Design and build company in London.
Fulham · SW6 · a family house, renewed from the basement to the roofCompleted work, photograph
A design and build company for prime London homes. One team designs, prices and builds, under one contract.
One team designs it, prices it and builds it.
Design and build means one team designs, prices and builds your home. We are NU Projects, design and build in Fulham SW6 since 2010. Construction runs from £215 to £800 a sq ft, by scope and finish. Call 020 7731 6841, and a budget estimate typically follows within seven days.
You hold one contract, not several. One team answers for the design, the price and the build.
Architectural and interior designers, a quantity surveyor and project managers work as one team. The people who draw your home help to price it, then build it.
That matters most on a complex London house. Structure, services, joinery and finishes are settled on the drawings, before site starts.
We also build to other architects’ and designers’ schemes. We work with them through to handover.
What the work includes
- Architecture, interiors, cost and construction, one contract
- One accountable team, from the brief to handover
- An in-house quantity surveyor, pricing open book
- Planning, building control and party walls handled for you
- A weekly report with photographs, through the build
- A defects period and aftercare from the same team
- What it costs
- See a range in a minute. Then send us the address for a proper number. Open the calculator
- Where we work
- Fulham, Chelsea, Kensington, Knightsbridge, Belgravia, Mayfair, Notting Hill and Holland Park, Chiswick, Wandsworth, Putney and Barnes, Hampstead and St John’s Wood, Weybridge, Cobham and Oxshott, South Kensington, Marylebone, Bayswater and Maida Vale, Pimlico and Westminster, Battersea and Clapham, Richmond, Twickenham and East Sheen, Islington, Highgate and Primrose Hill, Greenwich, Dulwich, Camden, Wimbledon, Bermondsey, Brixton, Ealing, Acton, Hammersmith and Brook Green, Earl’s Court, Queen’s Park and Kensal Rise, Fitzrovia and Bloomsbury
One contract, and one team answerable for all of it. From the first brief to the last coat of paint.
The design team created our dream Chelsea home, on budget and on time. Thank you.
From the brief to the keys.
- 01
The brief and the site
How you live, written down in your words. Then we walk the house together.
- 02
The budget estimate
A first price from the brief and the property, typically within seven days.
- 03
Concept and detail
Plans, visualisations and samples. Layouts, joinery, stone and lighting are chosen here.
- 04
The cost plan, then one contract
A price built line by line from the drawings. Provisional sums named, not buried.
- 05
Consents and coordination
Planning, building control and party walls handled. Structure and services resolved with the engineers.
- 06
Build, reports and handover
One site team and a report every week. Then a handover pack, a defects period and aftercare.
Ten questions to ask a design and build company.
- 01
Have you built homes like mine?
Ask for finished work of the same type, age and scale. A listed townhouse is not a new-build flat.
- 02
Is the work photographed, or only drawn?
Ask for photographs of completed homes, and what the firm designed and built itself.
- 03
Who leads each stage?
Ask for names, from the brief to the handover. Every handover between firms leaves a gap.
- 04
Who prices it, and how?
Ask for a cost plan built line by line from the drawings, open book.
- 05
What is in the price, and what is not?
Provisional sums should be named and exclusions written down. A low total can hide missing work.
- 06
What is settled before site starts?
Structure, services and finishes belong on the drawings first. Late decisions become extras.
- 07
Who handles planning and party walls?
Consents and notices take time. Ask who prepares them, and how the programme allows for them.
- 08
How are changes controlled?
Ask how a change is priced and approved in writing, before anyone builds it.
- 09
How will I hear about the site?
Ask how often, and from whom. We send a report every week, with photographs.
- 10
What happens after handover?
Ask for the defects period and aftercare in writing, and who answers the phone.
Designed and built, in North London and Knightsbridge.
What owners ask before appointing us.
Further reading, from the journal
What is design and build, and how does it help?
Design and build means one team runs design and construction together.
We can weigh buildability, cost and design decisions at the same time. Our proposal sets out who is responsible for each package.
Can NU work with my existing architect or interior designer?
Yes, send us your existing team’s appointments and drawings to review.
We need clear design responsibility, information standards and approval routes agreed. We confirm our scope once coordination with construction is settled.
Why do contractors’ prices differ so much?
Quotes can assume different drawings, quantities, access arrangements, finishes, programme lengths or responsibilities.
A lower total can hide missing work or larger allowances.
Can NU take over a project that another contractor has started?
A takeover needs a separate review of completed work, records, outstanding design and condition. We agree responsibility for previous work before taking a new appointment.
How is a design and build price agreed?
We price twice.
A budget estimate typically follows within seven days of the brief and site visit.
A cost plan, priced line by line from the drawings, follows before you sign.
Provisional sums are named, never buried.
What happens after handover?
You receive a handover pack.
A defects period and aftercare follow, with the same team that built the house.
Tell us about the house.
Your name and one way to reply are enough. It goes straight to the studio.
- Already have an architect or designer? We build to their design. Working with your designer
- An NDA on request, and your home is never published without your consent. How we work in confidence