Dunstan Road — Extensions & Renovation, Golders Green

Project Overview

This substantial 30-week renovation in Golders Green is one of our most comprehensive residential projects in North London. The property — a large 1930s semi-detached house on one of Golders Green's most desirable residential roads — came to us in need of a thorough and uncompromising transformation. The owners had a clear ambition: to bring every aspect of the house up to the standard expected of a premium Barnet Borough family home, without compromising the generous proportions and period character that make these interwar properties so sought-after.

Executed under a JCT Minor Works Contract with a full professional team including architect, structural engineer and CDM health and safety coordinator, the project touched every element of the property. The result is a home that looks, feels and functions as a thoroughly modern family house while remaining completely faithful to its 1930s bones — with the added benefit of a rear extension and two-storey side extension that significantly increase the available living space.

The Challenge

Dunstan Road is a classic Golders Green street of substantial interwar semis — large, well-proportioned houses with generous room heights, bay windows and the kind of solid build quality that has kept them standing for nearly a century. But the property we inherited was carrying decades of incremental updates and deferred maintenance: outdated M&E services throughout, a kitchen that bore no relationship to the generous space available, bathrooms that needed complete replacement, and a structure that — while fundamentally sound — required careful engineering assessment and party wall agreements with the neighbouring property before any extension or structural works could proceed.

Working in close coordination with the appointed structural engineer, CDM coordinator and party wall surveyors, our team developed a fully integrated programme that delivered all works within a single uninterrupted 30-week contract. This avoided the disruption, cost overruns and programme slippage that so often accompany piecemeal approaches to renovation of this scale.

Our Approach

The key to a project of this scale is programme management. With party wall awards, structural engineering sign-off, subcontractor procurement and a client in temporary accommodation, the pressure to deliver on time is significant. Our approach was to front-load all the disruptive structural and M&E work in the first eight weeks — strip-out, structural steel installation, party wall works, new drainage, new electrical first fix and new plumbing first fix — before moving on to the more controlled environment of plastering, joinery, tiling, kitchen installation and decoration in the second phase.

Every subcontractor on the project was procured and managed directly by Alstruct, working within a single contract with the client. This single point of responsibility meant no finger-pointing between trades, no delays caused by subcontractor scheduling conflicts, and a consistent quality standard applied across every element of the work from groundworks to the final coat of paint.

Scope of Works

• Structural engineering works throughout — removal of load-bearing walls, installation of steel beams and structural openings, all to structural engineer's specification
• Party wall agreements negotiated and executed with the adjoining neighbour — all notifiable works carried out in strict accordance with party wall awards
• New rear extension — new foundations, structural frame, external envelope, roof and internal finishes
• Two-storey side extension — extending the living space across ground and first floor levels
• Full strip-out of existing finishes, services and fittings throughout the property
• Complete replacement of all electrical services — new consumer unit, full rewire, new lighting design and socket layout throughout
• Complete replacement of all plumbing and heating services — new boiler, new radiators, new pipework and new hot and cold water distribution throughout
• New drainage where required — both above and below ground
• Full replastering throughout all rooms on all floors
• New kitchen — bespoke cabinetry, worktops, appliances and kitchen drainage
• New bathrooms throughout — all suites replaced, new tiling, new sanitaryware and new shower enclosures
• New internal doors, door furniture and all joinery throughout
• New flooring throughout — hard flooring on ground floor, carpeting on upper floors
• Full professional redecoration throughout all floors to designer specification
• External works and landscaping — new front path and driveway, rear garden landscaping, external decoration
• CDM health and safety coordination throughout the project

The Result

The completed renovation at Dunstan Road represents a thoroughgoing reinvention of a house that had significant potential but had never been fully unlocked. The rear extension and two-storey side extension deliver the generous open kitchen-diner that a property of this size always warranted. The new M&E services provide decades of trouble-free operation. And the quality of finish — consistent from the ground floor reception rooms to the top-floor bedrooms — reflects the high standard that Golders Green homeowners rightly expect.

Delivered on time and on budget within the JCT contract, this project is a demonstration of what structured professional management can achieve when a skilled contractor, an experienced design team and a decisive client work together towards a shared goal.

"Alstruct managed the entire renovation from start to finish — the structural works, the party wall process, every trade, the kitchen, the bathrooms, all of it. The programme management was excellent and they delivered exactly on schedule. The quality of the finish is superb and the whole experience was far less stressful than we feared. We would use them again without hesitation."

Property owner

Golders Green, North London