The Open Plan Building Co.
Improving the way you live.
Most people think they need an extension.
Sometimes they do.
More often, they need a home that works better for the way they live.
That’s where we begin.
Not with drawings.
Not with quotations.
With a conversation.
Before we build
Most of the work happens before anyone picks up a tool
Six stages, and four of them happen before a wall is touched. That is deliberate — projects go wrong in the thinking, not in the bricklaying. Because our design, commercial and operations teams sit in the same business, nothing gets lost handing over between them.
The conversation
We start by asking how you actually live and what stops your home supporting it. No drawings, no quotation — just an honest conversation with our design team about what the real problem is, and whether building is even the answer.
Feasibility & survey
We measure the house properly and establish what it will take: structure, drainage, light, planning constraints. Unglamorous work, and the reason our designs get built for the money we said they would.
Design
Our design team develops layout options and tests each one against real family life. Every idea is checked for buildability as it is drawn — not months later on site — so you can see how the space will work before it exists.
Costing & programme
Our commercial team prices the finished design in detail and agrees a clear scope and programme with you. This is where budgets are protected: nothing is left as a provisional guess to be settled halfway through.
Build
Our operations team runs the site, sequencing every trade so each is ready for the next. Because they were in the room during design, they are building something they already understand.
Finish & handover
The final finish is where a build is really judged, and it is where we care most. We see the details through to the last coat of paint and hand back a home that is ready to live in.
Important Conversations
The conversations worth having before you build
What it will realistically cost, whether you need planning permission, whether open plan is even right for your house. The questions every homeowner gets stuck on, answered plainly by the team who design and build these projects.
Refurbishment
5 Signs It’s Time to Refurbish Rather Than Move House
Thinking about moving house because it feels too small? Here are five signs a refurbishment or extension might solve the problem for far less than the cost — and stress — of moving.
Read it →
Planning Permission
Planning Permission for Extensions: What Wirral Homeowners Need to Know
A plain-English guide to permitted development rights and planning permission for house extensions in Wirral, Cheshire and beyond.
Read it →
Design & Build
Design & Build vs Traditional Contracting: Which Is Right for Your Project?
Design & build vs traditional contracting — what the difference actually means for your budget, timeline and stress levels.
Read it →Customer stories
What was not working — and what we designed to fix it
Every project here started with a family telling us their home no longer fitted their life. These are the problems they brought us, what we designed in response, and what we built.
About OPB
Improving the way you live, designed and built by one team
The Open Plan Building Co is a design-led team, not a builder with a drawing board. Our design, commercial and operations teams work together from the first conversation, so what gets drawn is something we already know can be built for the money we quoted.
That structure is the point. One company is accountable for the design, the budget and the build, so there are no gaps between an architect, a quantity surveyor and a contractor for problems to fall into. Thirty years of building across Wirral and Chester sits behind the way we work — and the result is a project you can genuinely enjoy rather than endure.
“The whole team made what could have been a stressful process genuinely enjoyable — we now have exactly the family kitchen we always wanted.
Start here
Start with a conversation
Tell us what is not working about your home and the OPB design team will be in touch to arrange a conversation. No obligation, and nothing to prepare.