer bungalow on the site of some former dog kennels.

We use reclaimed Derbyshire stone on a lot of our projects and this is exactly why we love working with builders who really understand the material. You can draw it, detail it and specify it, but ultimately you need someone on site with the skill to actually make it look amazing!

And apparently a ridiculous Derbyshire sunset was required just to finish the photo off !

Very excited to see this one finished!

Ollie Mart Building Services LTD

30/09/2026

Planning granted, Building Regs drawings done and now our clients are ready to build!

This is quite a good project for showing the whole process, from the prettier planning drawings used to woo the planners, through to the less glamorous technical drawings which make sure it can all be specced, costed and built properly.

Crazily, some people do ask their builder to build straight from the planning drawings. From experience, this rarely works out particularly well, or any cheaper than having the proper construction information done in the first place!

This is a good demonstration of planning to technical to reality, as we designed the almost identical extension next door, including all the Building Regs drawings, and that has now been successfully built with no technical hitches!

Swipe to see the neighbour's completed extension.

22/09/2026

Keepin' it real with a doodle and some felt tip pens. ✏️

I mean, AI is great at giving clients a polished, 3D photorealistic image of their ideas (which we are frequently being handed as part of a client's brief), but has AI gone back to basics and designed the whole thing from first principles, and does the design actually work?

We are now at the stage in this AI mania where clients are managing to use AI to put together their own planning applications and, in some instances, gain permission (I have seen it, insane!).

The problem they then have is that they come to me with an approved planning design which doesn't actually work. We have to start the process again, measure everything again, design it all again, so that the floor-to-ceiling heights work, they have walls which will give the right thermal values, a space that actually fits the kitchen units etc etc... I could go on!

The end result being a waste of their own time and still returning to an architect to start again from scratch.

So yes, AI can make it look pretty, but sometimes you still need to go back to basics with a felt tip pen and actually work out whether the whole thing works... and can actually be put together when the builder comes along! 😆

15/09/2026

Here is a photo of one of the very first projects MHA took on, now complete a few years down the line!

Our clients have moved in and are enjoying their new home in Darley Dale, Matlock.

Built with all the eco-credentials we could cram into it, we took this project from the very first sketch, through the laborious planning process and Building Regulations approval, to what is now a completed building 🎉

It’s pretty satisfying to see those first scribbles become an actual home (that said, in reality, that sketch took me an age... I think my actual scribbles must have gone in the bin!).

Have a scroll for a couple of our process images, sketches to renders to reality!

11/09/2026

We have recently submitted a planning application for the repair and restoration of this amazing grade 2 listed building - Cannon Mill in Brampton, Chesterfield.

This building is one of the oldest surviving industrial buildings in Chesterfield and was originally part of the Griffin Foundry. Dating back to the late 1700s, this was actually where cannons and cannon balls were made! 💣

The building was originally powered by its huge cast iron water wheel, which amazingly is still there today (in need of some TLC!).

After sitting unused for many years, we're hoping to give this important building a new lease of life, repairing and restoring it and bringing it back into use as offices.

Not every day you get to work on an 18th century cannon foundry!

Swipe to see it in its current state and an old historic photo of the mill

Happy Friday folks! 🎉

09/09/2026

We've had a lot of tricky planning applications recently, this lovely old barn conversion being one of them.
Planners don't like extensions to barn conversions, especially when they're in a Conservation Area and a World Heritage Site.

It is refreshing to have had an approval on this one, as it was always going to be tricky. But alas, some common sense was applied and it was duly noted that the proposals gazumped the original tatty old shed and conservatory! (swipe for before)
Hurrah! 🙌

12/08/2026

Bit of a planning rant incoming..!

We seem to have had endless problems with planners lately. I’m talking crazy decisions and requests which make me fully question the whole system. I’ll give you a couple of my favourites...

Planning declined to change a newsagent's only access door from 750mm to a wheelchair-compliant 900mm so that wheelchair users could actually access it. Apparently the look of the conservation area trumps basic human needs 🤯

Second favourite, a comment from a conservation officer asking us to swap a sensitively designed local stone extension for a glass box. I mean, surely this totally defeats the point of removing the existing conservatory and replacing it with a properly designed and insulated room which can actually be used all year round?! (we won this one in the end)

The mind boggles, and I could honestly go on and on...

So you can imagine my surprise when I logged onto the Peak Park planning website to see what nonsensical comments were being made about one of our applications, only to find that permission had been GRANTED!! 🎉

Not sure why we never received a letter from them, but hey ho, we'll take that as a win!!

Rant over, thanks for listening!

20/07/2026

Woop woop! Planning granted for our large farmhouse renovation in the Derbyshire Dales! 🙌

Swipe for the before shot... can you tell what we've done?

This one was a bit of a light-bulb moment. We'd almost given up trying to connect the two gable loft spaces whilst also creating enough headroom to properly insulate the roofs. Then the penny dropped.

I'll admit, I thought the planners might go a bit ape about it... but it sailed through! 🎉

Now we're ready to get stuck into a monster pack of construction drawings.

20/05/2026

Swipe to see the existing conservatory 👀

We have recently secured planning permission and undertaken building regulation drawings for this rear transformation! The existing conservatory is being replaced with a fully insulated garden room extension to create a much more usable year-round living space.

The new vaulted ceiling and large glazed gable completely change the feel of the rear of the house, creating a much stronger connection to the garden and turning the space into somewhere our clients can sit and enjoy their garden all year round.

A proper upgrade from the classic “freezing in winter, boiling in summer” conservatory setup 😅

07/05/2026

Starting on site next month, we’re very excited to see this one come to life! Our design work included provision for a sizeable single storey extension which we split into two elements to deal with the awkward roof junctions. This also allowed us to sneak in a first floor balcony off the master bedroom 😍

The extension creates one gigantic kitchen / diner / living / everything space (swipe for snap shot of floor plan sheet), all opening out onto our client’s gorgeous cottage garden and views over the Derbyshire countryside beyond.

Dreamy!!

Address

Matlock

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 6pm
Tuesday	9am - 6pm
Wednesday	9am - 6pm
Thursday	9am - 6pm
Friday	9am - 6pm

Telephone

+441629343019

Website

http://www.manningholden.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Manning Holden Architects posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Manning Holden Architects:

Want your business to be the top-listed contractor in Matlock?