Orange Tree School, Whetstone

The client purchased a vacant church with a view to converting it into a school. Ellern Mede is a specialist provider of treatment for children with eating disorders. They wanted to get on with the works as quickly as possible so that they could open for the beginning of the academic year.

We began by submitting an application for a Certificate of lawfulness of proposed use which confirmed that the building could be used as a school. We then used permitted development rights for a number of external changes and additions, which removed the time and risk associated with applying for planning permission and ensured that the client remained in control of the construction timetable.