Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Wandsworth · London
Nine Elms Alcove Units
In Nine Elms, we design alcove units around the room you actually have. We design your alcove unit at a visit to your home, make it in our workshop and fit it.
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
Alcove units designed for your room
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
In a flat, the route in matters as much as the room. We measure the stairs, landings, lift and doorways along with the room itself, so each section is sized to get through.
Blocks of flats often have their own rules on lift bookings, entry systems and times for trades. Let us know about them during the design visit, so fitting day is planned around them.
How we make alcove units for Nine Elms
We fit alcove units across Wandsworth and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit to measure the alcoves and agree the layout. After that we send a quote in writing, and once you’re happy the units are built in our workshop and fitted in your home. Typical reasons to get in touch are everyday clutter left on show and empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast; the furniture is made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
Most internal walls in homes from recent decades are plasterboard on studs, and the board will not carry a heavy load on its own. Around Nine Elms, where many homes were built since 2000, that shapes how alcove units are fixed: tall units stand on the floor and are tied into the studs, and shelves use fixings made for the board where there is no stud.
Our quotes are written in plain words, without jargon. They say what will be made, what it’s made from and how it will be finished, all taken from the design visit.
- Location
- Nine Elms (SW1V, SW8, SW11)
- Borough
- Wandsworth
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it is made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Common questions about alcove units
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in Nine Elms?
Typically not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, changes inside that alter its character can need listed building consent, so check with the council first. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
My home in Nine Elms is a flat. How do you get the furniture in?
We measure the route in as well as the room: the stairs, landings, lift and doors. The furniture is made in sections that fit the stairs and lift, and put together in the room. It helps to check any building rules and your lease before fitting day.
Is an outside wall a problem for fitted furniture?
It needs a little planning: leaving ventilation behind and inside helps stop condensation. We don’t treat damp, so any damp should be sorted before fitting day.
Can the fitting be on a Saturday?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by arrangement. Just mention it when you get in touch.
What affects the price of alcove units?
Every job is priced for its room: the size, what goes inside, the finish and how square the room is all count. The written quote follows the design visit.
How long does it take to fit alcove units?
How long fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and your quote sets out the fitting days. The units are made at our workshop first, so the time in your home is mostly fitting, scribing and finishing.
Places near Nine Elms
What else we make in Nine Elms
Living-room storage in Nine Elms
Homes built since 2000 make up about 43% of the housing in the streets around Nine Elms, with about 28% built before 1919, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. The Churchill Gardens Conservation Area is close by, within about a quarter of a mile of the centre of Nine Elms. The controls in a conservation area are mostly about the outside of buildings, so furniture fitted inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If you want to be certain, ask the council’s planning team. The boroughs run controlled parking zones across much of inner London. That normally means a van in Nine Elms needs a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council. Parking is worth mentioning at the design visit, so we can plan the day around it.
If you live near Pimlico Gardens, alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it. For a family home near St Gabriel's CofE Primary School, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design. For an older house near All Saints, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Nine Elms is about 2 miles south-west of Clapham Junction, within the London Borough of Wandsworth. Whether your home in Nine Elms is a terraced house, a flat or a newer build, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. Our work takes in places right across Wandsworth, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
We work across the SW1V, SW8 and SW11 postcode area. You’ll find streets here such as Cupar Road, Ponton Road and Macduff Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. The A3212 and A3216 run close to Nine Elms; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Pimlico (1 mile north-east), Victoria (1 mile north), South Lambeth (1 mile east), Chelsea (1 mile north-west) and Kennington (1 mile east). Elsewhere in Wandsworth, we also cover Clapham Junction (2 miles south-west), Battersea (2 miles south-west), Putney (4 miles west), Wandsworth (3 miles south-west), Tooting (4 miles south) and Tooting Bec (4 miles south).
Near you in Nine Elms
We fit furniture in homes around Pimlico Academy, The King William IV pub and Sir Simon Milton Westminster UTC. Nine Elms has its own railway station: Battersea Park station. Other landmarks nearby include Chelsea Pensioners Museum (0.7 miles north-west) and Royal Hospital Chelsea (0.7 miles north-west). For a walk, there is Battersea Park Lake.
How we price alcove units
Several things affect the price:
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- Doors and drawers, and how many
- What goes inside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers
- Parking near your home
There is no price list, because each job is designed for a single room. We measure up, discuss the design and send a quote in writing. To start, send us a few details through our contact form.
Getting in touch
A little information at the start saves time later. If you can, send:
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- Approximate measurements of the space
- Pictures of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
- What the furniture needs to hold
A quote begins with a few details from you: which room it is, rough sizes and a couple of pictures if you can take them. To send them, tell us about the room on our contact form. We’ll then arrange a design visit and follow it with a written quote.
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 cannot typically do that in an older room.
Shop-bought shelves can sag over a long span. 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.
Tips worth knowing
People planning alcove units often ask about these. They’re worth knowing before and after fitting:
- Decide what goes behind doors and what goes on show
- Have any damp looked at before the units are made
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
- Talk to your electrician early if you want new sockets
Doors can settle a little once the units are in use. Hinges can usually be adjusted to bring a door back in line, so a small gap or rub is easy to correct.
Put the heaviest books and objects low down and spread the weight. Overloaded shelves are the main cause of sagging, so tell us during the design visit if a shelf will hold something heavy.
How fitting works for alcove units
You’re welcome to ask questions while we work. The design, materials and finish were settled before anything was made, so the day itself is about careful fitting. How long 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. Newer homes often have stud walls, so on fitting day heavy pieces go into the studs or stand on the floor. Floors are protected throughout, as many newer homes have finished floors that mark easily, and dust is kept to a minimum.
- You contact us with a short note about the room and the units you have in mind.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and discuss the design, checking how far the walls are out of square.
- You receive a written quote setting out the units, materials and finish, so you can look it over in your own time.
- We make the cupboards and shelves in our workshop.
- We fit them in your home, scribing them to the walls.
Before fitting day
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
Ask for a quote
To make a start, fill in our short enquiry form and let us know which room you have in mind and roughly what you’d like. We then arrange a design visit to measure and go through the design, and a quote in writing follows.