Basements

creativemass have successfully carried out numerous basement extension projects in London in areas such as The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), Westminster, and the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames, many of which are in the Barnes area.

Basement extensions can provide the perfect space for home cinemas, gyms, swimming pools, saunas, guest suites, wine cellars and other uses – all enhancing the comfort and enjoyment of your home. By providing what we believe are essential visual and physical connections to the above ground living spaces, we can transform the usual perception of ‘underground’ areas into rooms that become part of a sequence of light, airy, and uplifting social spaces which are great to be in and use. Adding a basement to your home can also be an effective investment, with build costs in prime central London, and indeed the surrounding areas, remaining considerably less than the significant value added to the property.

A key element of all our work is designing fresh and bright spaces; carving light into the most unexpected areas which is particularly true with our approach to basements. The successful design of staircases, double height voids and lightwells can create exciting connections with the rooms above, and crucially with a garden or other external space. Most importantly, these openings can provide a basement with direct access to both natural light and ventilation.

Recently, several local authorities in London have introduced complex new policies regarding basement extensions making it increasingly difficult to achieve planning approval – however, creativemass are experts in navigating these processes and securing permissions. The requirements to make a planning application for a basement extension vary between each London Borough. These may include reports and documents such as:

flood risk assessments
structural engineering designs and detailed calculations
construction traffic management plans
construction method statements
tree surveys
undertaking bore holes studies and soil testing

These would be prepared by specialist and certified consultants, and all managed and collated on your behalf by creativemass.

Understandably, there are a few reasons why your neighbours and nearby property owners may not be supportive of a proposed basement extension. Their concerns might be about the noise and disturbance created during construction, the management of construction traffic, plant and equipment, and of the structural stability of their homes and nearby buildings. The various reports required for a planning application, as listed above, look to address and eliminate such concerns.

We work with a full range of specialist consultants and contractors, to ensure design excellence and to try and ensure the successful outcome for each project.

Over the years we have obtained planning approvals for many basement extensions, often in cases where other consultants before us have failed in their applications, and we would be more than happy to discuss your project with you.