Above the main door of the Church of All Saints at Pitsford, a carved tympanum survives from the Norman period. It is the oldest visible element of the building — the church that grew around it dates from the twelfth to fourteenth centuries, and the tower with its octagonal broach spire was added in the thirteenth and fourteenth. But the tympanum was there first. What interests me as an architect is that every person who has entered this church for nearly a thousand years has passed beneath this carved stone. A threshold is the most used part of any building, and at Pitsford the Norman carving still marks the moment of arrival. The church, Grade II* listed, stands on the northern edge of a village set in the rolling countryside north of Northampton.
Award-winning Architects in Pitsford
Published Work, Careful Thresholds
Our projects have been published in Dezeen, Grand Designs Magazine and The Modern House Journal — work where the entrance, the threshold, the moment of arrival receives as much attention as any other part of the building. 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. The Deerings, a certified Passivhaus home in Hertfordshire, won the RIBA East Award in 2018, the year I was also a finalist for Sustainability Architect of the Year at the Building Design Awards. In 2025 I was invited to judge the British Homes Awards.
Architectural Services North of Northampton
EnerPHit, the Passivhaus Institute's certified retrofit standard, addresses the thermal performance of older homes without compromising their character. The cottages in Pitsford 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 ironstone facades continue to weather as they always have.
Renovations in Pitsford engage with a building stock that includes both medieval fabric and the significant Victorian restoration of 1867, when the south aisle, porch and chancel were rebuilt. The church demonstrates that substantial intervention — when done with skill and the right materials — can serve a building for generations. 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.
Sustainable Design connects every project we take on, and in Pitsford the tympanum offers a reminder that the most enduring elements of a building are often the simplest — a carved stone, a well-made threshold, a detail that people encounter every day. PassivHaus Design sets our benchmark for new construction, delivering certified comfort with minimal energy demand. New Build Design in Pitsford should respect the ironstone 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 earns a building its place in the landscape.
Extension Design in Pitsford should respond to the proportions and materials of the village's stone buildings. The relationship between the houses, the lanes and the surrounding countryside contributes to a settlement that sits comfortably in its landscape. 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.
Pitsford's Norman tympanum has marked the threshold for nearly a thousand years. If you are considering a project here, we would welcome the conversation.