Digging into the basement (and annoying the neighbours) isn’t the only way to extend your home.

These 33 projects – shortlisted for New London Architecture’s ‘Don’t Move, Improve!’ awards – show how to build upwards, outwards and out the back of your property.

Now in their sixth year, the awards shine a light on designs in London’s conservation areas where rigid planning rules are in place.

One nominee, Fraher Architects, slotted a vertical, brick-clad extension into the void of a listed building in Richmond. Ben Adams Architects also made the shortlist for their redesign of a Camden terraced house, creating a new kitchen and dining area that opens out on its back garden.

The need for extra living space was the driving force behind many of these projects but some extensions were the result of changing work habits.

Ashton Porter Architects, for example, created two separate working areas for the owners of a house in Enfield – one of whom is a children’s author and the other a therapist.

A three-month exhibition of the 33 shortlisted nominees, alongside 51 other submitted projects, is set to begin at The Building Centre in London next month. Winners in the ‘Don’t Move, Improve!’ awards will be announced on Thursday 21 January 2016.