Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Westminster · London
Alcove units in Aldwych, Westminster
Few London rooms are perfectly square, and we scribe the furniture to follow the walls. Our work on alcove units in Aldwych starts with a design visit, and everything is made at our workshop.
- Alcoves that are not square
- Shelving for books and records
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
Need alcove units in Aldwych?
Flats, leases and landlords
For flats on red routes or busy main roads, unloading takes some planning. TfL runs the red routes, and the stopping rules are strict, so it’s worth raising at the design visit.
Mansion blocks and purpose-built blocks often have house rules about lifts, entry systems and when trades can come in. Let us know about them during the design visit, so fitting day is planned around them.
Alcove units in Aldwych
Few alcoves in older houses are truly square. Walls bow, corners wander and floors slope. Each unit is made in our workshop to our measurements and scribed to the walls when we fit it, so the edges follow the plaster instead of leaving a gap. A plinth or adjustable feet take up any slope in the floor. If your home has storage that suits a period room and toys and paperwork with no proper home, that’s what alcove units are for, made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
Older houses tend to come with picture rails, tall skirtings and cornices, and alcove units need to meet those lines neatly. A large share of the housing around Aldwych went up before 1919, so those details are worth looking at closely at the design visit. The top line can stop at the rail or run on to the cornice, depending on the room.
The written quote puts the design visit in writing: the layout and internal fittings, the materials and the finish. If something is not quite right, tell us before anything is made.
- Where
- Aldwych (W1D, WC2H, W1F)
- Borough
- Westminster
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Contact
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Alcove units for homes in Aldwych
In the area around Aldwych, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 48%) and the years since 2000 (about 22%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. Part of Aldwych is in the Strand Conservation Area, one of the conservation areas recorded by Historic England. Conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If you are unsure, check with the council before work starts. Near central London, streets tend to be narrow and busy, so the route from the van to your door is planned ahead of time, especially for larger pieces.
Living in a block of flats near London Charing Cross station? Then alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, landings and lift, so measuring the route matters as much as measuring the room. If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, such as Church of St Mary Le Strand, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. For a listed home, fixing into original features may need listed building consent. If you live in a period home close to St Mary le Strand, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Aldwych is about 2 miles west of City of Westminster, within the City of Westminster. Anywhere in Aldwych, the process is the same: a design visit, a written quote, furniture made at our workshop and fitting in your home. In Westminster, Aldwych is one of the places we cover.
In W1D, WC2H and W1F, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. We cover homes on streets such as Shoe Lane, Drury Lane and New Square, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Aldwych sits close to the A4 and A301. We also cover Clare Market (1 mile north), Covent Garden (1 mile west), Temple Bar (1 mile east), Temple (1 mile east) and Adelphi (1 mile south-west). Elsewhere in Westminster, we also cover City of Westminster (2 miles west), Victoria (2 miles south-west), Paddington Green (3 miles west), Paddington (2 miles west), Connaught Village (2 miles west) and Belgravia (2 miles south-west).
Near you in Aldwych
Around Aldwych, we cover homes near Ye Old White Horse pub, Mercers' School and LSE Shaw Library. For rail, the closest station is London Charing Cross station, roughly 0.5 miles south-west. A little further out are Montfichet's Tower (0.7 miles east) and St Philip's Hospital (less than half a mile north). Green spaces nearby include St. James's Park Lake and Ludgate Hill.
Neighbourhoods near Aldwych
Other services in Aldwych
Your questions about alcove units in Aldwych
How do you fit alcove units in a flat in Aldwych?
At the design visit, we measure the way in as well as the room. Alcove units are made at our workshop in sections sized to fit that route, then assembled in your flat. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it’s worth checking those early.
Do you make alcove units for homes in Aldwych?
Yes. We cover all of Westminster and the rest of London, and Aldwych is part of that. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and go through the design, and then we send a quote.
Does fitted furniture need planning permission?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. In a listed building, check with the council’s conservation officer before any work.
Do I need to be at home on fitting day?
We need someone to let us in. It also helps to have someone around at the end, so we can go over the finished furniture together.
What happens at the measuring visit?
We measure the room, check how level the walls and floors are and talk through the design with you. Access and parking are worth talking about too, and a quote in writing follows.
How tall should alcove units be?
That depends on the room and what you’d like to store. In a tall period room, units can stop under the picture rail or the cornice. We agree the height at the design visit.
From workshop to your room
With the carcasses fixed and level, any doors go on and any drawers or lids are fitted. Each one is adjusted until the gaps are even and it closes cleanly, and then we check it all again. How long fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Where a period house has been split into flats, the way in often goes through shared parts, so neighbours may appreciate a note before fitting day. The sections are sized for the narrowest point on the route. Saturdays can be arranged.
- To begin, use our contact form; a brief note on the alcoves is plenty, and mention if you live in a flat or up a few flights of stairs.
- We visit to measure the alcoves, discuss the design and check the route from the street to the room. It is useful to tell us then about parking, as much of London is in a controlled parking zone.
- We then send a written quote for the units.
- In our workshop we build the units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, sized so each piece gets up the stairs and round the corners.
- We carry the sections in, assemble them in the alcoves and scribe them to the walls. A spray-painted finish arrives done; a hand-painted one is applied once the units are in.
Before we arrive
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
Getting a quote
It’s useful to see the room before we come. A few pictures showing the walls, the corners and where the ceiling meets them give us a good feel for the space. To share them, drop us a line using the contact form, and we’ll arrange a design visit.
Advice
When you need someone else
Before you plan the job, it is useful to know what we don’t do:
- Redecorating, which is for your decorator
- Plastering or repairing loose plaster in the alcoves
- New sockets or wiring (your electrician handles those)
If in doubt, you can drop us a line using the contact form and describe the room before you arrange a visit. How a job runs, step by step.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Hand-painted finish
- Spray-painted finish
- Panelled or flat doors
- Scribed side panels
- Adjustable shelves
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
What affects the price in Aldwych
What it costs comes down to the materials and the time involved. That depends on:
- Where a van can park, like a permit bay or a bay suspension
- Spray painting or hand painting
- The overall size of the piece
- The internal fittings
Access to the room makes a difference too. Narrow halls, tight stairs or a small lift may mean the furniture is made in more sections, and that’s part of the price. Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit.
Getting in touch
Getting a few details early makes the visit more useful. Where you can, include:
- Pictures showing the full wall, from floor to ceiling
- Approximate measurements of the space
- Anything in the way, such as radiators, sockets, switches, a boiler or meters
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
Getting a quote starts with a few details: the room, rough measurements and some photos if you have them. When you are ready, tell us about the room on our contact form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and talk through the design, then send a written quote.
Caring for painted furniture
Fitted furniture is part of the room, so it’s worth looking after. Here are a few tips worth knowing:
- Move things out of the alcoves so we can measure properly
- Make a rough list of what the cupboards need to hold
- Check whether there’s a vent in the chimney breast
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
Paint is dry to the touch well before it has fully cured. For the first while, treat the units gently, lifting things rather than sliding them and avoiding any scrubbing.
Put coasters or mats under anything that holds water. Wipe up spills right away.