Case studyKensington · W8

Kensington new-build houses

Two family houses where a block of flats stood. Each one goes three floors below the street.

Nick Jeffries on Bloomberg, 2015: London’s Last Super-Basement

Where
Kensington, W8
The homes
Two new-build houses
Size
6,500 sq ft each
Below ground
Three floors
Value band
£2.5m and above
Completed
2018
On site
About 130 weeks
Joinery
Cochrane Bespoke
Indoor swimming pool two floors below the street, lit along both walls.
Kensington · The pool, two floors below the streetCompleted work, photograph

i The brief

Take away a block of flats. Build two family houses.

Nick found the site and worked out what it could hold.

An old block of flats stood there.

The answer was two new houses of 6,500 sq ft each.

Each one would go three floors below the street.

The lowest floor holds the plant room. Above it sit the pool and the spa. The first floor down holds the kitchen and the utility rooms.

From a block of flats to two houses.

Kensington · The build, from the street to the finished roomsFilm. The build is visualised from the architect’s drawings. The finished rooms are photographs.

ii Before

What stood there first.

A 1960s block of flats stood on the site.

These photographs were taken before it came down.

A three storey brick block of flats on a narrow street, with a Victorian pub beyond it. Taken before demolition.
Kensington · The old block from the streetBefore work began, photograph
The brick front of the old block, with a carved stone doorcase, railings and a parked car. The pub stands beside it.
Kensington · Its front, beside the pub next doorBefore work began, photograph
A paved courtyard behind the old block, painted walls, sash windows and a bicycle against the railings.
Kensington · The courtyard behind itBefore work began, photograph

Three floors below the street.

Section drawing through one house, showing three floors below the street.
  1. Street
  2. Kitchen and utility
  3. Pool and spa
  4. Plant room
Kensington · Section through one houseDrawing

iii The wait

Planning came through. Then the borough paused new basements.

The pause lasted a year, while new basement rules were written.

We used that year.

Every drawing, every finish and every fitting was settled.

So nothing was left to decide once the ground was open.

Every decision was made before the first bucket of earth came out.

iv On site

The piles went in first. Then the dig went down three floors.

Concrete piles were bored around the edge of the site before any digging.

Props and steel held the structure while the ground came out.

These are our own photographs from the site.

A small digger at the bottom of the excavation, seen from above. Piles and steel surround it.
Kensington · The dig, seen from aboveOn site, photograph
A lower floor under construction, with concrete piles, steel props and ventilation ducts.
Kensington · Piles and props on a lower floorOn site, photograph
Steel reinforcement laid across a basement floor between the piled walls.
Kensington · Steel laid for a basement floorOn site, photograph
A cast concrete basement floor, empty, with rolls of membrane and site lights.
Kensington · A lower floor, cast and waiting for its finishesOn site, photograph

“It took probably two and a half years to complete.”

Nick Jeffries, founder, on the build

v The finished house

What sits on top of all that engineering.

Oak floors, veined marble and walnut joinery run through the house.

The joinery was made by Cochrane Bespoke.

The pool and the spa sit on the second floor down.

Kitchen with a dark marble island, bronze units and integrated ovens.
Kensington · The kitchen, one floor below the streetCompleted work, photograph
Living room with a glazed wall onto a planted light well.
Kensington · The living room and its planted light wellCompleted work, photograph
Family room with a grey corner sofa below a floating stair.
Kensington · The family room and the floating stairCompleted work, photograph
Steam room and walnut joinery on the lower leisure floor.
Kensington · The steam room and walnut joineryCompleted work, photograph
Bathroom lined in veined marble with a wall mounted basin.
Kensington · A bathroom lined in veined marbleCompleted work, photograph
Bedroom with oak floors, a dressing table and French windows.
Kensington · A bedroom on the upper floorsCompleted work, photograph

vi The team

Who built it.

Found the site and led the scheme
Nick Jeffries, founder
Design, cost and construction
NU Projects, under one contract
Joinery
Cochrane Bespoke

The scope New build Triple basement construction Structural engineering Architectural design Interior design Bespoke joinery Full fit-out Project management

Services on this jobArchitectureConstructionInterior designBasements

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