GS Renovation designs and builds kitchens across Highgate, from bay-fronted Victorian terraces to Edwardian family homes in N6. With over 30 years of experience near Hampstead Heath, we handle the cabinetry, worktops, plumbing, electrics and any steel beam knock-through as a single project, delivering a bright open-plan kitchen that suits the way you actually live.
Open-plan kitchen-diners in Highgate homes
The classic Highgate kitchen project opens the rear of a Victorian terrace, knocking the kitchen through to the middle room to create a sociable kitchen-diner. That dividing wall is almost always load-bearing, so we install a steel beam, sized by a structural engineer and signed off by Camden building control, and often infill the side return to widen the room. The result is the light, connected space these N6 homes are missing.
With the structure open, we design the layout around how the room is used, positioning the island, run of units and appliances for flow and light. Quartz, granite or composite worktops, integrated appliances and considered lighting finish the space. We route the new plumbing, waste and electrics to suit the reconfigured room, and tile and decorate throughout, all handled by the same team that took the wall out.
Bespoke fitted kitchens for Highgate homes
Highgate's period houses have chimney breasts, alcoves and tall ceilings that suit made-to-measure cabinetry rather than off-the-shelf units. We plan the kitchen around these features, using full-height storage in the alcoves and framing the chimney breast rather than fighting it. Whether you want a handleless contemporary finish or a classic in-frame Shaker kitchen, we build to match the proportions and age of your N6 home.
Worktops set the tone, and we help you choose between hard-wearing quartz, natural granite and warm composite surfaces to suit your budget and use. Appliance integration keeps the look clean, while properly planned lighting, task, ambient and feature, makes a real difference in the often shaded rear rooms of a Highgate terrace. Plumbing, electrics and tiling are all completed in-house, so the finish is coordinated.
Kitchens on a Highgate lower ground floor
Many N6 kitchens sit at lower ground level, half below the garden, and they bring a specific set of problems. Solid floors laid straight on the ground, walls in contact with earth on one or two sides, and limited daylight from a lightwell mean damp and ventilation have to be resolved before anyone discusses cabinets. Fitting units against a wall that is quietly wet only conceals the problem for a year or two.
The usual answer is proper tanking or a cavity drain membrane to the retaining walls, an insulated floor build-up where headroom allows, and mechanical ventilation sized for the room rather than a reliance on opening a window. Headroom is often tight, so a downstand beam or a boxed duct needs planning carefully. Once that groundwork is right, a lower ground kitchen becomes the best room in the house, opening straight out onto the garden. Drainage below ground level may also need a pumped connection, which is worth establishing early.
- New circuits, sockets and dedicated appliance supplies
- Underfloor heating and kitchen ventilation
- Bespoke kitchen design and 3D layout planning
- Old kitchen strip-out, disposal and making good
- Floor levelling and screeding before the flooring goes down
The GS Renovation Difference in Highgate
Highgate homeowners choose us because one team delivers the whole kitchen, including any steel beam or knock-through, the services and the finish. You get transparent pricing, tidy working in an occupied N6 home and a kitchen built to last. With 30+ years across North London, we handle the structural and the beautiful sides of the job together.
- Structural engineer instructed and coordinated on your behalf
- Paperwork and certificates handed over for when you sell
- Floors levelled and packed so doors and drawers line up
- Waste cleared as we go, not left piled in the garden
- Fully insured, with cover in place on every site
- New circuits and consumer unit work certified under Part P