Commercial Fit-Out Brixton
Shop, cafe, restaurant, salon and clinic fit-outs in Brixton, shopfront to counter under one contract, built around your opening date.
- Rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder
- UK guide: £1,500 to £3,000 per m²
- Free site survey, itemised quote
Commercial fit-out in Brixton means the shops, cafes, restaurants, salons and clinics that trade around Brixton Market, Windrush Square and the streets by the station. Lambeth names Brixton as a Major Centre, and each new business in a unit wants its own counter, lighting and front. We strip out and fit out customer-facing units to your layout, build the shopfront to the approved drawing, and run the work so the traders either side and the flats above can carry on.
For Brixton, published UK guides put refurbishing a retail space at £1,500 to £3,000 per m² and a restaurant or cafe at £2,000 to £4,500 per m², and London units usually cost more (MyBuilder, 2026). GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Brixton: our own trades do the strip-out, back of house, counter fitting and finishes, and we coordinate the shopfront, extraction, electrical and fire specialists the unit needs.
Price guide
| Work | Indicative range |
|---|---|
| Retail space refurbishment | £1,500 to £3,000 per m² |
| Restaurant or cafe refurbishment | £2,000 to £4,500 per m² |
| Shop fitting only: counters, display and fixtures, 2024 guide | £60 to £140 per sq ft |
| Aluminium shopfront, single bay up to about 4m wide | £2,000 to £5,000 |
| Cafe kitchen extraction with basic odour control | £5,000 to £12,000 |
Indicative ranges from published cost guides (MyBuilder, Checkatrade, Urban Shopfronts and Fan Rescue, 2026), not a quotation. Most are UK-wide figures and London work usually costs more; a row marked London is a London figure. Prices checked September 2026.
Quick estimate from UK guide figures
Guide range: choose above
What kind of trading units Brixton's Major Centre has
The London Plan ranks larger town centres as International, Metropolitan, Major and District centres, and the Lambeth Local Plan puts Brixton in the Major tier with Streatham. Expect a busy mix: high street shops, food and drink units in and around Brixton Market, salons, clinics and small gyms on the side streets. Many units are narrow and deep, with storage or a kitchen at the back and a flat or office above reached by its own door.
Use class decides what you can open without a planning application. Shops, cafes, restaurants, clinics and gyms all sit in Class E, so moving between them is not in itself a change of use, unless a planning condition on the unit restricts it. A cafe stays in Class E, but a hot food takeaway or a bar is sui generis, so switching to either needs planning permission. Check that before you sign, because a Brixton lease priced for a takeaway is little use if the consent never comes.
Shopfronts and shutters on a Brixton high street
A new shopfront in Brixton has to meet Lambeth Local Plan Policy Q16, which says shop fronts should not have solid or perforated roller shutters or exposed externally mounted shutter housings. If security matters to your business, plan for an internal open lattice grille or laminated glass from the start, because a solid shutter fixed to the outside is the thing the policy rules out. Check the lease too, since some landlords set their own shopfront and signage rules.
Where the unit sits inside the Brixton Conservation Area, first designated on 20 October 1980, the shopfront is part of what the designation protects. Stallrisers, pilasters, fascia depth and the sign line all matter. A new shopfront that changes the building's appearance needs planning permission, and an illuminated sign may need advertisement consent; you or your designer apply. Ask the designer to survey what historic joinery survives first. We then build the timber, glazing and signage to the approved drawing.
Kitchens, extraction and access in a Brixton food unit
A cafe or restaurant in Brixton carries more building control work than a shop selling goods. The kitchen needs fire separation from the flats above and from the customer area, and the escape route should not pass through it. Lambeth uses commercial full plans to consult other authorities in the borough, such as the fire and water authorities, so the kitchen's fire separation and its drainage can both draw questions before we start.
Extraction is the other long item. A commercial kitchen needs a canopy, ducting and odour control that may have to rise to roof level past the flats upstairs, which usually needs planning permission and the landlord's consent for the route. Inside, Part M asks for an accessible entrance and, where toilets are provided for customers, an accessible WC. We set the counter, service area and floor finish around those fixed points, and choose a floor that takes wet cleaning and heavy trolleys.
Fitting out a Brixton unit while the parade keeps trading
Next door is open for business while your Brixton unit is gutted. Noisy strip-out and cutting stay inside Lambeth's permitted hours for construction, 8.00am to 6.00pm on weekdays and 8.00am to 1.00pm on Saturdays, and we agree with the neighbours when the loudest days fall. A hoarding or materials kept on the footway needs a Lambeth highways licence, so we either keep deliveries inside the unit or book the licence before the strip-out begins.
