The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a range of challenges to a range of professions. In London’s Notting Hill, the talented team at Adams+Collingwood Architects managed to work within the constantly shifting framework of COVID safety advice to deliver an outstanding renovation project on time and in budget, just in time for the owners to repatriate from Cyprus.

The Notting Hill renovation saw Adams+Collingwood work within the property’s existing footprint in order to convert it from a 1,600 sq ft residence to one of 1,800 sq ft. By carefully juggling the provisional sums, the team managed to keep the job to the contract budget, and not a penny more, despite the unique challenges that the pandemic posed.

Adams+Collingwood redesigned the upper elements of the building to allow for a 15% increase in its useable net internal area.

That meant rearranging the staircase and replacing the roof with a steeper mansard.

Doing so meant gaining full height over the majority of the second floor creating enough space for two generous double bedrooms, an en-suite and a family bathroom.

The new fold in the roof opened up the previously eaves-constrained top floor, while reconfiguring the stairs delivered enough space for an extra two metres in the living room and an en-suite for the first-floor bedroom.

COVID considerations applied to everything from materials to working patterns. All meetings with the clients were held via video call, as were site meetings to discuss project progress and developments.

To comply with social distancing requirements, the contractor introduced a rota for his team, so that they could work in shifts