South Kensington is mostly stucco terraces and mansion blocks, mostly in a conservation area, and mostly altered before. Renovating one means handling the planning, the structure, the services and the finishes together rather than in sequence. That is what a design and build appointment is for.
Here is what we bring to it.
- The team. Our architects, interior designers, builders and project managers work in the same office in Fulham, and have done renovation work in South Kensington and the surrounding areas. That means the person who answers a technical question at design stage is the person accountable for it on site.
- A design for your house. Every household uses a house differently, so the brief is written down room by room before anything is drawn. Whether the answer is traditional, contemporary or a mix, it has to be tested against something.
- The whole scope. Design, planning, construction and project management under one contract, from the first survey to handover. There is no gap between appointments for something to fall into.
- Quality that is recorded. We use materials we trust and suppliers we use repeatedly, and concealed work is inspected before it is covered. Quality checked after the plaster is on is not quality checked.
- Pricing you can read. We are not the cheapest and we do not try to be, which is explained in full here. What we do is show the working: what is included, what is excluded, where the allowances sit, and where there is room to move.
Our own construction rates are published by work type in the NU Build Cost Calculator, so you can put a figure against the work before you speak to anybody.
If you are planning a renovation in South Kensington, tell us about the house, or see completed work in the project portfolio.
Published 19 February 2023. Written by the NU Projects studio, edited since for house style and accuracy.