Commercial Fit-Out Paddington

Commercial fit-out in Paddington is shop, cafe, restaurant, salon and clinic work in ground floors near the station and in newer buildings towards Paddington Basin. Westminster describes the area around the station as more commercial in character, and the units there are customer-facing spaces with flats, hotels or offices above. Fitting one out means a shopfront Westminster controls closely, a use class that must match the business, and a kitchen, counter and WC built to the regulations, often while neighbours keep trading.

For Paddington, 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 Paddington: 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.

What kind of commercial units Paddington actually has

Expect small trading units tied to the station and the Basin rather than a large shopping centre. Westminster describes the area around Paddington Station as having a distinctive more commercial character, with late Victorian and early 20th century buildings, and that is where shops, cafes and takeaways serving travellers are found. A unit there is often a ground floor and lower ground floor with flats or hotel rooms above, and a fit-out has to respect both.

In the newer buildings towards Paddington Basin a unit is more likely to be handed over as a shell with capped services, and the landlord's fit-out rules govern the programme. In the older station streets the building sets the limits: a lower ground kitchen with low headroom, a drain run shared with the flats above and a front that may sit inside the Bayswater conservation area. We survey both types for drainage, extract routes and incoming power before pricing a cafe or restaurant.

Shopfronts, shutters, canopies and signs in Paddington

Plan the shopfront as a consent item, not a joinery item. Westminster's shopfront design guide says altering or replacing a shopfront generally requires planning permission, and advertisements may need separate advertisement consent. In Paddington, where the area around the station falls in the Bayswater conservation area, the design brief should follow the building's original proportions: pilasters, fascia depth and stallriser height. Your designer or agent makes the applications, and we build to what is approved.

Security and shade are where applications stall. Westminster's guide says security shutters normally need planning permission and roller shutters will not normally be given consent, so a Paddington unit is better protected by an internal grille or laminated glass. Even a plain canopy with no advertisements on it needs planning permission. We template the frame, glazing and fascia only once the decision is issued, and fix the signmaker's work last.

Use class, extraction and the regulations for a Paddington cafe or shop

Check the use class before signing the lease. Shops, cafes, restaurants, clinics, gyms and offices all fall within Class E, so moving between them needs no planning permission for the use, unless a condition on the premises restricts it. A hot food takeaway, a pub or a bar is sui generis and needs planning permission. A Paddington cafe that cooks also needs a kitchen extract and odour control system, and its route up the building, especially under flats, is often the hardest part of the design.

If the building is listed, the works themselves are a separate question: anything that affects its character, inside or out, needs listed building consent from Westminster City Council, and carrying it out without consent is a criminal offence.

Building regulations follow the customer. Part M covers a level or ramped entrance and an accessible WC where one is provided, and Part B covers escape from the sales area and any lower ground kitchen. Where food is served, a grease trap or separator protects the drains the unit shares with the building. Westminster keeps the building notice for work that leaves the layout unchanged and sits outside the Fire Safety Order. A unit open to the public is within that order, so plan on a full plans application.

Trading next door and flats upstairs in Paddington

A Paddington shop fit-out is usually built beside units that stay open and below people who live upstairs. We keep the front hoarded and tidy, run deliveries outside the busy morning and evening station rush, and schedule cutting and breaking in agreed blocks. For noisy work outside Westminster's normal hours of 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturday, a Section 61 application is needed at least 28 days ahead.

Anything placed on the pavement, such as a hoarding, scaffold or cherry picker for the fascia, needs Westminster's temporary structure licence, and the footway must stay at least 1.5m wide. Busy station pavements leave little room, so we plan the hoarding line and delivery times with the licence. Landlord consent for the alterations and your duties as a commercial client under the CDM Regulations are set out before the start date.

• Service counters, display walls and shelving
• Internal lattice grilles and shutters designed into the shopfront
• Stripping out the last trader's counters, signs and fittings

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Paddington & St George's Fields and Bayswater East. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Once the commercial fit-out work in Paddington is scoped, people usually go on to read office fit-out in Paddington, commercial fit-out across Westminster, what a main building contractor does, how snagging works at handover, how we handle commercial fit-out across London and Choosing a Builder.

The GS Renovation Difference in Paddington

A Paddington shop or cafe opening has a trading date that pays the rent, and delays usually start at the consent stage. We price the fit-out from a survey of drainage, power and extract routes, build the shopfront only to approved drawings, and programme the trades so counters, kitchen and finishes land in order. We coordinate the extract installer, signmaker and fire alarm engineer, and hand over their certificates with the keys.

• Counter, display and back of house built by our own trades
• Noisy work and deliveries booked around the neighbouring shops' trading hours
• Site left safe and secure at the end of every day

Checked by Abdelaaziz Saaid, founder and director of GS Renovation Ltd (Companies House no. 14611254).