Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Tower Hamlets · London
Alcove units in Isle of Dogs, Tower Hamlets
Planning alcove units for a home in Isle of Dogs? It starts with a design visit to measure and talk through ideas, then a quote in writing.
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
Need alcove units in Isle of Dogs?
Alcove units for homes in Isle of Dogs
We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. MDF suits doors and panels because it paints so evenly, and birch plywood is strong for shelves and carcasses. The finish is spray painted in the workshop or hand painted on site, in the colour you choose. If your home has storage that suits a period room and room to work in an alcove, that’s what alcove units are for, made from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
Many homes around Isle of Dogs were built since 2000, and newer homes rarely come with any built-in shelving or media storage. We plan alcove units around the existing sockets and aerial points, with routes for cables designed in. Walls in newer homes are often plasterboard on studs, which is fine for fitted furniture when the fixings are right.
The quote comes in writing, so there’s time to read it properly and share it with anyone else involved. It covers the design, materials and finish agreed at the visit.
- Where
- Isle of Dogs (E14, SE8, SE10)
- Borough
- Tower Hamlets
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Honest limits
We make and fit furniture, and we don’t do electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering or structural work. Please bear these in mind too:
- Painting the walls, ceiling and woodwork around the units
- New sockets or wiring (your electrician handles those)
- Curing damp, which needs the right specialist
If in doubt, you can fill in our short enquiry form and describe the room. How a job runs, step by step.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Spray-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
- Scribed side panels
- Hand-painted finish
- Panelled or flat doors
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
Practical tips
Because fitted furniture stays put, a little upkeep goes a long way. Here are a few tips worth knowing:
- Note the sizes of large things you want to store
- Let us know about parking and access at the design visit
- Make a rough list of what the cupboards need to hold
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
Load the shelves evenly rather than piling weight in the middle. A full shelf of books is heavier than it looks.
Use a mat under plants, vases and drinks, since standing water can mark painted shelves. Wipe up spills straight away.
Could you do it yourself?
Long shelves are where off-the-shelf often struggles. How much a shelf bends depends on its span, depth and load, and long runs need a thicker shelf, a lip along the front or a support. We design shelves with that in mind.
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, 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.
Your questions about alcove units in Isle of Dogs
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can require listed building consent from the council. If you’re unsure, the council can confirm.
I live near Greenwich station. Is that in your area?
Yes. We cover all of Tower Hamlets and the rest of London. You can fill in our short enquiry form to arrange a design visit.
Do both alcove units have to match?
It’s entirely your choice. The two alcoves are often slightly different sizes, so each unit is made for its own recess. They can share a style while doing different things.
Will alcove units fit if my walls are not straight?
Yes. Each alcove is measured at the design visit, make the units in our workshop and trim the edges on site to meet the wall.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
Your electrician handles sockets and wiring. Ideally it’s done before fitting, and we can tell you where the units will sit so the sockets end up in the right place. We then plan cut-outs and cable gaps around them.
Can I send pictures ahead of the visit?
Yes. Pictures help us understand the room before the design visit. It is useful to show radiators, sockets and anything else on the wall.
What affects the cost of alcove units
The price for your room depends on:
- Doors and drawers, and how many
- Where a van can park, like a permit bay or a bay suspension
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- Tricky walls, sloping ceilings and uneven floors
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
Getting some details early makes the visit more useful. If you can, send:
- Your postcode and the borough
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
- Rough sizes: width, height and depth
If you already have something in mind, tell us; if you do not, that’s fine, and we can work it out together. At the design visit, we measure up and talk the design through with you, and the written quote that follows sets it out. To start, get in touch through our contact form.
What happens on fitting day
At the end, we tidy up and take up the floor coverings. Before we go, we look over the finished furniture with you and answer any questions. The time the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. In a newer development, the lift, the concierge and set working hours may all need checking, so check them with the managing agent before fitting day. The furniture is built in sections that fit the lift and doorways.
- You get in touch and tell us about the room and the alcoves.
- At the design visit, we measure each alcove and go through the layout with you.
- Your quote follows, with the design, materials and finish set out.
- The units are built in our workshop.
- We fit them in your home, scribing them to the walls. Then we go through the doors and shelves with you.
Preparing the room
- Take anything hanging off the wall we are fitting to
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
Ask for a quote
A quote begins with some details from you: the room, rough measurements and some pictures if you have them. To send them, get in touch through our contact form. We’ll then arrange a design visit and follow it with a quote in writing.
Advice
Neighbourhoods near Isle of Dogs
Also in Isle of Dogs
Alcove units in Isle of Dogs: local notes
About 52% of the homes in the neighbourhood around Isle of Dogs went up since 2000, and about 24% between 1973 and 1999, 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. There are 20 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Isle of Dogs. Original fireplaces, shutters and panelling are worth keeping where they survive, and alcove units can be designed to work around them. Purpose-built flats are home to about 83% of households in the neighbourhood around Isle of Dogs, going by Census 2021 figures from the ONS. For a flat, alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, the lift and the doors. Building management rules on lifts, deliveries and working hours are worth checking early.
If your home is one of the older houses near Church of St Nicholas, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. If you live near Mudchute Park and Farm, a room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone. The wider area includes historic houses like Queen's House, about 0.8 miles south-east. If your own home is a period one, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Isle of Dogs is about 3 miles north-west of Whitechapel, part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. From period terraces to newer flats in Isle of Dogs, we measure the room as it is and design around it. Isle of Dogs is one of the places in Tower Hamlets where we make alcove units.
We cover every part of E14, SE8 and SE10 for alcove units. Our area takes in homes on streets like Creek Road, Wynan Road and Undine Road, whether you want alcove units or another piece made for the room. If you are just outside Isle of Dogs, we also cover North Greenwich (1 mile north-west), Millwall (1 mile west), Cubitt Town (1 mile north-east), Deptford (1 mile south-west) and Greenwich (1 mile south-east). Elsewhere in Tower Hamlets, we also cover Whitechapel (3 miles north-west), Spitalfields (3 miles north-west), Tower Hill (3 miles north-west), Bethnal Green (3 miles north-west), Cambridge Heath (4 miles north-west) and Mile End (3 miles north).
Landmarks near Isle of Dogs
We fit furniture in homes around St. Paul's, Laban Centre and The Ferry House Public House and the streets around them. Isle of Dogs’s nearest station is Greenwich station, roughly 0.7 miles south of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Surrey Quays Shopping Centre (1.3 miles west) and Old Royal Naval College (0.6 miles south-east). Green spaces nearby include Sue Godfrey Nature Park.