GS Renovation creates open-plan spaces in Charlton's Victorian and Edwardian terraces, turning boxy front-and-back receptions into flowing kitchen-diners. With 30+ years in SE7 close to Greenwich Park and the Maritime Museum, we handle the knock-throughs, engineer-sized steels and broken-plan dividers that make period terraces work for modern family life.
Open-plan living in Charlton terraces
The classic Charlton layout, two separate reception rooms split by a load-bearing spine wall, was built for a different age. Knocking those rooms together into a single kitchen-diner is the most popular structural change we make in SE7, but the dividing wall is carrying floors and often a chimney breast, so it comes out under an engineer's design and onto a properly sized steel beam.
Not everyone wants a wide-open box. In these period houses a broken-plan approach often works better, keeping some structure or introducing a Crittall-style glazed divider that lets light run front to back while still zoning the space. We build supported openings to whatever width the engineer allows, so the finished room feels generous without losing the character of the original terrace.
Steel, party wall and sign-off in SE7
Opening up the ground floor of a Charlton terrace almost always means beams bearing into the party wall shared with the neighbour, which makes the work notifiable under the Party Wall Act. We serve notice on the adjoining owner and log the condition of both properties before demolition, then prop the floors above and take the wall down in controlled stages onto the padstones.
This is building regulations work, not planning, so the Royal Borough of Greenwich building control inspects the steelwork and issues the certificate. Only exterior changes in a conservation area or on a listed building would need planning consent. We run the whole conversion, engineer, notices, steel, first-fix and finishes, so your new kitchen-diner is delivered clean, certified and finished flush.
- Knock-throughs between reception rooms
- Open-plan kitchen-diner conversions
- Steel beam installation to remove the dividing wall
- Side-return integration for wider spaces
- Broken-plan layouts and Crittall-style dividers
The GS Renovation Difference in Charlton
For open-plan conversions in Charlton, GS Renovation is one accountable team from first drawing to final coat. We size the steel with a structural engineer, serve party wall notices, book Greenwich building control and manage safe propping and demolition ourselves. Thirty years in SE7's terraces means we open up your ground floor cleanly, on programme and fully certified.
- 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