Holland Park Avenue

• LOCATION: W11, London
• PROJECT: Refurbishment with basement
• CLIENT: Private domestic client
• ARCHITECT: Marianne Davys Architects
• STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Charles Harris & Partners
• QUANTITY SURVEYOR: Batey Associates
• PARTYWALL SURVEYOR: James Davidson
• CONTRACTOR: Cubitt Theobald
• JOINERY: Cubitt Theobald
• CONSTRUCTION COST: £725,000 + VAT
• CONTRACT: JCT Intermediate Building Contract with Contractor Design
• DATE COMPLETED: 2015

Project brief

The existing Regency-style house was built in the 1820s in the Ladbroke Conservation Area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The house has three storeys, plus a basement.

The brief was to refurbish the house and gardens, retain as many of the original features as possible and provide a comfortable and light-filled family home, with open-plan reception rooms on the ground floor and open-plan kitchen and dining at basement level, opening on to a garden terrace.

Project specifics

The house was in a very poor state of repair, both internally and externally. The house had been altered internally in the 1950s and later extended to the rear with a single-storey flat-roof extension. The gardens were overgrown and the original basement was dark and damp with low ceilings.

The extension to the rear was demolished, restoring the house to its original footprint and the garden to its original size. Extensive masonry repair and temporary structural works were required before the internal structural alterations and basement excavation could commence. Some of the original features had been lost, such as the entrance porch, and this was replaced. However, some original features had survived, and these were all carefully restored as part of the project. Window sashes were replaced to carefully match the original proportions, but with double glazing and acoustic glass to provide insulation from the road noise. Large glass doors were installed at basement level, and on the upper floors some small sash windows on the rear elevation were replaced with French doors, internal shutters and external balustrades.

The success of the project depended to a large extent on the quality and attention to detail in both design and manufacture of the purposemade joinery and metalwork. To this end, many of the contractor design drawings – for example the internal shutters – were printed and checked at 1:1 scale.

Project challenges

• The extent of temporary and permanent structural work required.
• The need to provide a garden terrace below the level of the existing drains.
• The party wall agreements with adjoining owners.
• Finding the right contractor for the project with an in-house joinery works.