ABSTRACT
The property is a 1950s semi-detached ex-council house with gardens to the front and rear. The house is at the end of a cul-de-sac on a south-facing sloping site, next to Alexandra Palace and with panoramic views of London. A public sewer running behind the house had to be avoided, so the new basement is two metres away from the footprint of the original house. The excavator exited the garden via a purpose-made ramp to the council-owned allotments to the rear of the property. The ground-floor extension with a sedum roof is highly insulated, and the original ground-floor structure was replaced with new insulation and underfloor heating, so although the house has increased in area by one-third the heating bills have increased by a relatively smaller amount.
