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Studio : MASS

Name: Studio : MASS
Address: London, GB
Telephone: +442086386727

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Studio : MASS

studio : MASS
McBride Architecture & Surveying Services (MASS)

04/06/2026

Drakefield Road, South Wimbledon.

A mid-terrace Victorian villa with a brief that went beyond the usual rear extension. The client wanted a full-footprint basement beneath the house, a new open-plan ground floor, and a complete reorganisation of every level above.

The basement was the biggest challenge. A mini digger lowered through the front bay window. Spoil removed by conveyor to minimise disruption to the street and neighbours. Temporary supports holding the house up while the new lower ground floor took shape beneath it. Gym, home office, cinema room, utility and plant — all below ground, all daylit through front and rear lightwells.

Above, the ground floor was opened up around a new kitchen with full-width sliding doors to the garden and a rooflight above the island. A bespoke open oak staircase rises from the basement into the dining room, connecting every level visually and flooding the lower floor with borrowed light.

First floor: a generous master suite with walk-in shower, twin basins, and patterned tile detail. The loft continues as two children's bedrooms, a family bathroom, and a study.

Studio MASS developed the full technical design package, managed Building Regulations, and coordinated the transition between specialist contractors through to completion. Finished spring 2024.

Swipe to see the full journey — from excavation to outcome.

Free call to discuss your project → link in bio

03/06/2026

We help London homeowners extend their homes with confidence. From first idea through planning, design, and construction — expert guidance at every stage.

Studio MASS is a residential design studio and architectural practice. 300+ projects. 20+ years. 35 London areas.

Here is what we do and how it works. Swipe through.

→ Feasibility and design
→ Planning permission
→ Building regulations
→ Builder tendering
→ Construction support

From concept to compliant, build-ready designs. One team, end to end.

Book a free call to discuss your project → link in bio

03/06/2026

Three free guides every London homeowner needs before starting a renovation. Real 2026 figures, practical advice, no fluff.

Swipe to see what is inside each one.

Comment GUIDES below and we will DM you the link to download all three. No email required.

Inside the guides:
→ 2026 London extension costs per m² (verified against BCIS data)
→ Pre-build costs nobody warns you about (£8,000–£16,000 before a brick is laid)
→ Planning permission rules explained clearly
→ How to find a builder — and the red flags to watch for
→ 17 practical tips to protect your budget
→ Realistic timelines from first call to completion

Save this post. Share it with someone planning a renovation.

01/06/2026

Planning approval isn't the green light to build — it's the starting pistol for a series of steps most homeowners don't see coming.

Pre-commencement conditions, Building Regulations, Party Wall notices, consultant appointments, tendering — all still to do, all with their own timelines, and most of them can run in parallel if you start at the right moment.

The homeowners who lose 6 months after approval almost always start these sequentially. The ones who don't, start them before the decision even lands.

Swipe to see the full picture.

26/05/2026

Most London extensions make the darkness worse. Not better.

Victorian terraces were built deep and narrow. Light comes in from the front and the rear — but the middle of the plan is starved. When you push the back wall further from the sky with a rear extension, you often make that problem worse, not better.

The fix isn't more glass. It's understanding where the light dies — and designing a path for it to travel.

Rooflights positioned over the darkest point. Internal glazed screens. Pale reflective finishes in transition zones. Removing walls that block borrowed light.
These are plan decisions. Not glazing decisions.

We map where the light dies before we touch a single wall.

5.0 ★ · 39 verified reviews · Best of Houzz 2021–2025
Link in bio to book a design consultation.

20/05/2026

Here's what a £35k loft conversion quote is quietly not including — and why the final number is almost never what you agreed on day one.

Swipe to see the four things that are routinely left out of a headline price. None of them are optional. All of them add cost.

The trade term for what happens next is a variation order. Your builder knows exactly what it is. Most homeowners only find out mid-build — when they're too committed to walk away.

