Converting the already converted

Three flats and a penthouse above shops

Why is this special?

Whilst looking at first glance like a typical Victorian shop terrace these buildings on a busy road in East Putney turned out to be 1860’s semi detached villas which in the 1880’s had an extra house squeezed into each gap and shops built out over the front. The shops were all busy, but typically the upper parts, accessible only by outside stairs at the back, had fallen in to disuse until the own-ers asked us to renovate and extend.

The Challenge

An already much altered structure in a Conservation Area and with planning rules that allowed no loss of shop space to gain access to the flats from the street. Problems along the way included non matching levels between the two houses, working through Covid restrictions and a neighbour’s site being shut down by the HSE, but these were all readily overcome by contractor Redsky and our lead architect and contractor administrator Melissa.

Our Solution

The good news was a deep back yard. Moving a shared drain let us build back over this, provided the necessary extra retail space, bin stores etc. at ground level to satisfy the planers whilst creating extra depth for the flats above, stepped to give every flat a roof terrace.

The Results

Two shops remain, with back access for deliveries. A new door on the street at the front leads up to four flats, 1 x 1 bed, 2 x 2 bed, 1 x 3 bed, all with outside terraces. The smaller flats are for let-ting, but the owners are keeping the top floor, giving scope for a double height living room into the roof with wonderful bespoke joinery by the client’s brother-in-law. We even kept 2 car spaces.