Bespoke Alcove Units in Birmingham

A great many of Birmingham's Victorian and Edwardian terraces still have a working or blocked-up chimney breast in the front or rear reception room, with an alcove either side of it. These recesses were rarely built to match one another exactly, and later work such as replastering, a new fire surround or a rewired socket run can shift the usable width further still. We survey each alcove on its own terms rather than assuming a mirrored pair, then design cabinetry to the actual dimensions found on site.

Rear extensions and open-plan renovations have changed how this cabinetry gets used. Where a Victorian back room has been knocked through into a new kitchen-diner, the old chimney breast wall often becomes a focal point in a much larger space, and the alcoves either side are asked to hold a television, an amplifier, box files and display pieces together rather than a modest run of paperbacks. We plan the internal layout, and the position of any sockets or cable openings, around that wider brief before manufacture begins.

Loft conversions and home-working rooms have brought a second wave of interest in alcove cabinetry to upper-floor rooms that were not originally built with fitted storage in mind. A converted attic study or a spare bedroom used for working from home often has a chimney breast running through it, and fitting cabinetry either side makes proper use of space that would otherwise sit empty or collect clutter around an old fire surround.

Birmingham's terraces and semis vary in how true their walls have stayed over more than a century, and a chimney breast wall is often one of the least reliable for straightness. We record the actual profile of each alcove at survey stage and allow for it at manufacture, so the finished cabinetry sits flush rather than showing a gap or a visible lean along its face once fitted.

Cabinetry is built in our Derbyshire workshop and installed by the same team who carried out the survey, following the approach set out at the process page.