Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Newham · London
Beckton Alcove Units
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, designed for your room in Beckton. We measure, design and quote first, then make it in our workshop and fit it.
- Storage that suits a period room
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Alcoves that are not square
Ask about alcove units in Beckton
Where other trades come in
We make and fit furniture, and we don’t do electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering or structural work. Please bear these in mind too:
- Curing damp, which needs the right specialist
- Replastering, which is a plasterer’s job
- Redecorating, which is for your decorator
If in doubt, you can message us from the contact page and describe the room before you arrange a visit. How a job runs, step by step.
Materials and parts
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
- Hand-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Spray-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Adjustable shelves
Alcove units in Beckton: what you get
In a tall room, a full-height alcove cupboard holds a great deal. In bedrooms, this often becomes a compact wardrobe or a place for bedding, and in a dining room a home for china and glass. At the design visit we ask what you plan to keep there, and set out the shelves and rails around it. If you’re living with clutter with nowhere to go and worn or badly fitted alcove units, that is what alcove units are for, made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
Newer homes often come with a TV point and sockets on one wall but nothing built around them. A good number of homes around Beckton went up since 2000, so alcove units are normally designed around what’s already there. If you want an extra socket, that’s for your electrician.
We write quotes in plain English, without jargon. They say what will be made, what it’s made from and how it will be finished, taken from what we agreed at the visit.
- Place
- Beckton (E6, E16)
- Borough
- Newham
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
How we price alcove units
Prices vary from room to room, and it comes down to:
- Doors and drawers, and how many
- The overall size of the piece
- Access to the room, such as stairs, lifts and narrow halls
- Parking and unloading on your street
There’s no price list, because every piece is designed for one room. Instead, we measure, discuss the design and then quote in writing, with the materials and finish set out. To arrange a design visit, drop us a line using the contact form.
Before the design visit
You do not need exact measurements or a plan. It’s enough to send:
- Pictures showing the full wall, from floor to ceiling
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
- Any ideas or images you have saved
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
If you know what you want, say so; if not, we can work it out together at the visit. The design is talked through at the visit, once we’ve measured, and the written quote that follows sets it out. To arrange a visit, message us from the contact page.
Alcove units for homes in Beckton
Homes built between 1973 and 1999 make up about 60% of the housing in the streets around Beckton, with about 38% built since 2000, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). The age of a home tells us a lot about its walls, floors and ceilings, and so about how alcove units are fixed and fitted. Near the centre of Beckton, Historic England’s list includes Gallions Hotel (Grade II*), about 0.6 miles south-east. Listing covers the inside of a building as well as the outside, so works that affect a listed home’s character, like removing original joinery, can need listed building consent. An early word with the council’s conservation officer is the best first step. More than a third of the homes in the streets around Beckton (about 38%) were built since 2000, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. Newer homes normally have plasterboard stud walls and open-plan rooms, often with no chimney breast, so the fixings go into the studs, or heavier pieces stand on the floor.
If you live near Beckton District Park, alcove units can be arranged to keep the window and the light clear. If your home is one of the older houses near St Michael and All Angels Church, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. Eastbury Manor House, about 1.9 miles north-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Beckton is part of the London Borough of Newham, about 2 miles west of Plaistow. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Beckton included. Our Newham coverage includes Beckton and the places around it.
We cover every part of the E6 and E16 postcode area. Our area takes in homes on streets like Trader Road, Eastbury Road and Frobisher Road, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Beckton is near the A13; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Cyprus (1 mile south-west), North Woolwich (1 mile south-west), East Ham (1 mile north-west), Royal Docks (1 mile south-west) and Wallend (1 mile north). Across the rest of Newham, our area takes in Plaistow (2 miles west), Stratford (4 miles north-west), Canning Town (2 miles west), Forest Gate (3 miles north-west), Upton Park (2 miles north-west) and Greengate (2 miles north-west).
What’s near Beckton
In Beckton, that includes homes near Kingsford Community School and Oasis Academy Silvertown. The nearest railway station is Woolwich station, about 1.6 miles south of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Gallions Reach Shopping Park (0.6 miles south-east) and North Woolwich Old Station Museum (1 mile south).
Neighbourhoods near Beckton
Also in Beckton
Flats, blocks and rented homes
Conversions and newer flats often have stud walls rather than solid brick. Fixings are chosen to suit whatever the wall is made of, which we check at the design visit.
Some blocks ask for notice before trades arrive, often through a building manager or concierge. Lifts sometimes need to be booked, and the lift size helps decide how big each section can be. Mention it when you contact us.
What happens on fitting day
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails, cornices or coving for the furniture to meet. We cut and scribe the furniture around them on site, so it looks as though it was always there. The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Walls in newer homes are often plasterboard on studs, so on fitting day heavy pieces go into the studs or stand on the floor. Floors are covered while we work, and dust is kept to a minimum.
- You get in touch about alcove units and the room they’re for.
- At the design visit we measure up, agree the layout and talk about colour and finish.
- The written quote then sets out the design, the materials and the finish you have picked.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. If you chose spray painting, that is done in the workshop too, for a smooth, even surface.
- We fit the units in your home and scribe them to the walls.
- New paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat the surfaces gently at first.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
Ask for a quote
It helps 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, particularly with rough measurements. To send them over, tell us about the room on our contact form, and we will suggest a time for a design visit.
Advice
Common questions about alcove units
Do you cover homes near Woolwich station?
Yes. We cover all of Newham and the rest of London. To get started, you can fill in our short enquiry form with some details about the room, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Do you make alcove units for homes in Beckton?
Yes. Beckton is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Newham and London. To get started, you can send us a few details through our contact form with a few details.
Will alcove units block the chimney vent?
Any vent in the chimney breast is kept clear when we design the units. A capped or blocked chimney should still be ventilated to help stop damp, so we never box a vent in.
What do you do 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 written quote follows.
How do I get a quote for alcove units in Beckton?
It’s easiest to use our contact form with a few details about the room. We then arrange a design visit, measure up and send a written quote.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
Someone needs to let us in. It is good to have someone there at the end to look over the work with us.
Before and after fitting day
None of this takes much effort. Here’s what we suggest:
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Decide what goes behind doors and what goes on show
- Make the alcoves easy to reach for measuring
- Deal with any damp on the chimney breast first
Paint is dry to the touch well before it has fully cured. For the first while, treat the units gently: lift things onto the shelves rather than sliding them, and do not scrub the surfaces.
Put the heaviest books and objects low down and spread the weight. Overloaded shelves are the main cause of sagging.