In 1975, the Northampton artist Henry Bird began painting biblical murals on the walls of the Church of St Margaret at Denton. He worked for over a year, producing sixteen panels with thirty-one life-size figures — many of them based on local people. The result is a church with thirteenth-century origins whose interior belongs unmistakably to the twentieth century. What interests me as an architect is that the building was still being made. A church rebuilt in the seventeenth century and again in 1827–28 by Charles Squirhill was still receiving significant new work in the 1970s. The tower from the original thirteenth-century building survived both rebuilds, and now the murals have become part of the fabric too. That is what a living building looks like — not a museum, but a structure that each generation adds to. The church, Grade II* listed, stands in a village on the A428 south-east of Northampton.
Award-winning Architects in Denton
Heritage Repair to Certified Passivhaus
Our work ranges from a Grade II listed barn restoration in Buckinghamshire to a certified Passivhaus home in Hertfordshire — The Deerings, which won the RIBA East Award in 2018. What connects these projects is the conviction that buildings should be added to thoughtfully, not frozen in time. I founded Gresford Architects in London in 2006, and we now work from Oxford with clients across the country. I am an ARB-registered and RIBA Chartered architect, a member of SPAB — the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings — the Passivhaus Trust and The Green Register. I was a finalist for Sustainability Architect of the Year at the Building Design Awards, and in 2025 I was invited to judge the British Homes Awards. Our projects have been published in Dezeen, Grand Designs Magazine and The Modern House Journal.
Architectural Services South-East of Northampton
Renovations in Denton engage with a building stock that reflects the village's long history along the A428. The church's own story — thirteenth-century origins, seventeenth-century reconstruction, and the definitive 1827–28 rebuild that produced the building we see today — shows that significant change, when done well, can serve a building for centuries. The stone cottages and houses throughout the village use the local limestone. West Northamptonshire Council handles planning for the parish. Through my membership of SPAB, I approach these buildings with the understanding that solid stone walls manage moisture through their mass and their lime mortar — and that any renovation must work with that behaviour.
EnerPHit, the Passivhaus Institute's certified retrofit standard, addresses the thermal performance of older homes without compromising their character. The cottages in Denton present the familiar challenge of solid-walled construction: thick walls with no insulation, draughty junctions, and a building envelope that predates any concept of thermal efficiency. Vapour-open insulation, careful airtightness detailing, and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery can transform them — warmer, quieter, dramatically cheaper to run — while the facades continue to weather as they always have.
Sustainable Design connects every project we take on, and in Denton the murals offer a reminder that the most sustainable buildings are the ones that keep finding new purpose. PassivHaus Design sets our benchmark for new construction, delivering certified comfort with minimal energy demand. New Build Design in Denton should respect the stone character of the village. For sites in the countryside around the parish, Paragraph 84 of the National Planning Policy Framework provides a route to architecturally outstanding homes — but the design must demonstrate the quality that ensures a building will still be valued and used in a hundred years.
Extension Design in Denton should respond to the stone character and proportions of the village. The relationship between the houses, the lanes and the surrounding countryside contributes to a settlement that sits comfortably in its landscape. An extension should maintain that relationship. Whether the brief is a ground-floor extension connecting the house to the garden, a garden room, or additional space above, the design should make the whole building feel more resolved.
Denton's church was rebuilt twice and then painted with local faces. If you are considering a project here, we would welcome the conversation.