Limehouse Cottage: Two-Storey Extension & Full Renovation, East London

Project Overview

The cottage sits in Limehouse, E14, a quiet pocket of East London between the river and Canary Wharf. Cottages are rare round here, and this one needed everything doing. The owners and their architect wanted more space, a sound structure and a house with real character, so the brief covered a two-storey extension, underpinning, every service renewed, and a bespoke joinery and decoration package to finish it.

The works were tendered in late 2024 and let under a JCT Minor Works Building Contract, with the contract information issued in March 2025. The programme ran 26 weeks, March to September 2025, for a contract sum of just over £313,000 including VAT. The architect administered the contract and issued the joinery and fittings drawings as the job went on, and the site team built to them.

Getting the Ground Right First

Exploratory works came first: trial pits to find the existing foundations, laboratory testing of the ground beneath them and a CCTV survey of the drains. The structural engineer designed the underpinning, the new foundations and the steelwork from that evidence. Because the cottage sits close to a public sewer, the extension also needed a Thames Water Build Over agreement; the build-over design and approval were taken care of so the foundations could go in on programme.

Scope of Works

• Ground floor extension with full mechanical and electrical installations, and a first floor extension and alterations above
• Underpinning, new foundations and structural steelwork to open up the ground floor
• New flat roof over the extension with a warranted membrane system, and new rooflights over the dining room and kitchen
• Full rewire with 130 electrical points across both floors, plus a new 30kW boiler, new heating system and electric underfloor heating to the first floor
• Bespoke joinery and panelling throughout, decorated as a specialist package
• New kitchen with a Lacanche range cooker, Belfast sink and chequerboard tiled splashback; new bathroom and a first floor en suite with a purpose-made full-height glass shower screen
• Specialist damp proofing and tanking to the lower walls, full replastering, the original floorboards kept, sanded and finished (new flooring only in the extension), and decoration throughout
• External repairs, repointing and redecoration

Damp Dealt With, Not Covered Up

Older cottages in this part of East London often carry damp in the lower walls, and new finishes applied over it fail within a few years. Here the specialist damp proofing and tanking was carried out by Dampcure Woodcure before any plastering or decoration started, so the new finishes went onto a dry structure.

Colour, Joinery and Detail

The finishes are what make this house. The decoration is Farrow & Ball throughout, chosen room by room: Red Earth with Picture Gallery Red panelling and shutters in the snug, Vert de Terre and Yeabridge Green in the study, Slipper Satin through the living room, kitchen and hall, and Farrow’s Cream, Yellow Ground and Pink Ground in the bedrooms. The bespoke joinery package, worth over £32,000, runs from the hall panelling to fitted wardrobes with painted doors, shelving and cupboards built to the architect’s drawings. A copper worktop and open shelving in the dining room, patterned wallpaper in the cloakroom and the period fireplaces give each room its own character, and the original floorboards, sanded and finished rather than replaced, run through the old house.

The Result

The cottage was handed over in September 2025 with every element renewed: new foundations and structure, a new roof over the extension, new electrics, plumbing and heating, a new kitchen and bathrooms, bespoke joinery and a complete decoration scheme. The photographs on this page were taken after the owners had moved in.

This is the kind of project we do best: a period property with structural work underneath, a design-led finish on top, and a programme that has to hold together through underpinning, a build-over approval and a bespoke joinery package. If you are planning a house extension or a full renovation in East London, we would be glad to talk it through.

"I bought the cottage knowing it needed everything doing, but I had no idea how much was hidden beneath the surface until Alstruct stripped it back. Their honesty from the very beginning — about what needed to be done and why — gave me complete confidence. The damp work was done properly, not covered up, and the whole renovation has been delivered to a genuinely high standard. The cottage is unrecognisable and I couldn't be happier with the result. Altin and the team were communicative throughout and the handover in September was seamless."

Satisfied Homeowner

Limehouse Cottage, E14