The Buildings and the conservation area
Eastwood is about eight miles west-north-west of our base in Mapperley, and its best-known homes are The Buildings: around 300 terraced miners' cottages laid out by the mine owners Barber and Walker on Princes Street, Victoria Street, Albert Street, Scargill Street and Wellington Street, in a grid around shared yards. They are among the earliest company housing in the country and sit inside the Eastwood conservation area, designated in 1977, which also takes in Nottingham Road and Church Street.
Conservation area status is mostly about what you see from the street. A few Eastwood properties are listed, though, including 36 to 39 Scargill Walk, and a listed building needs listed building consent from Broxtowe Borough Council before internal changes like a media wall.
Designing for a compact cottage room
Terraced cottage living rooms are usually small, so a media wall here has to earn its space. Rather than building a deep wall right across the room, the frame can be kept slim and brought only as far forward as the TV recess needs. An inset electric fire needs more depth, set by its installation instructions, so in a tight room it is worth deciding whether you want one at all, or would rather have a slim shelf or soundbar slot below the screen. A soundbar recess is often a better use of a shallow wall than deep shelving. Narrow vertical niches either side, lit by LED strips, add interest without taking up floor. If you are not sure how much depth you can spare, mark it on the floor with tape and live with it for a few days.
On Church Street, where the conservation area has detached houses in their own grounds, there is usually more room to go full width.
Inside the frame
The frame is timber or metal studs, fixed to the floor, ceiling and wall. Older solid walls are seldom dead flat, so the frame is set true on its own and packed out where needed, giving straight lines even if the wall behind is not. Routes for power, HDMI, aerial and lighting cables run inside it, planned before any board goes on, and a qualified electrician fits the sockets and makes the connections. Then it is boarded, the corners are beaded and the wall is skimmed ready to paint.
Ring or message
Call 07877 353120, email Patchmeifyoucan@outlook.com or use the enquiry form, ideally with a photo of the room and its rough measurements. We cover the whole of Eastwood, from The Buildings and Nottingham Road to Church Street, seven days a week from 7am to 5pm.
