Architecture studio · Black Country, UK

Architecture, assembled with intent.

Studio KDV is an independent practice from the Black Country, designing homes, workplaces and public spaces, piece by considered piece.

It sounds like you’ve got a site, an idea or a problem, and you’re not sure where to start.

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Architecture / Interiors / Furniture Scroll to build ↓
Studio KDV · Architecture · skdv.co.uk

Something is being assembled here.

Look through the diamond
01 — Studio

A studio built on one idea: every part should earn its place.

Founded by Keivn Da Vinci, Studio KDV looks across disciplines (structure, light, material and landscape) to make buildings that feel inevitable once they exist.

Based in the Black Country, the heart of the Industrial Revolution, the studio inherits a culture of making: brick, iron, canals and craft. We work with private clients, developers and communities across the UK, from a single extension to a full masterplan.

I

Site first

Every building begins with its place: the climate, the neighbours, the light and the history.

II

Honest materials

Fewer, better materials, detailed with care and left to do what they do best.

III

Built to last

Low-energy, durable design that ages well and costs less to live in.

02 — Honestly

What you’re probably thinking.

Six worries people have before hiring an architect, said out loud. Open any card for a straight answer.

03 — Work

Selected projects

Each project scrolls sideways. Drag, swipe or use the arrows to explore the details, then carry on down whenever you like.

What are you thinking of?

01 · Workspace · Wolverhampton

The Foundry Offices

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How it felt at the startThe building was beautiful, and completely unusable.
±0.00+8.00+11.20STREET ELEVATION · 1:200
Street elevation
The brief

A derelict Victorian foundry, a tight budget and a client who wanted the building’s past to stay visible. Forty desks, a café and room to grow.

Client
Private developer
Size
1,450 m²
Status
Complete
Services
Concept, planning, interiors
The real problem

The brief asked for forty desks. The real problem was daylight: over the years the building’s openings had been blocked up, leaving a deep, dark plan.

PROBLEM · OPENINGS BLOCKED UP, A DEEP DARK PLANFIX · OPENINGS REOPENED, A MEZZANINE BETWEEN THE COLUMNS
The approach

Keep the bones, change the blood.

The original openings were reopened to bring daylight back in, and the cast-iron frame was repaired and left exposed. New timber mezzanines slot between the columns, so the old structure still does the talking.

WCMEETING±0.00+3.60+8.00+11.20SECTION A–A · 1:200MEZZANINE
Long section
STREETFOUNDRY OFFICESCOURTYARDNSITE PLAN · 1:50001020 M
Site plan
Materials
  • Staffordshire blue brick
  • Cast iron
  • Oiled oak
  • Polished concrete
VIEW FROM THE COURTYARD
Courtyard view
End of project

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02 · Residential · Walsall

The Lock Keeper’s House

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How it felt at the startWe lived next to the water and never saw it.
CANAL ELEVATION · 1:100
Canal elevation
The brief

A canal cottage with low ceilings and no view of the water it sits beside. The family wanted light, a kitchen to gather in, and to watch the boats go by.

Client
Private
Size
160 m²
Status
Complete
Services
Planning, interiors, furniture
The real problem

The family asked for an extension. The real issue was the stair, which cut the house in half and blocked every view of the canal.

PROBLEM · A STAIR THAT CUTS THE HOUSE IN HALFFIX · STAIR TO THE SIDE, A CLEAR VIEW TO THE WATERCANAL
TOWPATHCANALVIEW TO THE WATERUPLIVINGHALLWCKITCHEN / DININGTERRACE8.004.00EXISTINGNEWLINE OF SIGHTN024 MGROUND FLOOR · 1:100
Ground floor plan
The approach

Old house, quiet addition.

The stair moves to the side wall, opening a straight line of sight from the front door to the water. A low brick-and-glass extension holds the new kitchen, which opens onto the towpath.

ZINC STANDING SEAM18 PLY + BREATHER MEMBRANE120 PIR INSULATION18 PLY DECK + VCL200 × 50 RAFTERSLIMED OAK CEILING ON BATTENSLIME PLASTER100 BLOCK INNER LEAFFULL-FILL CAVITY INSULATIONRECLAIMED RED BRICKCONCEALED GUTTERFASCIA + DRIPEAVES DETAIL · 1:5
Eaves detail
90036003000LIMED OAKLIME PLASTEROAK CEILINGKITCHEN ELEVATION · 1:50
Kitchen elevation
Materials
  • Reclaimed red brick
  • Limed oak
  • Zinc
  • Lime plaster
End of project

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03 · Studio and showroom · Stourbridge

The Glass Studio

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How it felt at the startWe had work worth seeing and nowhere to show it.
GLASS STUDIO±0.00+4.20+7.60ENTRANCE ELEVATION · 1:100
Entrance elevation
The brief

A small studio and showroom for a local glassmaker, in a yard where one of Stourbridge’s glass cones once stood. Somewhere to work, and somewhere for people to see the work in good light.

