Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Southwark · London
Alcove Units in Bermondsey
Planning alcove units for a home in Bermondsey? It starts with a design visit to measure and talk through ideas, then a written quote.
- A place for a small desk
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
Alcove units for your home in Bermondsey
About our alcove units in Bermondsey
One alcove can be given over to a desk, with shelves above and a drawer or cupboard below. It gives you a place to work without turning a room into an office. Desk height and depth are agreed with you, and leave a route for cables to reach the sockets. Typical reasons to get in touch are alcoves that are wasted space and toys and paperwork with no proper home, and the answer is made at our workshop from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
Mansion block flats tend to have tall ceilings and walls that wander, while a flat in a newer block is more likely to have plasterboard partitions. Around Bermondsey, most households live in purpose-built flats of one kind or another, so we check what each wall is made of before planning alcove units. Tall pieces are fixed back securely, whichever wall it is.
Once you have read the quote and decided to go ahead, the furniture is made in our workshop. It describes the design, the materials and the finish agreed at the visit, so you can check every detail beforehand.
- Where
- Bermondsey (SE1, SE16, SE5)
- Borough
- Southwark
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Living-room carpentry in Bermondsey: local notes
About 33% of the homes in the area around Bermondsey went up since 2000, and about 23% between 1973 and 1999, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. 18 conservation areas have at least part of their area within a mile of central Bermondsey. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Around a third of the homes in the streets around Bermondsey (about 33%) were built since 2000, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. In homes built since 2000, living rooms are often open-plan with stud walls, so alcove units are fixed into the studs or stand on the floor.
Close to Bermondsey Spa Gardens? Alcove units can be arranged to keep the window and the light clear. For a flat near London Bridge station, it helps to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day. If your children go to Boutcher Church of England Primary School or a school nearby, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else.
Bermondsey is about 2 miles south of East Dulwich, within the London Borough of Southwark. Bermondsey is part of the area we cover, and the process is the same everywhere we work. Our Southwark coverage includes Bermondsey and the places around it.
In SE1, SE16 and SE5, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. You’ll find streets here like Crown Square, Fire Station Square and Layard Square, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. Bermondsey sits close to the A100 and B202. If your home is on one of them, tell us at the design visit, as some main roads have strict stopping rules. We also cover the places around Bermondsey: Walworth (1 mile south-west), South Bermondsey (1 mile south-east), Surrey Canal (1 mile south-east), Surrey Quays (1 mile east) and Rotherhithe (1 mile east). Other parts of Southwark we cover include East Dulwich (2 miles south), Herne Hill (3 miles south), Camberwell (2 miles south), Peckham (2 miles south), Denmark Hill (2 miles south) and Nunhead (3 miles south-east). Bermondsey is among the bigger places we cover in Southwark.
Near you in Bermondsey
The streets we cover here include those near St Mary-at-Hill, Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives and Asylum for the deaf and dumb and the streets around them. Other local landmarks include Harris Academy Bermondsey (under half a mile south-east) and Simon the Tanner pub (close by, under half a mile west). For rail, the closest station is London Bridge station, about 0.7 miles north-west. Other landmarks nearby include Guy's Hospital (0.7 miles north-west) and Surrey Quays Shopping Centre (1.2 miles east). Green spaces nearby include Tower Hill.
Questions we’re often asked
Do you make alcove units for homes in Bermondsey?
Yes. We cover all of Southwark and the rest of London, and Bermondsey is part of that. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and discuss the design, followed by a quote.
Do you cover homes near London Bridge station?
Yes, homes across Southwark and the rest of London are within the area we cover. You can message us from the contact page to arrange a design visit, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Should I send photos?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot, particularly with rough sizes. You can send them when you drop us a line using the contact form.
How tall should alcove units be?
That depends on the room and what you’d like to store. Units can stop just under the picture rail or run up to the cornice. We agree the height at the measuring visit.
Will alcove units block the chimney vent?
Any vent is kept clear in the design. Air moving through a capped chimney helps stop damp, which protects the units as well as the wall. Any existing damp should be dealt with before the units go in.
How do I get a quote for alcove units in Bermondsey?
It is easiest to message us from the contact page and tell us about the room. We then arrange a design visit, measure up and send a quote in writing.
Neighbourhoods near Bermondsey
More for homes in Bermondsey
How fitting day works
When the fitting is done, we tidy the room and lift the floor protection. Before we go, we look over the finished furniture with you and explain how to look after the paint. How long the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Parking near blocks of flats can be limited, and loading may need planning, so let us know about bays, permits or any loading area at the design visit. The sections are assembled in the flat and fixed to suit the walls. Saturday fitting is possible by prior arrangement.
- It starts with a short message from you about the alcoves.
- At the design visit we measure up, agree the layout and talk about colour and finish. You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted one done in your home.
- The written quote then sets out the design, the materials and the finish you have picked.
- We make the units in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF, which takes paint well, and birch plywood.
- We fit the units in your home and scribe them to the walls; a hand-painted finish is done on site after fitting and is easy to touch up later.
- New paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat the surfaces gently at first.
How to prepare
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
Starting with a design visit
If you already have something in mind, tell us; if not, we can work it out together at the visit. The design is talked through at the visit, once we have measured, and the written quote that follows sets it out. To arrange a visit, message us from the contact page.
Related advice
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
A bespoke unit takes longer to arrive than something from a shop: it needs a design visit, a quote and time in the workshop. In return, the unit is planned for your alcove alone, not the nearest catalogue size. In a flat, every bit of floor counts, and standalone furniture uses more of it than it needs. Built-in pieces use the full height and the tricky corners.
Parking is part of the price picture in London. Much of London is covered by controlled parking zones, so a van may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension. Tell us about parking at the design visit, so it can be planned.
Why choose us
- Scribed to uneven walls
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Designed for the room you have
- We work across all London boroughs
Take a look at our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and what to look for in a quote.
What it costs
We quote each job after the design visit, because no two rooms are the same. These are the things that affect it:
- Access to the room, such as stairs, lifts and narrow halls
- How big the furniture is
- Where a van can park, such as a permit bay or a bay suspension
- How square the room is
What goes inside matters as much as the outside: drawers take more making than shelves, and each rail, divider or pull-out adds to the work. At the design visit, we work out what you need inside.
Getting in touch
A little information at the start saves time later. Where you can, include:
- How you want to use the space
- Anything in the way, such as radiators, sockets, switches, a boiler or meters
- Approximate measurements of the space
- Pictures showing the full wall, from floor to ceiling
You do not need exact measurements to get started. Everything is measured properly when we visit, along with the walls, floor and ceiling. To get started, fill in our short enquiry form with a few details about the room. The written quote follows the visit.
What we do not do
Our work is the furniture itself: designing it, making it in our workshop and fitting it. That means:
- Taking out a chimney breast or opening up a fireplace
- New sockets or wiring (your electrician handles those)
- Plastering or repairing loose plaster in the alcoves
If you’re not sure what’s possible in your room, you can send us a few details through our contact form and we will give you a straight answer. How it works.
Materials and parts
- Hand-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Spray-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
- Scribed side panels
Before and after fitting day
A little care keeps the finish looking good, whether it was spray painted or hand painted. Here are our suggestions:
- Mention parking and access when we visit
- Think about what you will store before we meet
- Sort out damp patches before fitting
- Move things out of the alcoves so we can measure properly
Keep a record of the colour. Hand-painted finishes are the easiest to touch up in place.
Watch for damp marks on the chimney breast or the walls near the units. Damp needs its cause fixing by the right trade, and it is easier to deal with before it spreads.