Open-Plan Conversions Borough
Open-plan kitchen, diner and living conversions in Borough, steel, floors, heating and finishes as one job.
- Rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder
- London guide: £3,000 to £8,000+
- Free site survey, itemised quote
GS Renovation creates open-plan living across Borough and SE1, opening up its flats and the few Victorian and Edwardian terraces in this part of Southwark. From knock-throughs to kitchen-diners and broken-plan layouts with Crittall dividers, our founder's 30+ years of structural work means the walls come out safely, on engineered steel, and the space finally flows.
In Borough, a knock-through finished as one room typically costs £3,000 to £8,000 or more, including the steel beam (indicative London ranges, MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026). GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Borough: the structural engineer we appoint designs the steel, we install it, and building control signs it off.
Price guide
| Work | Indicative London range |
|---|---|
| Open-plan conversion, steel beam and finishing | £3,000 to £8,000+ |
Indicative London ranges (MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026), not a quotation. Prices checked September 2026. Full breakdown: Open-Plan Kitchen-Diner Ideas.
How the job runs
- Free site survey at your Borough address, covering the walls, services and floor levels, and an itemised quote.
- The engineer we appoint sizes the beam, and the work is registered with Southwark Council building control or an approved inspector. On a shared wall you serve the party wall notice as building owner; we supply the drawings.
- Props in, opening cut, beam on padstones; then floors, heating and electrics are joined up.
- Building control inspects the steel before it is covered. We finish the room, and the completion certificate follows.
Open-plan layouts for Borough flats and terraces
Where you own one of Borough's few terraced houses, it typically divides into a front room, a middle room and a kitchen in the rear closet wing, all separated by walls that made sense in the 1890s but cramp the way people live today. A through-lounge knock-through, or opening the middle room into the side return to form a bright kitchen-diner, opens these homes up, and it is work we do across SE1.
Not every homeowner wants one vast room, so broken-plan is popular here too. A Crittall-style glazed divider keeps a distinct kitchen while letting light travel through the plan, and it needs the same structural care as a full removal. Wherever a dividing wall carries load, an engineer sizes a beam on padstones, we prop temporarily and demolish in stages, so the open feel never comes at the cost of the structure above.
Housing in Borough
The stock in Borough runs to roughly 12,140 dwellings, 94% of them flats and 6% houses, built 18% before 1919, 3% between 1919 and 1939 and 73% after 1945. Most homes here are flats, and opening up a flat in Borough changes its fire escape route, which building control checks.
Opening up one of Borough's few houses through the ground floor
Only 6% of homes in Borough are terraced houses, and the open-plan job in one of them is usually the knock-through between front and back reception rooms. Southwark's final fees and charges schedule sets a building control charge for a through lounge, so that job has a named fee you can check at the start. The schedule lists fees excluding VAT, with VAT added at the time of invoicing. Put the gross figure in the budget before comparing it with a registered building control approver.
A Borough scheme that goes further, taking the kitchen wall as well or moving the staircase, is no longer a simple through lounge, and the application should describe everything. The VOA records 18% of Borough homes as built before 1919, and in a house of that age the rooms above may be framed off the wall being removed, and the hall wall may be the only support for the stair. We confirm both with the structural engineer we appoint before the layout is fixed.
Consents for open-plan work in SE1
Where the new beam bears into the party wall shared with the neighbouring terrace, cutting that bearing is notifiable under the Party Wall Act. You serve notice on the adjoining owner before work begins, or your surveyor does, whether we are knocking two rooms together or forming the opening for a Crittall screen, and we give you the drawings the notice needs.
Opening up a floor is internal structural work, so it falls under the Building Regulations and Southwark Council's building control, not planning permission. Planning only comes in where the outside changes, but a listed building also needs listed building consent for internal work. We coordinate the engineer's design, carry out the safe staged demolition, book building control sign-off, then finish the flooring and plaster so your new open-plan space is ready to enjoy.
- Level flooring and threshold removal across the whole space
- Broken-plan layouts and Crittall-style glazed dividers
- Ventilation and extraction planned for an open kitchen
VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Borough & Southwark Street and Southwark St George's. Counts rounded by the VOA.
