Another project with Dry Architects, following a particularly rigorous vetting process; this consisted of digging a new basement under the existing house. The project involved a complete strip out of the remaining parts of the house, stairway, floors, removing the roof completely and installing a new larger mansard roof which hugely increased the liveable space on the top floor.

The development fell under the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea who had brought new planning laws into force within the borough for stricter controls on digging basements. Due to this we had to assist the architects during the planning stage with various elements such as the impact of the build on neighbours, and implementing traffic management plans in addition to following standards set out by the Considerate Contractors scheme.

The architect wanted this project to have an industrial feel, whilst maintaining a luxurious finish to keep it in line with its Knightsbridge roots. The raw-rubbed oil steel staircase with sandblasted oak treads really hit the mark.

The project went very smoothly and, even after unexpectedly finding a huge concrete mass under the building, we managed to complete the project in with just a small time extension – much to both the architect and client’s delight! We look forward to working with the client again in the future.

We now oversee this house in terms of its ongoing maintenance requirements to maintain the level of finish on practical completion and address our clients’ routine and reactive maintenance needs.