Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Tower Hamlets · London
Canary Wharf Alcove Units
In Canary Wharf, we design alcove units around the room you actually have. Your alcove unit is designed at a visit to your home and made in our workshop.
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Alcoves that aren’t square
- Clutter with nowhere to go
Ask about alcove units in Canary Wharf
About our alcove units in Canary Wharf
Most Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses have a chimney breast in the main rooms, with an alcove on each side. Alcove units turn that space into cupboards and shelves that look as though they belong there. Where a room in Canary Wharf has a pair of alcoves, we design a unit for each one. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand, and the usual reasons to get in touch are shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess and clutter with nowhere to go.
A large number of homes around Canary Wharf date from 2000 onwards, and in a newer home the living space is normally open-plan, without a chimney breast. So alcove units often give the room its shape, along a full wall or around the TV. Plasterboard stud walls are common in newer homes, so heavy pieces are fixed into the studs or stand on the floor.
A written quote follows the design visit. It describes the design we discussed, the materials and the finish, so you know exactly what you’re getting.
- Location
- Canary Wharf (E14, SE16, E22)
- Area
- Tower Hamlets
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Boards, parts and paint
Hand-painted finish
A hand-painted finish can be done on site, after the units are fitted. Small marks are easy to touch up.
Birch plywood
Birch plywood helps shelves stay straight under books over a wider alcove. Thickness is chosen to suit the span and the weight.
Flats, blocks and rented homes
Some blocks ask for notice before trades arrive, often through a building manager or concierge. If there’s a lift, it may need booking, and its size matters when we plan the sections. Mention it when you contact us.
For flats on red routes or busy main roads, unloading takes some planning. Red routes are run by TfL and have strict stopping rules, so it’s worth raising during the design visit.
From workshop to your room
Furniture made in a workshop still has to meet the room it’s going into, and fitting day is where that happens. Walls in older homes are rarely flat or square, so each edge that meets a wall is scribed to follow it, until the line is tight. How long the fitting itself takes depends on the size and number of units, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Newer developments sometimes have their own parking and loading rules, so let us know what applies at the measuring visit. The furniture comes in sections and is fixed in place. Saturdays can be arranged.
- You get in touch about alcove units and the room they’re for.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and discuss the design, including the paint 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.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- The units are fitted and scribed to the alcoves; a hand-painted finish is done on site after fitting and is easy to touch up later.
- Paint needs time to cure, so go gently with the new units at first.
Before fitting day
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
Ask for a quote
We quote once we’ve seen the room. We measure the space, check the walls and floors and discuss what you’d like, and the written quote comes after. The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. To arrange a visit, use our contact form.
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Alcove units in Canary Wharf: local notes
The biggest shares of homes in the area around Canary Wharf were built since 2000 (about 66%) and between 1973 and 1999 (about 16%), 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. The West India Dock Conservation Area is close by, within about a quarter of a mile of the centre of Canary Wharf. Conservation area controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If in doubt, the council’s planning team can confirm. Newer homes are more common around Canary Wharf than across Tower Hamlets: about 66% date from 2000 onwards, against about 45%, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. That makes plasterboard stud walls and compact rooms more likely, which shapes the fixings and sizes.
Close to Sir John McDougall Gardens? A room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone. Queen's House, about 1.8 miles south, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. If you live in a period home close to St Peter's Church, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Canary Wharf is part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, about 2 miles west of Whitechapel. Homes in Canary Wharf are part of the area we cover for alcove units. Our work takes in places right across Tower Hamlets, large and small.
Every home in E14, SE16 and E22 is covered for alcove units. Streets in the area include Castor Lane, Cassilis Road and Dockyard Lane, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. Main roads around Canary Wharf include the A1261. If your home is on one of them, tell us at the design visit, as some main roads have strict stopping rules. If you are just outside Canary Wharf, we also cover London Docklands (1 mile east), Poplar (1 mile north-east), Heron Quays (1 mile south-west), Coldharbour (1 mile east) and Blackwall (1 mile east). Across the rest of Tower Hamlets, our area takes in Whitechapel (2 miles west), Spitalfields (3 miles west), Tower Hill (3 miles west), Bethnal Green (2 miles north-west), Cambridge Heath (3 miles north-west) and Stepney (2 miles north-west).
What’s near Canary Wharf
We fit furniture in homes around Tower Hamlets College, The Ledger Building pub and Canary Wharf College 3, among other places. Canary Wharf has its own railway station: Canary Wharf station. A little further out are Poplar Hospital (0.7 miles north-east) and The Pumphouse Educational Museum (0.8 miles west). Open spaces near Canary Wharf include Lavender Pond.
How we price alcove units
Prices vary from room to room, for these reasons:
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
- Parking and unloading on your street
- How big the furniture is
- Doors and drawers, and how many
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.
What we need to know
You don’t need exact measurements or a plan. Just send what you can:
- Rough sizes, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- Any ideas or images you’ve saved
- Anything fixed to the wall that the furniture needs to work around
To get a quote, message us from the contact page and tell us a little about the room and roughly what you’d like. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and send you a quote in writing afterwards.
When is bespoke worth it?
The real difference is in the fit: scribed edges, a level base on an uneven floor and furniture that meets the ceiling, skirting and picture rail. Off-the-shelf furniture can’t normally do that in an older room.
Standard units come in set widths and heights, so there’s often a strip of wasted space at the side or above. Fitted furniture is made to the room’s measurements, so it can run to the ceiling and fill the width.
Common questions about alcove units
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Canary Wharf?
It can be, as controlled parking zones cover much of inner London. A van may need a visitor’s permit, a paid parking bay or a bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. It is useful to tell us about parking at the design visit.
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in Canary Wharf?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mainly about the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, works inside that affect its character can require listed building consent, so check with the council first. If you’re unsure, the council can confirm.
What are your alcove units made from?
We use moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. MDF is stable and takes paint well, while birch plywood is strong and holds screws well.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
There are two options: a spray-painted finish done in our workshop, or a hand-painted finish done on site. Both are in a colour agreed with you. Spray painting is smooth and even, while hand painting is easy to touch up.
Can you fit furniture on an external wall?
It needs a little planning: leaving ventilation behind and inside helps stop condensation. Damp treatment isn’t something we do, so any damp needs sorting first.
Should alcove units go up to the ceiling?
It’s up to you. Some people take the units right to the ceiling for the most storage, while a low cupboard with shelves above keeps the room feeling lighter. We discuss the options at the measuring visit.