Client
Private
Size
140 m²
Status
Planning approved
Services
Concept, planning, rendering
The real problem

The client asked for more display space. The real problem was light: glass needs daylight to come alive, but direct sun glares off it and overheats the studio.

PROBLEM · DIRECT SUN: GLARE AND HEAT ON THE WORKFIX · ONE TAPERING ROOFLIGHT, SOFT LIGHT FROM ABOVE
APPROACH FROM THE YARD
Approach view
The approach

A lantern in the yard.

A simple brick studio with one tapering rooflight, its shape borrowed from the old cones. Soft daylight falls onto the work below, and a ring in the paving marks where the old cone stood.

±0.00+4.20+7.60SHOWROOMSTUDIOSECTION THROUGH THE ROOFLIGHT · 1:100
Section
Materials
  • Handmade brick
  • Cast glass
  • Weathering steel
  • Polished concrete
End of project

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04 · Masterplan · Cradley Heath

Chainmakers’ Yard

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How it felt at the startEveryone walked past. Nobody walked in.
FORGEJOINERYPRINTCERAMICSBIKESSTUDIO±0.00+7.00+10.00LANE ELEVATION · 1:200
Lane elevation
The brief

Two acres of empty yards where the chain shops used to be, hidden behind the buildings around them. The council wanted homes, workshops and a reason for people to walk through.

Client
Local authority
Size
2 acres · 48 homes · 12 workshops
Status
Masterplan
Services
Masterplanning, concept, rendering
The real problem

The brief asked for 48 homes. The real problem was that nobody had a reason to walk through the yards, and without people passing, nothing there could last.

PROBLEM · YARDS THAT LEAD NOWHEREFIX · A WORKING LANE FROM THE TOWN TO THE CANALTOWNCANAL
The vision

A working lane, not a housing estate.

A new lane links the town to the canal. Workshops open onto it at street level, homes sit above, and shared yards behind give every terrace a garden. The last chain shop stays, with its chimney, as the heart of a small square.

TO THE TOWNTHE LANESHARED YARDSHARED YARDCHAIN SHOPMAKERS’ SQUARECANALSTREETSTREETNMASTERPLAN 1:200001020 M
Masterplan
THE LANE FROM ABOVE, LOOKING TO THE CANAL
The lane from above
Living over the shop

Make at the front, live above, garden behind.

Each workshop-home has a workshop on the lane with a wide door that opens up in good weather, a two or three bedroom home above, and a share of the yard behind. Tall chimneys and hoist gables nod to the forges that were here first.

CHIMNEY, AFTER THE OLD FORGESHOME ABOVE · 2–3 BEDROOMSWORKSHOP ON THE LANESHARED YARD BEHINDHOIST BEAMWORKSHOP-HOME · AXONOMETRIC
Workshop-home
LANE 8.0 M±0.00+4.00+7.00+10.00WORKSHOPHOMEWORKSHOPHOMETHE LANEYARDYARDSECTION ACROSS THE LANE · 1:200
Section across the lane
12331PHASE 1The lane, the square and the chain shop2PHASE 2The lane reaches the canal3PHASE 3Outer streets and yardsFIRSTSECONDTHIRDPHASING
Phasing
Materials
  • Staffordshire blue brick
  • Red brick
  • Welsh slate
  • Larch
End of project

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04 — Services

From the masterplan to the chair.

Every scale of design, from whole neighbourhoods down to a single piece of furniture, drawn with the same care.

– living room– kitchen (big!!)– dining?– study / spare– utility– downstairs loo– somewhere for bikes– garden– dog bed??budget?where doesit all go…HIGH STREETbusy road: living at the backneighbour’s windowsSITE · 0.06 HAkeep the oakbins + bikesENTRANCE6 M²WC3 M²STUDY9 M²LIVING30 M²DINING14 M²KITCHEN16 M²UTILITY5 M²GARDENmorning sun →doors to gardenN
01

Concept schemes

Early ideas tested quickly through sketches, massing studies and options, so you can see what a site could become before committing.

