Core service
Complete house refurbishments in London
Whole-house refurbishment from strip-out to handover, including structure, building services and fit-out.
Scope
A complete refurbishment is the widest package we take on, and the one that most closely resembles main contracting: every trade, every service and every finish inside one programme, usually with an architect and an interior designer on the team.
- Complete strip-out
- Structural alterations
- Mechanical and electrical installation
- Plumbing and heating
- Air conditioning
- MVHR
- Air source heat pumps
- Water-based underfloor heating
- Kitchens
- Bathrooms
- Bespoke joinery
- Stone and flooring
- Decorating and specialist finishes
- Windows, doors and glazing
- External works and landscaping
- Complete fit-out
Sequence
Strip-out exposes what the survey could not. We allow for that: opening up is completed early, the structural engineer is brought back to the building before the frame is fixed, and any revision to the design is priced and agreed before the works continue. First fix is not started until the structure is signed off.
Building services
High-end refurbishments now carry a services load closer to a small commercial fit-out — heat pumps, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, comfort cooling, underfloor heating, lighting control, data and AV. Plant space, riser routes and maintenance access are coordinated before ceilings close.
Finishes
The last ten per cent takes the longest. Stone is dry-laid and set out before fixing, joinery is templated on site, and decoration is programmed around the drying and commissioning of the building rather than against it.
How a project runs
A whole-house refurbishment starts with a survey of what is really there, which is often different from the drawings. Strip-out follows, then the structural alterations, the first fix of plumbing, heating, electrics and ventilation, plastering and screeds, and then the joinery, stone and second fix, before decoration, snagging and handover.
The programme is decided by the long-lead items: windows, kitchens, joinery and stone are ordered early and measured on site, so that each trade arrives to a finished surface. Each project is run day to day by the company's project managers and site managers, with one point of contact for the client throughout.
Our refurbishment projects
Questions we are asked
How long does a complete refurbishment take?
Our projects on this site range from three months for a lateral apartment at Connaught Place to fifteen months for the whole of a house at Caithness Road. The programme is set by the structural work, the services and the lead times of joinery, stone and windows.
Can we live in the house during a refurbishment?
For a whole-house refurbishment, usually not: services are disconnected and every room is worked on. On smaller or phased projects we can often keep part of the house in use, and we agree that with you before work starts.
Do you refurbish flats and apartments?
Yes. Apartment work needs a licence to alter from the freeholder or managing agent, and close attention to acoustics and to the building's rules on working hours and deliveries. Connaught Place, St John's Wood Road and Garratt Lane were all flat or apartment refurbishments.
Can you work on a listed building?
Yes. Brompton Square is a Grade II listed house, refurbished under listed building consent. Heritage advice and the consent come from your design team; we build to the consent and raise anything on site that appears to depart from it.