VOLVM
A limewashed house beside a dry-stone garage wall, with a timber door and a classic car on a cobbled drive
A glazed rooftop pavilion at dusk, warm light spilling onto a timber deck
A black-clad garden studio among silver birch trees, lit warmly from inside
A black timber barn house with an oak-framed glazed gable, set behind a post and rail fence
01 / 04 Stone and Lime House Residential · Visualisation
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Architecture and interiors

Space, shaped by light.

VOLVM is an architecture and interiors studio led by Tom Phillips ARB. We design new homes, extensions, villas and interiors across London and the South East, and take on projects abroad, handling every stage from concept and planning to technical packages, BIM and CGIs. The name is the Roman spelling of volume: the space inside a building, and the part we care about most.

See the work Start a project

Practice

ARB registered architect

Experience

10+ years in practice

Based

London and the South East

Working

Across the UK and abroad

Selected work

All projects
Aerial view of a large white house among mature trees, its lower level under a planted lawn roof
01

Woodland House

A large family home set among mature trees. The lower level sits under a planted roof so the lawn runs straight over it, while the house above opens onto terraces and a pool.

Residential · New house · Visualisation
The garden side of the house, with stacked glazed floors and a pool terrace
A courtyard under a deep timber soffit, with full-height glazing and a still pool of water lilies
02

Springhouse

A house built around a courtyard of light and water. A deep timber soffit shades full-height glazing, and a still pool reflects the garden back into the rooms.

Residential · Courtyard house · Visualisation
03

Stone House

A new stone house behind a gravel court, with a double-height glazed entrance cut into the gable. Traditional in material, modern in the way it brings light in.

Residential · New house · Visualisation
A two-storey stone house with a tall arched glazed entrance, seen across a gravel drive
A hillside villa at dusk, glowing behind full-height glass above a timber deck and pool

Imagined in light. Resolved in detail.

Hillside Villa · Visualisation

Built.

Finished work, photographed after the builders had left. It’s the test every drawing has to pass.

A timber-clad rear extension with wide black-framed glazing opening onto a deck and lawn
Garden Room ExtensionCompleted
Inside the extension: a kitchen island, slatted walnut wall, rooflights and sliding doors to the garden
Garden Room Extension, kitchenCompleted
A London stock brick rear extension with black steel-framed doors and a sandstone terrace
Brick Rear ExtensionCompleted

Work

Homes, and more.

Aerial view of a flat-roofed courtyard villa with a long pool, set in dense trees

Courtyard Villa

Residential

Visualisation

Aerial view of a white and dark timber house on a hillside, with a planted roof over the garage

Cypress House

Residential

Visualisation

A black timber barn house with an oak-framed glazed gable

Barn House

Residential

Visualisation

A brick rear extension with black steel-framed glazing and wide grey steps down to the garden

Terrace Extension

Residential

Visualisation

Two dark hexagon-clad garden sauna pods on a lawn among trees

Garden Saunas

Residential

Visualisation

A small group of new homes in brick, render and black timber cladding around a gravel court

Timber-clad Homes

Development

Visualisation

New brick and weatherboard village homes around a curving lane in evening sun

Village Homes

Development

Visualisation

A kitchen with a walnut-topped island, chevron stone walls and black pendant lights

Chevron Kitchen

Interiors

Visualisation

Changing rooms with striped stone lockers, teal tiles and oak benches

Changing Rooms

Interiors

Interior design

Aerial view of a food hall under a timber pergola roof, with terraces, lawns and stepped seating

Food Hall

Commercial

Visualisation

A red brick warehouse converted with a glazed core, roof terrace and rooftop pool

Warehouse Conversion

Commercial

Visualisation

Aerial view of a low campus building with timber-clad wings around landscaped courtyards

Campus

Commercial

Visualisation

A cutaway aerial of a campus building showing every room laid out inside

Technical design

In the detail.

Good buildings are won or lost in the detail: where a window meets the wall, how a roof sheds water, what happens at the threshold. Every project gets a complete, coordinated set of drawings, so your builder prices what you want and builds what was designed.

  • Measured surveys and existing drawings
  • Planning drawings and design statements
  • Building Regulations packages and specifications
  • Construction details, from 1:20 down to 1:5
  • BIM models, coordinated with engineers and specialists

What we do

Sketch to sign-off.

01

Feasibility and consultancy

Site consultations and expert advice: what a site will allow, what it could become, and what it should cost.

02

Concept design

Massing, sketches and parametric studies that test ideas quickly and find the right one.

03

Planning

Applications, statements and a clear strategy for consent, including on sensitive sites.

04

Technical and BIM

BIM models, Building Regulations packages, details and specifications to price and build from.

05

Interior design

Full interior packages: kitchens, bathrooms, joinery, lighting and finishes, designed with the architecture.

06

CGIs and animation

Photoreal images and films that let clients, planners and buyers see it before it exists.

How we work

One clear stage at a time.

  1. Stage 01

    Listen

    A site visit, an honest conversation about how you live, and a fixed fee before any drawing begins.

  2. Stage 02

    Shape

    Ideas tested in sketches, models and images until the plan feels inevitable.

  3. Stage 03

    Resolve

    Planning, then a full technical package, coordinated with engineers and checked.

  4. Stage 04

    Build

    We stay involved on site, so the details turn out the way they were drawn.

Detail of a limewashed wall with a deep-set timber window

The studio

Led by Tom Phillips ARB

How a room feels, and how it’s made.

Tom has more than ten years in practice, on homes, villas, interiors and larger schemes across the UK, Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Australia. Residential work is the heart of the studio, backed by the full range of digital practice: parametric design, BIM, technical packages, interior design, CGIs and animation, alongside planning and consultancy. VOLVM is small by design. Tom leads every project personally and brings in trusted engineers, consultants and visualisers when a project needs them, so you always deal directly with the architect designing your building.

Who we work with

  • HomeownersNew homes, extensions and interiors
  • Developers and investorsFeasibility, planning and technical packages
  • Architects and buildersTechnical drawings and visualisation

London and the South East · Available for projects abroad

Research

Beyond the brief.

Parametric studies, speculative structures and abstract form, explored with no client and no limits. It’s where new tools are tested and new thinking begins, and it always finds its way back into the work.

A detailed wireframe plan of a circular space port with a geodesic dome
A ringed steel tunnel structure stretching into space
A dark laboratory corridor with a steel grille floor and strip lights
An abstract computational form, a folded surface traced in points of light
A glazed walkway of steel rings stretching into the stars

Speculative studies · Form, structure and light

Start a project

Let’s begin.

A few quick questions help us understand your project before we speak. Tom reads every enquiry himself, and we aim to reply the same day.

Or email hello@volvm.co.uk

A good first step

Site consultation

Buying a plot, or a house with potential? Book a consultation and we’ll walk through the site, its planning history and what’s realistically achievable, before you commit. Get in touch for a quote.

Want a quick answer first? Run an online planning check with Permission to Build ↗

What are you planning?

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