Eternal Design and Build

Brook Green, W14 0JA

Caithness Road

Engineering below ground. Detail throughout.

Caithness Road W14 — concrete rear facade at dusk, with a large fixed window and a full-height stainless-steel pivot door open onto the garden
Location
Brook Green, London W14 0JA
Duration
15 months
Type
Basement / Extension / Refurbishment
Architect
Architecture for London
Structural engineer
Devise Engineers

Our most complete project to date: a fifteen-month transformation of a Brook Green house, combining basement excavation and underpinning, significant structural alteration, a three-storey outrigger, a new zinc dormer, a concrete rear facade and a complete high-specification internal refurbishment, finished in bespoke ash joinery with shadow-gap detailing throughout.

What we did

  • Basement excavation, underpinning and extension
  • Basement waterproofing and tanking
  • Substantial structural alterations and associated steelwork
  • Three-storey rear outrigger construction
  • New zinc dormer
  • Concrete rear facade
  • Triple-glazed timber sash windows
  • Stainless-steel windows and pivot door to the rear elevation
  • Fire curtain installation
  • Air source heat pump and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery
  • Water-based underfloor heating throughout, with air conditioning to the bedrooms
  • High-specification mechanical and electrical installation
  • Bespoke ash joinery and kitchen
  • Shadow-gap detailing throughout
  • Italian stone to four bathrooms
  • Seamless Solo One Coat wall finish throughout
  • External landscaping and garden works

Structural works

The project is built around its below-ground works. The existing property was underpinned and the basement excavated and extended, with the structural frame altered substantially at the levels above. A three-storey outrigger was constructed to the rear. Excavation was sequenced in controlled stages and temporary works were coordinated with the appointed structural engineer throughout.

The rear facade

At the back, the house closes in a concrete facade. A large fixed window and a full-height stainless-steel pivot door are set into it, opening the reception room to a planted courtyard garden.

Building services

The house is served by an air source heat pump with water-based underfloor heating throughout and comfort cooling to the bedrooms. A mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system runs alongside a high-specification electrical installation. Plant, risers and maintenance access were coordinated during the structural phase rather than retro-fitted.

Joinery and detailing

The bespoke ash joinery runs through the whole house: the kitchen, full-height flush doors, window seats, shelving, panelling and a door in the panelling that opens onto a concealed staircase. Walls, ceilings and joinery meet on shadow gaps rather than skirtings and cover strips, so every junction had to be set out and built accurately.

Materials and finishes

Internally the house is finished in bespoke ash joinery, a seamless Solo One Coat wall finish throughout and Italian stone to four bathrooms. Glazing includes triple-glazed timber sash windows to the retained elevations, and stainless-steel windows and a pivot door to the rear elevation. A fire curtain was installed as part of the fire strategy, and external landscaping completed the works.

Challenges & delivery

Working alongside a neighbouring glass structure

A neighbouring property incorporated a significant three-storey glass structure directly adjacent to the works. Because of the basement excavation, underpinning and structural alterations, Eternal implemented and coordinated vibration monitoring and movement monitoring throughout the relevant works, controlled the sequencing of excavation, and worked closely with the structural engineer and relevant specialist consultants on measures intended to support the protection of the neighbouring structure. Monitoring data was reviewed against agreed levels as the works progressed.

Photographs

25 photographs of the finished house. Click one to enlarge.

Caithness Road W14 — rear reception room under exposed timber beams, with a full-height pivot door and a deep-set window looking onto the garden
Caithness Road W14 — view along the ground floor from the reception room, beneath a timber beam and post, to the dining table and kitchen
Caithness Road W14 — dining area with a long timber table beside the ash staircase, and the garden at the far end of the house
Caithness Road W14 — ash staircase rising beside a timber post and beam, with the garden doors beyond
Caithness Road W14 — detail of a timber post meeting the beam above it, beside a curved plastered wall
Caithness Road W14 — window seat set into a deep reveal, with frameless glazing turning the corner to the garden planting
Caithness Road W14 — the planted courtyard garden seen through the open stainless-steel pivot door
Caithness Road W14 — the rear of the house from the garden: the three-storey outrigger above the concrete ground-floor extension, with its fixed window and pivot door
Caithness Road W14 — kitchen with a solid stone island, stone splashback and full-height bespoke ash joinery
Caithness Road W14 — close view of the stone-topped kitchen island with its framed ash panels and an ash window seat beyond
Caithness Road W14 — full-height flush ash doors, one open, beside the stone kitchen island
Caithness Road W14 — front reception room with a timber sash window, built-in ash joinery and window seat
Caithness Road W14 — ash window seat with drawers below, set between full-height ash shelving and cupboards
Caithness Road W14 — an ash door standing open in the panelling to reveal a concealed staircase
Caithness Road W14 — ash staircase with a continuous curved ash handrail on slender metal balusters
Caithness Road W14 — study with ash shelving built around a deep ash-lined window reveal, and a fitted desk
Caithness Road W14 — bedroom with a pair of timber sash windows, full-height curtains and pale timber floor
Caithness Road W14 — bedroom with ash panelling to dado height and full-height curtains
Caithness Road W14 — full-height flush ash wardrobes and ash wall panelling beneath a rooflight, over a timber floor
Caithness Road W14 — bathroom with a speckled stone basin and walls, and a flush ash door
Caithness Road W14 — bathroom with the bath, floor and walls in speckled stone, with ash joinery and mirrored cabinet
Caithness Road W14 — bathroom with a stone-clad bath, frameless glass screen and white tiling, opening to a bedroom with a sash window
Caithness Road W14 — top-floor shower room under a rooflight, with a frameless glass screen, wall-hung basin and WC, and speckled stone floor
Caithness Road W14 — utility room with a stone worktop, washing machine and dryer, under exposed timber joists
Caithness Road W14 — the front of the house, with restored brickwork, timber sash windows and new stone entrance steps

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