London
Victorian Villa — Entrance Hall
Arched hall, cornice restoration & flooring
The project
The arched entrance hall of the Victorian Villa, with restored cornicing, a reinstated arch moulding and a polished floor laid to the original tile pattern.
The effort behind it
Eight layers of paint were removed from the arch by poultice, not heat, to protect the plaster beneath — a slow job that took two people three weeks. The tile pattern was reconstructed from fragments lifted at the threshold, and 1,200 replacement tiles were sourced from two suppliers to get the palette right.
Challenges faced
The hardest part of Victorian Villa — Entrance Hall was what nobody could see until the work began. Hidden defects in the existing structure forced redesigns mid-programme, and consents in London meant every method statement went through a third party before a tool was lifted. The team held the programme by resequencing whole phases rather than cutting corners on the phase in front of them.
Team & involvement
Delivery was led by a working site manager with a core crew of our own trades, supported by structural engineers, building control and specialist subcontractors we have worked with for over a decade. Morning briefings, a live programme on the wall and photographic records of every concealed stage meant the client in London always knew exactly where their project stood.
A successful outcome
Victorian Villa — Entrance Hall was handed over on programme and within the agreed budget, with building control sign-off at the first inspection of every notifiable stage. The client moved back in on the date we gave them at tender — and the aftercare visit twelve months later found nothing to put right. That is the standard every DBS project is measured against.
