Dolphin House

Dolphin House

Dolphin House is a fully renovated, residential conversion of 112 contemporary apartments currently taking shape in the bustling town of Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey. Dolphin House comprises studio and one and two-bedroom homes ideal for first time buyers.

Developed by IDM properties, Dolphin House is currently under construction and will be the latest development for the London-based company. The building was previously a seven floor office block that was in very good condition ahead of this conversion. With the project now well underway, Gerard O’Connor, Director at IDM Properties, spoke to Premier Construction about the work so far, what the finished product will look like and the importance of this development for IDM:

“What we took over was an existing office block. At the current time all the soft strip and demolition works have been completed while approximately 95% of the windows have been replaced. Internally we are working on all floors and have skimmed the walls of one floor already. Work is progressing well and everything is on track ahead of us reaching substantial completion by the end of the year.

“I think there is definitely an appetite for starter apartments of this size in both the town and the wider area. Location wise, the building is a 5 minute walk from Upper Halliford which makes it very attractive and there’s a lot of employment in the area. We feel that it will fill a gap and that there is need for starter homes of this type.”

In terms of design the apartments will be contemporary in their look with high quality finishes and features that are not normally seen in properties of this price. The kitchens are modern, slim line and handle less with synthetic hardwearing worktops. Bathrooms are tiled and feature cast-iron steel baths, Geberit frame  wall hung WC’s and built in vanity units. Floors are engineered timber laminate along with carpet in the bedrooms and sliding wardrobe doors with frosted glass.

The building will also house the usual amenities that are to be expected in a modern property of this type including a reception, concierge, postal storage and bike storage.

Gerard continued:

“I think it is a very good spec for the value of the property. I wouldn’t say there have been any major challenges on the project but the scale of it was certainly daunting. At the same time it was reasonably straightforward because when you’ve got a big repeat all your sub-contractors learn the rotation. It was a very clean building when we first bought it with adequate space and that makes our job a lot easier.

“It’s an important project for us which shows the scale at which the company operates at. At the moment this is what we’re specialising in. We obtained a fast track  “Permitted Development”  planning approval which enables us to get to site very quickly. We’re specialists with this type of work although we also do new builds.

“This is our model and we produce a high specification for the level of unit we’re producing. All of the finishes in the building have been provided by IDM Supplies and we import many of them. That’s why you get a better quality than you would normally expect in this type of property on the market.”

Packed with character and charm, Sunbury perches beside the banks of the River Thames, in a prime location just outside Greater London. Belonging to the borough of Spelthorne, Sunbury neighbours the London boroughs of Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames and is a just 15 minute car journey away from the vibrant Walton-on-Thames.

Nestled nicely within the commuter belt, Sunbury benefits from easy access by car to the M3, M25 and Heathrow Airport, plus London Waterloo can be reached in 50 minutes by train.

A smaller development of 13 apartments known as Hurley Apartments is also currently under construction in Kentish Town, as well as the Hoover Building and St Georges Church by Kew Bridge.

In 2007, IDM Properties was founded as the result of a rebrand. Since then IDM has grown at a rapid pace to develop an operation that includes property investment, development, management, finance and construction. With a large portfolio of successful developments, the company has built a strong reputation in the industry.

You can view the Dolphin House development at idmproperties.com/property/dolphin-house.