Case study
Earls Court — a London duplex brought to Dubai-spec
After twenty years in Dubai, John and Viola came home to a dated London duplex — bought with open eyes, knowing the layout would need reworking. What they weren’t prepared to compromise on was the finish: they had grown used to a standard abroad and wanted it here. We reconfigured the space and rebuilt to that brief, holding the line on materials so the duplex met the standard they had come back for.
Project at a glance
| Location | Earls Court, SW5 |
| Property type | Duplex apartment |
| Project type | Duplex refurbishment with structural alterations |
| Programme | 54 working days |
| Investment | circa £76k (guideline) |
| Architect | Direct to client |
The brief
John and Viola, a retired couple, had spent twenty years living in Dubai before returning to the UK. They came back to a dated London duplex with poor space use and bought it knowing the layout would need rework. The brief was to bring the property to the standard of finish they had become used to abroad, with a luxury feel and no compromise on materials.
The property sat in a managed building, so every structural decision had to be cleared with the building management and their structural engineer. Access was through communal areas, which dictated scaffolding logistics and trade scheduling from day one.
The build
We took down the chimney breast and a central wall to open the principal space. A new steel framework redistributed the loads and gave us the geometry for a mezzanine level above the new opening. Full rewire and flooring went in around the steels.
Mid-project we discovered the existing loft conversion had been built off compromised joists — the original work had not been signed off correctly and the joists could not support the loads the new layout demanded. The building management called the works to a halt while their structural engineer assessed.
Rather than push back on the pause, we owned the structural issue, brought the building management and their engineer through the proposed remediation, and re-mobilised the moment approvals cleared. The remediation kept the original programme honest because the alternative — discovering the joists at handover — would have been worse for everyone.
Bespoke finishes inside: glass balustrade to the mezzanine, parquet flooring through the main rooms, the kind of attention to detail John and Viola had come to expect.
A high-spec contemporary duplex delivered directly for the client, including resolving an unsafe loft conversion found behind the existing fabric, in 54 working days.
