Sheet 02 · About the Studio
How Costadisem began
Costadisem Conservatories grew from a small practice on North Street that kept being asked the same Brighton question: how do we make the glazed room behind the kitchen feel like a proper room? Founders Elise Marchand and Tom Hale had worked on residential interiors across East Sussex and noticed that garden rooms were often finished last and styled least.
They opened the studio to treat conservatories as primary living spaces — with furniture plans, planting strategies, and climate control thought through before paint charts arrive.
Revision history of the practice
| Year | Note |
|---|---|
| 2014 | First garden-room styling briefs taken from a shared desk above a bookshop on Trafalgar Street. |
| 2017 | Moved to 48 North Street; began formal surveys for Victorian bay houses in Kemptown and Hanover. |
| 2019 | Added shading and thermal layering as a standing service after wet winters left several client rooms unused. |
| 2022 | Expanded plant-zone guidance for coastal gardens where salt and wind shape what thrives under glass. |
| 2025 | Published costadisem.media as the studio drawing set and enquiry point for Brighton & Hove clients. |
| 2026 | Current fee bands: consultation £90–£210; styling packages £650–£4,200 (GBP). |
Who you meet on site
Elise leads spatial layouts and furniture clearances; Tom focuses on glazing orientation, blind systems, and heat sources that suit Brighton’s damp winters. A freelance horticulturist joins when plant zones need species lists tuned to coastal light.
Site visits usually last ninety minutes to two hours, with photographs, sill measurements, and notes on how the family already uses the adjoining kitchen or dining room.
What we do not claim
We are not a construction firm, glazing installer, or planning agent. When a brief needs structural work or listed-building consent, we refer clients to local specialists and keep our role on the interior and landscape interface under glass.
Working radius
Most commissions sit within Brighton and Hove, with occasional projects toward Lewes and Shoreham when travel time still allows a proper measured survey. Seafront flats and inland terraces both appear regularly on the sheet index.