Before you sign anything, ask for a fully itemised quote and written confirmation of what happens if something unexpected is found once the walls are open. If they can't give you both, that's your answer.

5.0 ★ · 39 verified reviews · Best of Houzz 2021–2025

Link in bio to start a conversation. studio-mass.com

18/05/2026

Most people renovate and still feel like something is missing.

New kitchen. Premium tiles. Expensive furniture. But the space still feels off.
It's not what you bought. It's what wasn't designed.

The homes that feel genuinely expensive share three things — and none of them are about budget.

→ Natural light, handled properly. Not just a skylight dropped in, but the way light enters, moves through a space, and draws your eye outward. That's a design decision, made early.
→ Proportion. The height of a ceiling relative to a room. The scale of cabinetry to wall. The ratio of glass to solid. When proportion is right, a room feels generous without you knowing why.
→ Materials used with intention. Fewer of them. Chosen to work together, not to impress individually. Stone, timber, matte cabinetry — coherent, not competing.
This is how we think about every project at Studio MASS.

If you're planning a renovation in London, start with the brief — not the finish samples.

13/05/2026

Most London renovations go over budget. Not by a little.

Not because builders are dishonest. Not because homeowners are careless. But because nobody explains what the actual cost of a project looks like — before the work starts.

Here are the five reasons it keeps happening:

01 The quote only covers the builder. Not the architect, structural engineer, planning fees, party wall costs, or VAT.

02 Decisions made late cost money. Every change once work has started costs more than the same decision made at design stage.

03 Victorian houses hide problems. Drainage, foundations, structural movement — you don't know until the walls come down. Budget a 10% contingency minimum.

04 Scope grows once the work starts. The bathroom that was always awkward. The utility room that never worked. Reactive changes are expensive.

05 The cheapest quote costs the most. Contractors who win on price make their margin through variations. The low number won't be the final one.

The fix isn't complicated. It's having the right information — and the right people — before you commit to anything.

5.0 ★ · 39 verified reviews · Best of Houzz 2021–2025

Swipe through for the detail. Link in bio to start a conversation before you start spending.

12/05/2026

Most London families don't need a bigger house. They need a better one.

This is Hindmans Road, East Dulwich — a Victorian terrace where the ground floor simply didn't work. A small, disconnected kitchen. No relationship to the garden. A layout designed for 1890, not for a young family in 2021.

We removed the fragmented rear, introduced a new rear extension with full-height steel-framed glazing, and reorganised the ground floor plan entirely. The result is a light-filled kitchen and dining space that opens directly onto the garden and sits at the centre of daily family life.

Is a rear extension worth it? In London, almost always — but only if the design is considered and the process is managed properly.

What actually makes it worth the investment isn't just the square footage. It's the natural light, the layout flow, the connection to the garden, and the storage that frees the main rooms to function as real living space.

"He's helped us make big decisions and found the best use of space. Plus they've done all the paperwork — much of which I would get totally lost in." — Tom Hutchings ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

5.0 ★ · 39 verified reviews · Best of Houzz 2021–2025

Swipe to see how we think about rear extensions. Link in bio to start a conversation.

17/02/2026

📍 Drakefield Road — South Wimbledon, London

A mid-terrace Victorian villa. Constrained plot. No room to extend outward.
The solution was to go down.

Planning was already secured when we were appointed. Our role was the full technical package — measured survey, Building Regulations, construction coordination, and delivery on site.

A full-footprint basement within a terraced context. Staged excavation. Temporary structural support. A compact digger lifted through the front bay, spoil removed by conveyor to protect neighbouring properties.

Front and rear lightwells draw daylight deep into the plan. A bespoke open timber stair connects the levels through the heart of the house.

The result is externally discreet. Internally transformative.

Gym. Office. Cinema room. Utility and plant space — all carved from a plot that had nowhere left to grow.

This is what considered technical resolution looks like on a constrained urban site.

Address

London

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+442086386727

Website

http://www.studio-mass.com/

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