The flats above are the neighbours most affected. Dust sheeting and sealed doors keep the shared entrance clean, and the fire separation between shop and flat is checked early, because a new ceiling or duct can breach it. Your landlord will want a licence for alterations and a method statement, and as a business client you carry duties under the CDM Regulations. We programme deliveries for the quieter morning hours and keep the pavement clear for customers.
- Decoration and making good to a customer-ready finish
- Fire stopping and separation to the flats above a unit
- Gym and fitness studio fit-outs with hard-wearing floors
VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 5 statistical areas in Brixton. Counts rounded by the VOA.
The GS Renovation Difference in Brixton
A shop or cafe is judged on the day it opens, and every week of fit-out is rent without takings. We tie the programme to your opening date, order the shopfront joinery, extraction and electrical supply first because they take longest, and build to your landlord's consent and the approved drawings. The founder, with more than thirty years of hands-on building, walks the unit before pricing, so the quote reflects the real strip-out, drainage and access. One team takes the unit from bare shell to trading.
- Clean, tidy and reliable tradespeople
- Step-free entrance and accessible WC planned from the first drawing
- A single point of contact for your landlord, the residents above and your shop staff
George was brilliant. Lovely bloke, very reasonably priced and a perfectionist to boot. He completed our small kitchen renovation with care and great…
George always kept to commitments and arrived on time. He offered helpful suggestions during his initial visit and promptly provided a reasonably…
Saaid is the best craftsman I have worked with. He knows what he is doing from the very beginning. He has a great knowledge of construction…
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about Commercial Fit-Out Brixton
How much does a shop or cafe fit-out cost in Brixton?
Published UK guides put refurbishing a retail space at £1,500 to £3,000 per square metre and a restaurant or cafe at £2,000 to £4,500 per square metre (MyBuilder, 2026), and London units usually cost more. For a Brixton unit the biggest variables are the kitchen and extraction, the shopfront, the electrical supply and accessible WC work. The quote after the survey itemises each of them.
Can a Brixton shopfront have a roller shutter?
Not a solid or perforated one on the outside. Lambeth Local Plan Policy Q16 says shop fronts should not have solid or perforated roller shutters or exposed externally mounted shutter housings. The usual alternatives are an internal open grille behind the glass, laminated or toughened glazing, and good lighting. Plan for security inside the line of the shopfront.
Can a shop in a Brixton conservation area be stripped back to the shell?
The inside, usually yes; the outside, only with consent. In a conservation area Lambeth requires planning permission before a building is demolished, and knocking one down without that consent is a criminal offence. A normal internal strip-out is not demolition. Taking out the shopfront is an external alteration that normally needs planning permission in its own right, and if the building is listed, works inside or out that affect its character need listed building consent.
Does turning a Brixton shop into a takeaway need planning permission?
Yes. A shop, cafe or restaurant sits in Class E, but a hot food takeaway is outside the use classes, so a change to it needs full planning permission. The same applies to a pub or bar. The application usually needs details of the extraction and odour control, so the kitchen layout and duct route are settled before it goes in. We build to the consented scheme once it is approved.
Does a Brixton cafe need a grease trap?
If it cooks with fats and oils, expect one. Lambeth uses commercial full plans to consult other authorities in the borough, including the water authority, which is concerned with fats reaching the sewer. A grease trap or separator under the sink, sized to the kitchen, is the usual answer. We fit it and the drainage to the approved plans and leave access for emptying.
Does a new sign on a Brixton shop need consent?
Often, especially if it is illuminated. Advertisement consent covers many fascia and projecting signs, and in the Brixton conservation area, first designated on 20 October 1980, the size, lighting and materials of a sign get closer attention. You or your designer apply for the consent. We make and fix the sign to the approved drawing once it is granted.
Can a hoarding go up outside a Brixton shop during the fit-out?
Yes, with a licence if it stands on the highway. Lambeth issues highways licences for scaffolding, hoarding, fencing or gantries and for storing building materials on the road. A hoarding set inside the shop line needs none. On a busy Brixton street we keep the pavement clear and the hoarding tidy, because it is the first thing your future customers see.
How long does a small shop fit-out take?
Weeks rather than months for a simple retail unit, once approvals are in place. The critical items are usually the shopfront joinery, the electrical supply and any extraction, which have long lead times. We give you a programme with those items ordered first, so the site work runs straight through from strip-out to handover without a gap.
Do you work on flats above shops as well as the shop itself?
Yes. Where a unit has a flat or office above with a separate entrance, the two often share a meter position, drainage and a floor. Doing both at once lets us build the fire separation and sound insulation between them, and route the services cleanly. We keep the programme for each part separate so the shop can reopen while the upper floor is finished.
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