Without itYou commit to the first idea, and find the better one after the walls are up.

plan??new bit hereMILL LANEYARD WAYN050 MAPPLICATION SITELAND IN OWNERSHIPEXISTINGPROPOSEDSTUDIO KDVSKDV.CO.UKDRAWINGLocation planMill Lane, Black CountrySCALE1:1250 @ A3DATEOCT 2026STATUSPLANNINGDWG NO.KDV-DR-A-001
02

Planning drawings

Location plans, existing and proposed plans, elevations and sections, prepared to the standard local authorities expect.

Without itUnclear drawings mean questions from the council, delays and resubmissions.

houses?more herepark??PLAYN080 MILLUSTRATIVE MASTERPLAN · 1:2500
03

Masterplanning

Site-wide strategies for layout, access, landscape and phasing, for landowners, developers and communities.

Without itPlots get built one at a time, and the site never adds up to a place.

VISUAL · STUDIO KDV
04

Rendering

Photoreal visuals that show exactly how a scheme will look, for client sign-off, planning and marketing.

Without itBuyers, planners and investors have to imagine it, and most won’t.

STEEL-FRAMED DOORS TO GARDENOAK SHELVES ON STEEL PINSTERRAZZO-TOP ISLANDWOOL RUG, OAK BOARDSKITCHEN / LIVING · INTERIOR PERSPECTIVE
05

Interior design

Layouts, finishes, lighting and joinery resolved together, so the inside feels as considered as the architecture around it.

Without itSockets, lights and joinery get decided on site, in a hurry, by whoever’s there.

chair? ITERATIONS01020304this onetoo heavyback too lowFRONT460SIDE440820PLANDETAIL A · PEGGED TENONABCAXONOMETRICMATERIALSA WHITE OAK, OILEDB WOVEN PAPER CORDC OAK PEGSDining chair 01Oak and paper cord, for a farmhouse kitchenSEAT 450 · BACK 820 · 4.2 KGSTUDIO KDVSKDV.CO.UKDRAWINGDining chair 01Design developmentSCALE1:10DATEOCT 26STATUSFOR MAKINGDWG NO.KDV-FN-001
06

Furniture design

Bespoke pieces, from fitted joinery to one-off tables and chairs, designed for the room they will live in.

Without itOff-the-shelf pieces that almost fit, and never quite feel like the room.

GFFF UPKitchen / Dining5.60 × 4.30 MLiving4.20 × 3.30 MHallWCGROUND FLOOR52 M² · 560 FT²UPBedroom 23.00 × 4.30 MBedroom 14.20 × 3.30 MBed 32.30 × 3.40BathLandingFIRST FLOOR52 M² · 560 FT²N04 MTOTAL104 M²1,119 FT²For illustration.Measurementsare approximate.KEYTILED FLOORTIMBER FLOORWALLSDOOR SWING14 Elm RoadSALES PLAN · NTS · OCT 2026DWG NO.KDV-SP-014
07

Sales plans

Accurate, beautifully drawn floor plans of estate agent quality, ready for listings, brochures and property portals.

Without itBuyers scroll past listings they can’t picture. A clear plan keeps them looking.

Not on the list?If it can be drawn, ask.We’ll work it out together.ASK KEIVN
08

Additional services

Need something not listed here? Get in touch and we will shape a service around your project.

Without itSmall gaps in a project become big problems on site. Ask, and I’ll fill them.

05 — Process

Four stages, your sign-off at each.

Nothing moves to the next stage until you’re happy with this one, so you always know what you’re paying for and what comes next.

Step 1

Listen

We start with your brief, your site and your budget.

You getA clear brief we both agree on
Step 2

Draw

Sketches, models and options until the idea is clear.

You getOptions to compare, drawn up
Step 3

Resolve

Planning, technical design and coordination with consultants.

You getPlanning and technical drawings
Step 4

Build

Tender, site visits and support through to handover.

You getSupport until the keys are yours
06 — Founder
Founder portrait
Founder

Keivn KCJJ Da Vinci

I’m Keivn, and I run Studio KDV on my own.

That’s a promise, not a limitation. The person who sketches your project is the person who answers your email, sits in your kitchen and walks your site. Nothing gets handed down a chain.

I work from the Black Country, where things were made properly or not at all. Brick, iron and craft are in the ground here, and I try to design the same way: honestly, and built to last.

Work with Keivn →
07 — Your project
EXISTING PROPOSED DWG NO. KDV-DR-A-001 · STATUS: SKETCHPROJECT YOUR PROJECT
08 — Contact

Is it too early to talk about your project?

Either answer is fine. Tell me about your site, your ideas, or just the problem you’re trying to solve, and I’ll reply personally.

keivn.dv@skdv.co.uk Based in the Black Country · Working across the UK