GS Renovation designs and builds extensions across St John's Wood, working on the bay-fronted Victorian and Edwardian terraces of NW8 as well as the larger detached villas near Hyde Park. With over 30 years of Westminster experience, we take a rear, side-return or wrap-around extension from foundations and steel through to the finished, fitted-out room.
Side-return extensions in St John's Wood
The classic project on a St John's Wood terrace fills in the side return, that narrow strip beside the rear closet wing, to widen a cramped kitchen into a proper family space. We dig and pour foundations to suit the ground and any nearby trees, then install a steel frame so the original rear wall can come out. A glazed roof or rooflights bring light deep into the plan where the terrace was previously dark.
Whether this needs planning permission depends on the property. Many single storey rear and side extensions fall under permitted development, but that right is often removed or restricted in parts of Westminster, and it does not apply where the home is listed or in a conservation area. We check the exact position with Westminster City Council before design, so you know early whether a full planning application is required or not.
Double storey extensions across NW8 homes
On the wider plots around St John's Wood, including the detached and semi-detached villas, there is often room for a double storey rear extension that adds a kitchen-diner below and a bedroom or en-suite above. These carry more load, so the foundations and steel beams are sized accordingly by a structural engineer and signed off under building regulations by building control, which governs the structure regardless of the planning route.
Extensions on a terrace almost always involve the Party Wall etc. Act, because you build up to or along a shared boundary, so you serve the notices in good time. From groundworks to roofing, plastering, electrics and the final kitchen or bathroom fit-out, one team runs the programme, keeps the rest of the house liveable and coordinates every trade so the new space is finished, not just built to shell.
- Steel goalpost frames where the rear wall opens up
- Brickwork and mortar matched to the existing elevation
- Architectural drawings and structural engineer coordination
- Trial holes to set foundation depth near drains and trees
- Side-return and rear extensions
Trusted House Extensions in St John's Wood
Homeowners in St John's Wood choose GS Renovation because we manage the whole extension, the planning check with Westminster, the foundations, the steel and the fit-out, under one contract. With 30+ years across NW8, we give honest advice on what your plot and its conservation status will allow, and finish to a standard that suits the area.
- Dust screens and floor protection in occupied homes
- Garden levels and access made good where the build meets outside
- Clean, tidy and reliable tradespeople
- Honest updates if a date or a detail has to move
- Scaffolding and site set-up planned for tight London plots
- Insulation and thermal detailing to current regulations