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City of London · London
Alcove units in Temple, City of London
Alcove units in Temple: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. We visit to measure and discuss the design, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it.
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- Units that sit well with original features
Ask about alcove units in Temple
Questions we are often asked
I live in a flat in Temple. How will the furniture get up the stairs?
At the design visit, we measure the way in along with the room itself. The furniture is made in sections that fit the stairs and lift, and put together in the room. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it is worth checking those early.
My house in Temple is Victorian. Can you deal with uneven walls?
Yes. Walls in older houses are rarely flat or square, and floors are often out of level, so each piece is scribed to follow the wall and set level on a plinth or adjustable feet. Skirting, picture rails and cornices are met neatly or cut around. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
Can the two alcove units be different?
It is up to you. Matching units give a balanced, formal look around the chimney breast, but you might want a desk on one side and cupboards on the other. Shared details, like the plinth and paint colour, keep them looking related.
How much will my alcove unit cost?
Each room is quoted on its own: the size, what goes inside, the finish and how square the room is all count. The written quote follows the design visit.
Can you add sockets inside the units?
Your electrician handles sockets and wiring. Ideally it’s done before fitting so the sockets line up with the design. We then plan cut-outs and cable gaps around them.
How long will the fitting take?
The fitting depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and your quote sets out the fitting days. We will talk you through what fitting day involves before we start.
Alcove units for homes in Temple
We fit alcove units across the City of London and the rest of London. It starts with a design visit, where we measure the alcoves and talk through the design. Then you receive a quote; the units are then made at our workshop and fitted in your home. Most enquiries start with shelving for books and records and units that sit well with original features; the furniture is made from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish.
Around Temple, a large share of homes date from before 1919, and in London most homes of that age are Victorian or Edwardian. Main rooms in houses like these typically have a chimney breast with an alcove on each side, which gives alcove units an obvious place to go. Because old walls bow and floors slope, the units are scribed to follow the wall and levelled at the base, then cut neatly around the skirting and any picture rail or cornice.
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.
- Location
- Temple (SE1, WC2H, WC2B)
- Borough
- City of London
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Nearby places to Temple
Also in Temple
How fitting day works
Fitting day follows a set order: we protect the floors, bring the sections in, set them level, scribe them to the walls, fix them and finish them. Then the room is tidied and we look over the work with you. The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Older London houses often have narrow hallways and tight turns on the stairs, so the furniture comes in sections sized for the route in. Floors and stair carpets are protected on the way in and out.
- To begin, get in touch through our contact form; a brief note on the alcoves is plenty, and mention if you live in a flat or up a few flights of stairs.
- At the design visit we measure the alcoves and also the way in: the front door, the hall and any stair turns. It is useful to tell us then about parking, as much of London is in a controlled parking zone.
- Your written quote sets out the design, materials and finish.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, in sections sized to come through your door.
- On fitting day the sections come in, are joined in place and scribed to the walls.
Before we arrive
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Empty the space we’ll be working in
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
How to get a quote
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 start, use our contact form.
Advice
Bespoke alcove units or ready-made?
Shelves in some flat-pack furniture are thin and can bow under books. Shelves in a bespoke unit are sized for the span and the load, with birch plywood where it’s needed. That said, if you’re renting or moving soon, a good off-the-shelf unit may make more sense. Standard furniture is drawn for modern rooms, so its proportions can look odd in a tall period room, whereas fitted pieces can pick up the room’s height and mouldings.
The inside of the furniture affects the price as well: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers all add work. We will talk through what you need inside at the measuring visit, and the quote follows.
What you get with us
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
- 300+ projects completed
- Made in our workshop, then fitted in your home
- A spray or hand-painted finish
Read how bespoke compares with ready-made or how to compare quotes.
Temple homes and alcove units
In the neighbourhood around Temple, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 48%) and the years since 2000 (about 22%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. The National Heritage List has 448 entries within half a mile of the centre of Temple. Original fireplaces, shutters and panelling are worth keeping where they survive, and the furniture can be designed around them rather than over them. Red routes, run by TfL, have strict rules on stopping and loading. If your home in Temple is on or near a main road, tell us at the design visit. We can then plan where the van will stop.
The wider area includes historic houses such as Dr Johnson's House, about 0.2 miles north-east. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. If you live in a period home close to Temple Church, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. Close to Garden Bridge? Alcove units can be arranged to keep the window and the light clear.
Temple is about 1 mile east of City of London, within the City of London. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Temple included. Our work takes in places right across the City of London.
Here we cover the SE1, WC2H and WC2B postcode area for alcove units. Whether you live on a street like Shoe Lane, Drury Lane and New Square or on one nearby, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. Temple sits close to the A4 and A40. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Temple Bar (1 mile north), Blackfriars (1 mile east), Aldwych (1 mile west), Clare Market (1 mile north-west) and Covent Garden (1 mile west).
Local landmarks in Temple
Around Temple, we cover homes near British Library of Political and Economic Science, Mercers' School and St Mary-at-Hill, among other places. Also close by are The Devereux pub (a few minutes’ walk north-west) and London Nautical School (a few minutes’ walk south). There’s a railway station in Temple itself: London Blackfriars station. Other landmarks nearby include St Philip's Hospital (close by, under half a mile north-west) and Twinings Museum (within half a mile north-west). Not far away are St. James's Park Lake and Ludgate Hill.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
In conversions and newer blocks, many internal walls are timber or metal stud with plasterboard. We choose fixings to suit the wall, which we check at the measuring visit.
In a flat, the route in matters as much as the room. At the design visit, we measure the stairs, the landings, any lift and the doors, so the furniture can be made in sections that fit through without a struggle.
Boards, parts and paint
Moisture-resistant MDF
MDF in a moisture-resistant grade is stable and paints beautifully, so we use it for doors, panels and the faces you see. It’s a good match for alcoves on an external wall.
Spray-painted finish
Spray painting is done in the workshop, giving a smooth, even, factory-like surface. It works on simple doors and on more traditional ones.
Tips worth knowing
Looking after painted furniture is simple. A few things help it stay looking good:
- Clear the alcoves before the design visit if you can
- Check whether there’s a vent in the chimney breast
- Decide what goes behind doors and what goes on show
- Note the sizes of large things you want to store
Fill the shelves gradually and spread heavy things evenly. A full shelf of books is heavier than it looks, and an even load keeps the shelves straight.
Put the heaviest books and objects low down and spread the weight. Most sagging comes from shelves carrying more than they were planned for, so mention heavy collections when we plan the unit.