GS Renovation creates open-plan spaces in Belgravia's period homes, from knock-throughs between Regency reception rooms to kitchen-diners in the lower ground floors and mews houses near the West End. With 30+ years across SW1 and Westminster, we turn these compartmented Georgian layouts into flowing spaces without compromising the building.
Opening up Belgravia's period layouts
Belgravia's townhouses were designed as a series of separate rooms stacked over several storeys, so opening them up almost always means removing a load-bearing dividing wall between two receptions or across a lower-ground kitchen. Whether you want a full knock-through, a broken-plan layout, a generous kitchen-diner or elegant Crittall dividers to zone the space, a structural engineer first confirms the load and sizes the steelwork.
The dividing wall is replaced with a steel beam bearing onto padstones, installed over temporary propping and taken out in staged sections so the floors above stay supported throughout. Crittall screens can then be set beneath a flush beam to keep light flowing while defining a kitchen or study. We keep original cornices, shutters and other period detail intact wherever the design allows.
Consents for open-plan work in SW1
Forming an open-plan space by removing internal structure is Building Regulations work, so Westminster City Council's building control, or an approved inspector, reviews the engineer's calculations and inspects the beam and its bearings before signing off. Internal reconfiguration does not need planning permission, but because many Belgravia homes are listed or in conservation areas, any change affecting the exterior or protected internal features may need listed-building consent, which we help you establish.
As these terraces and mews share party walls with neighbours, a beam that bears into the shared wall makes the work notifiable under the Party Wall Act, and we serve notice before starting. From the first engineer's visit to the final coat of plaster, GS Renovation runs the design, the notices, the propping and the building control inspections as one coordinated job.
- Structural engineer calculations and building control
- Level flooring and threshold removal across rooms
- Lighting, heating and electrical reconfiguration
- Knock-throughs between reception rooms
- Open-plan kitchen-diner conversions
Trusted Open-Plan Conversions in Belgravia
Belgravia homeowners choose GS Renovation because opening up a Georgian or listed townhouse takes structural know-how and a light touch with period detail. One accountable team delivers engineer-sized steel, party wall notices, Westminster building control sign-off, careful staged work in an occupied home and clean reinstatement, all backed by 30+ years in SW1.
- 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