An open plan conversion is several jobs happening at once. A wall or two comes out, a beam goes in, services are rerouted, floor levels are reconciled and one heating and lighting plan has to work across a larger room. The starting point is the house you already have, and in Harpenden the Census gives a clear picture of what those houses are. We appoint the structural engineer, build to the calculation and coordinate the building control application and inspections.
The Harpenden housing stock an open plan layout is cut into
Census 2021 recorded 3,309 households in semi detached houses and 1,661 in terraced houses across the four Harpenden middle layer super output areas. Those are shares of 28.1 per cent and 14.1 per cent, against 31.5 per cent and 23.0 per cent for England. In houses of that type the wall between the front and back rooms can be carrying the floor above, which is what turns a layout change into a structural job.
Census 2021 also recorded 5,514 of 11,756 Harpenden households living in homes with four or more bedrooms, a share of 46.9 per cent against 21.1 per cent for England. A larger house gives you more choice about where the kitchen, dining and living zones end up. It also gives you more services to move in order to get there.
Cravells Road terraces and Park Avenue villas need different answers
The two ends of the Harpenden stock take an open plan layout differently. In Cravells Road the houses are brick built terraces originally constructed for workers on the railway, and for most of its length the road is built on one side only, to give rear access to the East Common houses. In a terrace the party walls take the bearing, and the beam has to pick up the floor above along its length.
Park Avenue was laid out in the early years of the twentieth century by a Luton developer, Henry Steers. He and his successors required development to consist only of detached houses at a minimum building cost, on plots normally having a street frontage of at least 80 feet. The council also records that not more than half of that area had been built up by 1954. Construction resumed after the 1939 to 1945 war, and the council describes the houses of that later period as typically of more moderate size. Two houses on one road can therefore need very different structural answers.
When an open plan scheme needs a heritage statement
It needs one where the work affects the appearance of the conservation area. Policy ESD2 of the made Harpenden Neighbourhood Plan requires that the height, scale and design of all developments are considerate of and make a positive contribution to local character and heritage. Where a development affects the appearance of the Harpenden Conservation Area, a Heritage Statement is required, and it must demonstrate how the character of the identity area the site sits within is retained. Work that stays inside the house and changes nothing visible from outside is a different case, and we tell you which one your scheme is in.
- Heat loss and acoustic considerations before the wall comes out
- Bi-fold and sliding door openings onto the garden
- Zoned lighting circuits and dimming for a multi-use room
- Openings formed in stages to keep the home usable
- Flush beam detailing where a downstand would look wrong
Trusted Open-Plan Conversions in Harpenden
An open plan room is easy to draw and awkward to sequence. The beam depth, the services, the floor build up and the ceiling line all have to be decided before the first wall comes down, or you finish with a step in the floor and a bulkhead nobody wanted. We fix that order up front, appoint the structural engineer, build to the calculation and coordinate building control. One point of contact, fully insured, and the quotation is free with no obligation.
- Site left safe and secure at the end of every day
- Heat loss and acoustics considered before the wall comes out
- Our own trades on site rather than a chain of subcontractors
- Photographs kept at each stage for your records
- Registered in England, Companies House no. 14611254
- The house kept usable while the opening is formed in stages