DESIGN & BUILD — BIRMINGHAM & THE WEST MIDLANDS
From first idea to finished home. Architecture, planning, structural engineering and construction — one team, one fixed price, no surprises. Led by a Chartered Engineer who understands Birmingham’s ground, not just its homes.
THE ENGINEER’S CONTRACTOR
Much of Birmingham sits on shrinkable clay soil. Get the foundations wrong and an extension can crack, settle and fail within a few years — the kind of defect that has damaged the reputation of more than one local firm.
With a Chartered Engineer leading every project, we design foundations for the ground we’re actually building on. Where clay demands it, footings go deeper to sit below the zone of seasonal movement, and a structural assessment is built into the quote rather than discovered halfway through. It is the difference between a home that lasts and one that merely looks finished.
WHAT WE DO
From a focused single-storey extension to a full home transformation, we handle the whole project — design through to final finish — with structural engineering and building regulations included as standard. Period homes in Edgbaston and Moseley, interwar houses across Harborne and Solihull: whatever the size, the standard never changes.
Single and double-storey rear, side return and wraparound extensions that open period and interwar homes into light-filled, modern living space.
Learn more →Complete reconfigurations and sympathetic period restorations that work with the character of your home rather than against it.
Learn more →Converting underused roof space into bedrooms, en-suites and studies, managed end to end from design to handover.
Learn more →Ground-up homes delivered from foundations to finish, on programme and to a single fixed price.
Learn more →WHY CLIENTS CHOOSE OADB
Fixed price contracts. The price we quote is the price you pay — including the deeper foundations Birmingham’s clay sometimes demands. No provisional sums, no surprise variations, no uncomfortable conversations halfway through your build.
A programme you can trust. Every Birmingham project gets a detailed build programme with milestones, building control inspection dates, and payment stages mapped out before we break ground.
One point of contact. Your Birmingham project is led by our director from first meeting to final sign-off. No call centres, no rotating site managers, no chasing.
HOW IT WORKS
We start with your idea, not your drawings. We visit your Birmingham home, understand what you want to achieve, and shape the design brief alongside our architectural partners — including an early read on the site and likely foundation conditions on Birmingham’s clay.
Once the design is aligned and planning is in place, we issue a written fixed price covering every element — structural engineering, ground works and the foundation strategy your site actually needs, all costed up front rather than discovered halfway through.
We manage the complete construction programme from groundworks to final sign-off, coordinating Birmingham building control inspections at every stage. Weekly updates, one point of contact, and a clean handover on completion.
AREAS WE COVER
QUESTIONS
We work across Birmingham’s premium residential areas including Harborne, Edgbaston, Moseley, Bournville and Sutton Coldfield, as well as Solihull, Dorridge and Knowle and the wider West Midlands, alongside our established work in Bristol and the South West.
It depends on size, specification, and ground conditions, which in Birmingham often means deeper foundations on clay soil. Rather than a vague estimate, we issue a written fixed price once the design is defined — the price we quote is the price you pay.
Much of Birmingham sits on shrinkable clay, which moves with the seasons. Foundations often need to go deeper than standard to sit below that movement. With a Chartered Engineer leading the project, we design and cost the right foundations up front, so there are no structural surprises later.
Yes. We take on everything from a single-storey extension to a full home renovation or new build. Whatever the size, you get the same fixed price, the same engineering discipline and the same finish — the standard never depends on the scale of the job.
Yes. Our proposal covers every element of the work, with no provisional sums and no surprise variations. Any change only ever happens with your written agreement, with the cost set out in advance.
Yes. We manage the full process — design, planning, structural engineering, building control and Party Wall notices — coordinated under one accountable team, including conservation area requirements where they apply.
