Design & build in Little Venice
MVV is a design and build contractor working on homes in Little Venice, where the Regent's Canal meets the Grand Union Canal on the border of W9 and W2. We design and build refurbishments, extensions and interiors with one accountable team, from the first ideas to the finished home. Little Venice is one of London's most picturesque corners, with elegant stucco villas and terraces overlooking the water, garden squares and a calm, village-like feel only minutes from Paddington. Homes here are cherished and carefully protected, and any change needs to be handled with sensitivity.
Little Venice homes and what they need
The houses around the canal basin, along streets such as Blomfield Road and Warwick Avenue, are largely nineteenth-century stucco villas and terraces, many now divided into flats. They have tall windows, fine plasterwork and generous rooms, but often dated layouts, cold rooms and services that have been patched over decades.
Owners usually want to bring the interiors up to date without losing their character: better kitchens and bathrooms, more storage, improved insulation and heating, and interiors that make the most of the light and the views over the water.
Planning and consents
Little Venice sits within the City of Westminster and is protected as a conservation area, and some buildings here are listed. External alterations, from rear extensions to windows and roof changes, need to respect the uniform character of the stucco terraces and villas, and listed buildings need consent for internal changes too.
Where a home is a flat within a converted house, a licence from the freeholder is usually needed, and there are no permitted development rights for external work. We establish every consent required at the design stage.
The projects we take on
In Little Venice our work centres on full refurbishments of houses and flats, careful restoration of original features, kitchen and bathroom renovations and bespoke joinery. Where planning allows, we also design modest rear extensions and garden-level reconfigurations that connect a home with its garden.
Canal-side streets can be narrow and quiet, so we plan deliveries, skips and working hours to keep disruption to a minimum.
Nearby work in Notting Hill
Not far away in Notting Hill, we added a full extra floor to a home on Ladbroke Grove and completed a high-specification refurbishment below it, and on Golborne Road we fitted out Kiez, a thirty-cover restaurant, on a ten-week programme. Both show the organisation and finish we bring to projects in this part of West and central London.
The MVV approach
MVV is a team of 35 designers, builders and project managers based in Chiswick. Design and construction sit under one contract, so you have one point of responsibility and a clear line from brief to budget to programme. We carry £10M public and employers' liability cover.
What we do in Little Venice
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
- Is Little Venice a conservation area?
- Yes. Little Venice is protected as a conservation area within the City of Westminster, and some buildings are also listed. That means external changes are carefully controlled, and listed buildings need consent for internal works as well. We plan designs around these requirements from the outset.
- Can I extend a stucco villa in Little Venice?
- Sometimes, depending on the building, its listing status and its neighbours. Modest rear extensions that respect the proportions and materials of the house have the best chance of approval. We assess what is realistic for your property before design work is committed.
- Can you restore original plasterwork and windows?
- Yes. We repair and restore period features such as cornicing, ceiling roses, shutters and sash windows wherever we can, and plan new services around them so they are not lost.
- Do you refurbish flats in converted houses?
- Yes. Many Little Venice homes are flats within converted villas. We work within the terms of the lease, obtain the freeholder's licence where needed and coordinate with neighbours above and below.
- How long will a refurbishment take?
- It depends on the scope and any consents required, and listed building consent can add time before work starts. We set out a realistic programme in your proposal and manage it with one team throughout.