Fulham Basement Extensions
Some nineteen years ago when Shape Architecture started one of the first projects we were commissioned to undertake was a basement and whole house development in Ellerby Street in Fulham. This quickly led to similar projects in Broomhouse Road and Hurlingham Road and then two further basement projects in Ellerby Street. All these projects were through client recommendation. This has led to some seventeen basement and whole house projects in Fulham and throughout London over thirty basement projects.
Our basement extension projects range from basements to houses , below gardens, to flats, mews properties and to listed building. Common to all is a sense of space and a light filled interior. Key features are very often the stairs and also the use of glass.
Our basement projects are successful for a variety of reasons.
Technical expertise
Elements of a basement extension can be technically complex and it is here that experience matters. Over time we have developed details and used products that are tried and tested and this underscores a successful project.
Design and Planning expertise
Our understanding of the design and planning issues relating to basement projects is well established. This is coupled with clear communication through the use of computer modelling. A large portfolio of such projects can be drawn on when we discuss various design options with new clients and always backed up by a strong technical understanding.
The basement stair and lightwell
Basement stairs are often a distinct feature in a basement project. Creative forms and elegant materials and ensuring a good flow between spaces. They also form a way for daylight to be brought into the heart of the basement and particularly so when set below a roof light or located in a glass cube.
Basement lightwells serve to provide daylight and natural ventilation to the basement. The front lightwell is quite prescriptive in terms of what the planning authority will allow and as such tends to reflect the size and geometry of the bay window where one exists and is covered with a steel grille set flush with the landscape. The rear lightwell fills what is often the basement family room with light and with glazed doors giving onto it is an excellent source of natural ventilation. Very often a stair is located in the lightwell providing access to the garden. Glass platforms or bridges survive the lightwell for access from the ground floor room, usually the kitchen, to the garden. Several of our basement extensions have also included a third lightwell in the middle of the plan and this has provided daylight to rooms normally only lit artificially.
