Renovation of a Regency Style Victorian House

Primrose Hill, London NW1

Regent’s Park Road is a tale of patience and fortitude. When homeowners Lionel and Stephen approached us in 2018, their ambitions for the project were modest. They had renovated the house once already, in 2006, and didn’t think it made sense to undo the work that done then.

The house was looking a bit worse for wear. It needed sprucing up and some key maintenance to kitchen and bathrooms.

In the course of our early discussions to define the project brief, we arrived at the subject of the front garden. This is where the project came into its own.

A neighbour had recently been granted planning consent to excavate their front garden and construct an extension at basement level. Lionel and Stephen wanted to do the same. Frustratingly, their front garden is fully under the canopy of a protected tree.

This increased the scope, complexity and ambition of the project, bringing a more holistic review of what should be done to update the rest of the house.

In the end, the brief extended to a renovation of the entire house: one that still saved what was good about the 2006 work. The brief necessitated finding a skilled contractor, able to work with clarity and precision – installing new lighting, joinery, bathrooms, flooring and other things in and around elements that were to remain.

After 366 days of deliberation, Camden Council approved our basement proposal – having been satisfied by the quality of our submission that work would not harm the neighbours, the highway, or the big, beautiful, valuable London Plain tree we were proposing to build under.

The centrepiece of the work is mostly hidden from view. It is a diminutive basement extension, built under a York stone paved front garden that looks as though it has always existed.

The new space cleverly contains a writing room, shower, loo, laundry and storage. A new stone stair provides a secondary front access direct to the kitchen.

Works were delayed significantly by Covid lockdowns. Construction commenced in October 2020 and completed in August 2022.