Kitchen
renovation
in Swiss Cottage, NW3
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A Swiss Cottage kitchen may sit on a semi-basement floor, on a raised ground floor or in a mansion flat, and each position brings its own structure, extraction and lease questions.
Camden's Elsworthy appraisal pictures the King Henry's Road houses as four-storey semi-detached townhouses, frequently lifted on semi-basements.
One of the first decisions we make with a Swiss Cottage client is whether the kitchen belongs down beside the garden or up on the entrance floor, because that choice moves the drains, the duct and the stairs.
Source: Camden: Elsworthy Road Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy (adopted 14 July 2009)
Lower floors, raised ground floors and the garden
In the Elsworthy area, the appraisal says, terraced and semi-detached houses usually have basements, while the large detached ones often were built without.
On William Willett's estate the kitchen was put on the ground floor deliberately, for the sake of the servants' working and living conditions.
Along Fitzjohn's Avenue many houses stand on raised ground floors.
Fellows Road and Winchester Road are mostly three storeys over a basement, or four storeys.
Where the garden lies lower than the kitchen, we design the steps, the doors and the drain falls together rather than leaving the connection to be improvised on site.
Sources: Camden: Elsworthy Road Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy (adopted 14 July 2009), Camden: Fitzjohns/Netherhall Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan (December 2022), Camden: Belsize Conservation Area Statement (agreed 20 November 2002)
Opening up rooms for the kitchen
Widening an opening in an external wall means carrying the brickwork above, generally on two beams with adequate bearing at each end and padstones if the load needs spreading.
Steel beams normally get fire protection, typically two or more layers of fixed plasterboard.
Removing an internal chimney breast needs no planning permission, yet always needs building regulations approval, and the Planning Portal recommends drawings and calculations from a structural engineer.
We prop, cut and set the steel in one visit, so the floors above are never left unsupported overnight.
Sources: Planning Portal: Extensions, Building Regulations: Structural Opening, Planning Portal Interactive House: Do I need permission to remove chimney breasts?
Extract ducts, flues and the street front
The Planning Portal expects every new kitchen to have extract ventilation for steam and cooking smells.
In South Hampstead, Camden's guide still issued under the Swiss Cottage name keeps flues, soil and vent pipes and new chimneys to side and rear walls; a new flue on the front needs permission and will be resisted.
Its factsheet wants new services out of view of the road, though a replacement cowl no bigger than the old one can go up without permission.
The Belsize statement, covering Eton Avenue and part of College Crescent, says any external ventilation duct or air handling unit requires planning permission.
Sources: Planning Portal: Extensions, Building Regulations: Ventilation, Camden: Swiss Cottage Conservation Area Design Guide (updated June 2026), Camden: Swiss Cottage Conservation Area, what the new planning measures mean for you (Article 4(1) factsheet, 1 September 2010, updated June 2026), Camden: Belsize Conservation Area Statement (agreed 20 November 2002), Camden: Belsize Conservation Area Statement (agreed 20 November 2002)
Kitchens in flats and mansion blocks
Several roads east of Fitzjohn's Avenue have big mansion blocks, typically set in landscaped grounds.
A flat's kitchen should not move until the lease has been read: the landlord's permission may be required, and a clause insisting on carpet can rule out a timber floor.
In a block, the outlet for the extract and the tie-in to the shared waste stack are agreed with the managing agent before a single unit is ordered.
Sources: Camden: Fitzjohns/Netherhall Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan (December 2022), LEASE: alterations and home improvements
Cabinetry drawn for the room
Our cabinet makers measure the room's real walls and windows and build the units in our workshop for Swiss Cottage joinery, so tall cupboards finish under the cornice and plinths follow a sloping floor.
A tall painted cupboard with shelves set at different heights can replace a row of wall units and leave the window wall of an old kitchen open.
Fronts are spray-finished off site, and any marks from fixing the worktops are touched out at the end.
Electrics, gas and building control
New sockets, circuit changes away from the bath and shower, and a swapped sink are on GOV.UK's list of exempt work, so a simple refit may need no building regulations approval.
Planning permission and building regulations approval are two separate tests, and a kitchen involving new structure may have to pass both.
Gas is connected and tested by a registered engineer, and the certificates are handed over with the finished room.
Sources: GOV.UK: when you don't need building regulations approval, GOV.UK: Building regulations approval, Planning Portal: Extensions, Building Regulations: Structural Opening
Questions about Swiss Cottage kitchens
Could the chimney breast go to make room for units?
Usually without planning permission, but always with building regulations approval and an engineer's design.
Where should the cooker hood vent?
Through a side or back wall: in South Hampstead a new flue on the front needs permission and will be resisted.
Is a wooden floor allowed in my mansion flat kitchen?
Only if the lease permits it; some leases insist on carpet.
Does replacing my kitchen like for like involve building control?
Often not, since new sockets and a replacement sink are among GOV.UK's exempt items.
Will opening the kitchen to the garden need steel?
Yes. The wall above needs support, typically two beams, protected against fire.
Do you make the cabinets yourselves?
Yes. Our designers draw them, our joiners build them and the same team fits them.
Sources: Planning Portal Interactive House: Do I need permission to remove chimney breasts?, Planning Portal: Extensions, Building Regulations: Ventilation, Camden: Swiss Cottage Conservation Area Design Guide (updated June 2026), LEASE: alterations and home improvements, GOV.UK: when you don't need building regulations approval, Planning Portal: Extensions, Building Regulations: Structural Opening
Related pages
Sources
- Camden: Elsworthy Road Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy (adopted 14 July 2009)
- Camden: Fitzjohns/Netherhall Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan (December 2022)
- Camden: Belsize Conservation Area Statement (agreed 20 November 2002)
- Planning Portal: Extensions, Building Regulations: Structural Opening
- Planning Portal Interactive House: Do I need permission to remove chimney breasts?
- Planning Portal: Extensions, Building Regulations: Ventilation
- Camden: Swiss Cottage Conservation Area Design Guide (updated June 2026)
- Camden: Swiss Cottage Conservation Area, what the new planning measures mean for you (Article 4(1) factsheet, 1 September 2010, updated June 2026)
- Camden: Belsize Conservation Area Statement (agreed 20 November 2002)
- LEASE: alterations and home improvements
- GOV.UK: when you don't need building regulations approval
- GOV.UK: Building regulations approval
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