GS Renovation removes load-bearing walls across Hoxton, working in the bay-fronted Victorian and Edwardian terraces that fill the N1 streets around Shoreditch. With over 30 years of structural experience in Hackney, we take out internal walls between the front and rear rooms, install engineered steelwork and open up the tight, compartmented layouts these houses were built with.
Reading the structure in Hoxton terraces
The typical Hoxton terrace stacks its floors and roof onto a small number of internal walls, and the spine wall running front to back usually carries joists from both rooms. Before any steel is ordered we have a structural engineer inspect what each wall supports, because in these narrow N1 plots a wall that looks like a simple partition is often taking the weight of the floor above and the wall above that.
Once the engineer has calculated the loads, the beam is sized to suit. It bears onto padstones cut into solid masonry at each end, and where the closet wing or side return meets the main house the bearing detail has to be worked out carefully. We prop the structure temporarily, take the wall down in controlled stages, then set the steel and pack it tight so nothing above ever moves.
Party wall and building control in N1
Hoxton's terraces share a party wall with the house next door, and in many of these homes one end of the new beam bears into that shared wall. Cutting a pocket for a padstone in the party wall is notifiable under the Party Wall Act, so we serve notice on the adjoining owner before work begins and keep the paperwork straight from the outset.
Removing an internal load-bearing wall is a building regulations matter, not a planning one, so no planning permission is needed for the structure itself. Hackney Council's building control inspects the beam, the bearings and the propping and issues the completion certificate. We book the inspections, meet the inspector on site and hand you the sign-off you will want when you come to sell.
- Knock-throughs between reception rooms
- Making good, plastering and finishing
- Building control sign-off and party wall notices
- Assessment of whether a wall is load-bearing
- Structural engineer calculations and beam sizing
The GS Renovation Difference in Hoxton
Hoxton homeowners choose GS Renovation because one accountable team handles the whole job: the structural engineer's calculations, the party wall notices to your neighbour, the steel and safe propping, and building control sign-off with Hackney Council. We work tidily in occupied N1 homes, protect floors and finishes, and back every job with more than 30 years of structural work across East London.
- Free, no-obligation quotations
- Over 30 years of experience
- Dedicated project management
- Fully insured and guaranteed work
- Building control and planning support
- Clean, tidy and reliable tradespeople