The final frontier

On estates all over the country there are places even the boldest fear to tread. Disused laundry rooms, empty pram sheds, subterranean storage spaces, frequented only by creatures (human and otherwise) that like darkness and secrecy.

But why not snatch them back? Wandsworth Borough Council is doing it, turning scary underworlds into spacious flats for council tenants. This month on the Lennox Estate in Barnes, West London, Wandsworth will open its 100th “Hidden Home”.

Higgins Construction built six, new, three-bedroom flats there as part of a £4m project to turn underground garages into landscaped gardens. The Hidden Homes are huge thanks to the big internal voids. With many store rooms bigger than double bedrooms, they range in area from 120 sq m to 200 sq m. Designers had to work with quirky layouts and allow enough daylight, though each flat has full-length exterior elevation. Higgins had to make sure the rooms were high enough without compromising the structural integrity of what was left of the concrete podium deck – now re-employed as the roofs of the new flats.

Formerly a dank warren where mischief-makers could evade police, it’s now an inviting open space where residents can socialise – and where some lucky tenants can move into big, modern new spaces. Witness the transformation below...