Early answers for early years settings: can a building or site work as a nursery, for how many children and at what cost.
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A provider eyeing a building for a nursery, or a school adding early years provision, needs to know quickly if it will work, because early years has requirements ordinary spaces rarely meet by accident. Our pre-planning and feasibility service establishes that: the number of children a building can lawfully accommodate, the adequacy of outdoor space, the parking and drop-off a setting needs, the planning position for a new use or extension and the cost of making it all work. Statutory requirements for early years premises shape the assessment from the start, so capacity is tested against real standards rather than floor area. Where a change of use or an extension is involved, pre-application advice is sought where useful, typically returning within four to eight weeks. Studies suit conversions, extensions and new settings alike, and findings feed straight into the architectural design where a provider proceeds. Scope and fee are fixed in writing first.
This is the "should we build?" moment. The team clarifies goals, budget, risks and constraints, explores options (including non-build solutions), and forms the business case. The outcome is a confirmed set of client requirements and a go/no-go decision.
All the groundwork happens here: site information, surveys, statutory context and stakeholder needs are gathered, and the Project Brief and outline programme are agreed. Procurement and planning strategies are sketched so everyone knows the road ahead.
Look at the whole processWith the building or site and the ambition behind it. A note through the contact form or to info@aecarchitecture.co.uk describing the property, the places a provider hopes to offer and the timetable opens the conversation, whoever is asking: an established provider, a new operator or a school adding provision. AEC agrees the depth, a rapid capacity view or a fuller appraisal with planning and cost testing, and fixes the fee in writing before work begins. The study tests the building against early years standards, assesses the outdoor space and the planning position, and reports plainly on capacity, cost and risk. Where the answer is proceed, the same team can carry the setting into design, registration support and planning.
The practice's core education experience extends naturally to early years, where the same rigour applies at a smaller scale. A nursery study reflects the requirements that govern early years premises, so a provider learns early what a building must offer rather than discovering it at a registration inspection.
Change of use, extensions and new settings all raise planning questions, and the Academy Estate Consultants group keeps that judgement beside the study. Options are weighed against local policy early, so a provider commits to a building or site that can be consented for early years use, not just one that looks the part.
Because the practice carries projects from feasibility through design, planning and construction, its studies are written to be built on. Findings feed the concept design, the registration case and any funding conversation, so a provider does not pay twice and the same team can carry a workable setting forward.
A handful of factors that a study checks together. Indoor space governs how many children a setting can register, measured against the standards for early years premises rather than estimated from area. Outdoor space matters almost as much, because early years learning happens outside daily and a setting without adequate, accessible, secure garden space is limited from the start. Access, parking and drop-off decide if the setting works for families and neighbours, and often shape the planning view. The planning position itself, for a change of use or an extension, determines if the use is permitted at all, carried forward by our planning and approvals work where an application follows. The study weighs these together and reports the realistic capacity, the cost of reaching it and the risks that remain, so a provider decides on evidence.
Kennet School (BREEAM)
Thatcham
Single‑storey replacement block providing six classrooms, designed to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating. AEC led early design coordination with the assessor, progressed to Building Regulations drawings and oversaw construction.
View projectAn assessment of the building or site against early years standards: indoor capacity, outdoor space, access, parking and drop-off, the planning position for the use, and the cost of making it work. Depth is scoped to the decision, from a rapid capacity view to a full appraisal, and both scope and fee are agreed in writing before the study starts.
That is one of the study's core outputs. Capacity is tested against the space standards for early years premises rather than estimated from floor area, indoors and out, so the number carries reasoning. The study also flags what would raise or limit that capacity, from layout changes to outdoor provision, before a provider commits to the building.
Before a building is bought or leased and before registration is pursued. A study at that point costs little against the commitment it protects, and it leaves time to act on the findings. Where a change of use needs pre-application advice, its typical four to eight week turnaround belongs in the timetable.
It depends on the building or site and the depth the decision needs, and the fee is fixed and agreed in writing before work begins. A rapid capacity view sits at the lighter end; a full appraisal with planning and cost testing costs more. The fee is kept proportionate to the scale of an early years project.
Yes. Converting a house, hall or commercial building to a nursery usually needs planning consent for the change of use, and the study assesses the prospects against local policy alongside the building's suitability. Where the change looks achievable, the route and its risks are set out plainly, ready to carry into a planning application.
A written report on the building or site's suitability for early years use: realistic capacity, outdoor and access findings, the planning position and the cost of making it work, with the reasoning shown. It is built to support the decision and, where the project proceeds, to feed straight into design and registration.
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