High-End Builders in London

Most of the high-end work we do in London happens inside old buildings. Victorian and Edwardian houses, mansion flats, a historic pub in Paddington with three apartments above it. The finishes are what you notice when you walk in. What makes those finishes last is the part nobody photographs: the steel, the joists, the damp course and the levels under the floor.

We’ve been building in London since 2000. This page explains what we do on premium projects, shows you jobs you can check for yourself, and tells you honestly what this kind of work involves.

What high-end actually means on site

It isn’t the price of the materials. Lay expensive stone on a floor that isn’t level and it will look impressive for about a month.

It’s tolerances. A skirting that sits tight to the floor along a six-metre wall. Parquet that doesn’t open up after the first winter with the heating on. A door that closes the same way three years after handover.

You get that by spending time on preparation the client will never see, and that time costs money. There’s no clever way round it. Any builder who promises a premium finish at a bargain price is saving the time somewhere, and it’s usually underneath.

What we build

• Complete refurbishments of houses and flats: new layouts, steel beams, all new services, then plastering, joinery and decoration. See full house refurbishment.
• Extensions built to belong to the original house rather than sit next to it. See house extensions.
• Floors done from the structure up: new joists where needed, acoustic insulation, then solid oak or parquet on a base that’s actually flat. See floor renovation.
• Joinery made for the room: fitted wardrobes, panelling, staircases, skirtings and architraves. See carpentry.
• Kitchens and bathrooms, including the plumbing and waterproofing behind the tiles. See kitchens and bathrooms.
• Older and heritage buildings: lime plaster, natural slate, leadwork, hardwood windows made to match the originals.

If you already have an architect or an interior designer, we work to their drawings. If you don’t, we can help with planning and design before anything gets built.

Projects you can look at

Anyone can write “luxury” on a website. These are jobs we’ve finished, with photos taken while the work was going on, not just at the end.

The Cleveland Arms, Paddington W2

A historic pub building on Chilworth Street, taken from cellar to roof over roughly eighteen months. Steel beams replaced tired structural timber. The pub ceilings were done the traditional way, in lime and horsehair with coffered panels. The roof went back in natural slate with conservation-grade leadwork. Upstairs, three flats were replanned with oak floors, fireplaces and hardwood windows. See the Cleveland Arms project.

Apartment refurbishment, Pimlico

A dark flat with low ceilings, cut up into small rooms. We stripped it out, removed internal walls and the old chimney structure, and put in new steels to open up the layout. The new ceilings got acoustic insulation and fire-rated board. We levelled the subfloor before any parquet went down, and built a stone fireplace for the living room. See the Pimlico apartment.

Edwardian house, Putney SW15

Two stages in the same house so far. In the cellar we injected a new damp proof course and rendered the walls with a waterproof mix. Upstairs we rebuilt the floor structure with new joists and steel straps, packed acoustic wool between them, and laid solid oak boards over plywood and a soundproof underlay. See the Putney project.

Rear extension, Chiswick W4

The old rear structure came down completely. New footings, brick walls, steel beams, a flat roof with two skylights, and insulation under the floor and in the walls. It looks like part of the house, which was the whole point. See the Chiswick extension.

How we run a project

You deal with one project manager who knows your job and picks up the phone.

Before we price anything, we come and look at the building properly. Old London houses hide things. Joists notched half away by a plumber in the seventies. Drains that don’t run where the drawings say. A damp course that stopped working decades ago. We’d rather find those before we quote than halfway through the job.

The quote tells you what’s included and what isn’t. Some things can’t be known until the floor is up, and when that’s the case we say so and explain how it will be priced. If you change something once we’ve started, and most people do, you get the price before the work happens. Not on the final invoice.

This kind of work takes longer than people expect. A full refurbishment of a period flat is months, not weeks. A whole building can run past a year. A realistic date is more useful to you than a hopeful one.

Where we work

Our office is in Greenford, West London. We’ve finished projects in Paddington, Pimlico, Westminster, Putney and Chiswick, and we take on work across central and West London, including Kensington and Chelsea.

If you want to talk through a project, call us or send a few details. We’ll arrange a visit and have a proper look before anyone talks numbers.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a high-end refurbishment in London cost?

It depends far more on the building than on the finishes. Structural work, rewiring, replumbing and putting right what previous owners got wrong can take a big share of the budget before a single tile goes on. That’s why we don’t give per-square-metre prices over the phone. They’re usually wrong. We visit, look at the building and send an itemised quote.

Do you work with architects and interior designers?

Yes, often. On premium projects the design team is usually in place before we are. We build to their drawings and specification, and we raise it early if something on paper won’t work on site, like a beam that clashes with a ceiling detail or a floor build-up that won’t fit under an existing door.

Can you work on listed buildings or in conservation areas?

Yes. The Cleveland Arms in Paddington was carried out in line with conservation guidance, with lime and horsehair ceilings, natural slate and traditional leadwork. Listed building consent or conservation area approval has to be in place before work starts. If you don’t have it yet, we can help with the pre-construction stage.

How long does a luxury refurbishment take?

A full refurbishment of a flat usually runs for several months. A whole house with structural changes takes longer. The Cleveland Arms, which covered a pub, a basement restaurant and three flats, took around eighteen months. We’ll tell you which stages are most likely to move, because on old buildings some of them will.

Can we stay in the house while you work?

For a full refurbishment, usually not. Water and power go off for stretches, floors come up, and there’s dust however well everything is sheeted. On smaller jobs, like a single floor or an extension, plenty of clients stay, and we plan the work so part of the house stays usable.

Do you only take on large projects?

No. High-end doesn’t have to mean big. We also do single rooms, fitted joinery, floors and bathrooms, and they get the same care as a whole house.