Why Choose GS Renovation in Borough
For open-plan conversions in Borough, GS Renovation gives you one accountable team across SE1. We appoint the engineer who designs the beam, install it, give you the drawings for the party wall notice you serve, manage Southwark building control and finish the space cleanly, whether it is a full knock-through or a broken-plan layout with a Crittall divider. Tidy working in your home and our founder's 30+ years on the tools back every job.
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…
George was brilliant. Lovely bloke, very reasonably priced and a perfectionist to boot. He completed our small kitchen renovation with care and great…
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about Open-Plan Conversions Borough
Is a cheap open-plan conversion quote in Borough worth taking?
Before accepting a cheap open-plan conversion quote in Borough, check what has been left out. Low quotations tend to be light on approvals and reinstatement, and work done without Southwark Council building control sign-off becomes expensive when the SE1 property is sold. The market range is £3,000 to £8,000 or more (indicative); a figure far below it has usually skipped a step in the sequence: the escape route is resolved at design stage, before the wall comes out.
Can I knock my Borough terrace into an open-plan kitchen-diner?
In most cases yes. The dividing walls in SE1 terraces are often load-bearing, so a structural engineer sizes a steel beam on padstones and we prop before staged demolition. Where the beam bears into the shared party wall, you serve notice on your neighbour, and Southwark building control signs off the finished opening under the Building Regulations.
What stops a Borough flat from being made fully open-plan?
Usually the escape route rather than the structure. A flat relies on a hallway that separates bedrooms from the living and cooking space, and removing it needs a fire strategy that Part B requires building control to agree. The lease adds the freeholder's consent. Where a full open plan is not accepted, a glazed screen or shorter hallway often achieves most of the effect.
Can the kitchen move into the open-plan space in my Borough flat?
As far as the stack lets it travel, and no further. That vertical pipe carries waste from every flat on your riser, so it stays put, and the sink and dishwasher have to drain downhill to it all the way. Concrete slabs leave nowhere to bury a long run, hence plinths and boxing. Relocating a kitchen in a Borough lease generally needs the freeholder to say yes on paper.
Can underfloor heating go into an open-plan Borough flat?
Often, but the floor build-up needs checking first. On a concrete slab, the heating, insulation and screed or boards all add height, which affects door thresholds and the step into other rooms. Many leases also require sound insulation to be maintained under hard floors, which adds to the depth. Electric systems are thinner but need their own circuit under Part P.
Is a new opening in a concrete wall in a Borough block different from brick?
Yes. Postwar blocks often have concrete or blockwork walls, and cutting an opening in reinforced concrete needs an engineer's design for how the cut edges and any reinforcement are treated. A steel beam may not be the answer; sometimes a new lintel or frame is used instead. The freeholder usually wants to see the proposal first, since the wall is part of the building structure.
Can a Borough flat gain floor space with a rear extension instead of opening up?
Not without a planning application. Southwark's Householder SPD says building a single storey rear extension without planning permission is not applicable to homes which are flats or maisonettes. In Borough 94% of homes are flats, so for most owners extra space comes from rearranging what is inside. An open-plan layout that removes a corridor or a boxed hall can gain more usable room than a small addition, without the freeholder's consent to build outside the walls.
Does moving the utility into an open-plan Borough kitchen need building control?
A new utility does. A new WC, shower or utility is a separate line with its own building control charge in Southwark's fees schedule. If the washing machine moves into a new cupboard in the open-plan space, the waste and ventilation for it go on the application. In a Borough flat, a waste run to the stack that is long or crosses a beam may need a pump, so plan that route first.
Does an open-plan layout in a Borough flat built since 2000 have to fit the fire strategy?
It has to keep a safe way out. In Borough 50% of homes were built in 2000 or later, and blocks of that age should have a fire strategy setting how residents escape. Removing the wall between an entrance hall and a kitchen can take away the protected route to the front door. Ask the managing agent for the strategy before the design is drawn, because building control checks the new layout against the escape requirements and may ask for other fire measures.
Every Service, One Team
More GS Renovation Services in Borough
One team for every GS Renovation service in Borough:
Same Service, Nearby Areas
Open-Plan Conversions Near Borough
We carry out open-plan conversion across Borough and the surrounding areas. Explore a nearby location:
Ready to Start Your Borough Project?
Free, no-obligation quote for open-plan conversion in Borough.