Open-Plan Conversions New Cross
Open-plan kitchen, diner and living conversions in New Cross, 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 spaces in New Cross homes, opening up flats and the classic two-reception layout of SE14's bay-fronted Victorian and Edwardian terraces. From simple knock-throughs to kitchen-diners across the rear closet wing and side return, broken-plan zoning and Crittall dividers, we handle the structure with our founder's 30+ years of experience.
In New Cross, 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 New Cross: 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 New Cross 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 Lewisham 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 New Cross terraces
The standard New Cross terrace has two reception rooms divided by a load-bearing wall, with a kitchen tucked into the rear closet wing. Knocking the receptions together, or opening the back reception into the kitchen across the side return, changes how these homes live. Because the dividing wall usually carries floor loads and often a chimney breast, the opening has to be spanned by a properly designed steel beam, not simply widened.
We work with your architect or designer, or plan the layout with you directly, and translate it into structure. A broken-plan scheme might keep a stub of wall or use a Crittall-style glazed divider to zone the kitchen-diner while retaining light. The engineer sizes the beam for the opening, we prop the floors, remove the wall in stages and seat the steel on padstones so the space feels open but stays sound.
Housing in New Cross
The stock in New Cross runs to roughly 12,080 dwellings, 72% of them flats and 28% houses, built 43% before 1919, 2% between 1919 and 1939 and 49% after 1945. Opening up a flat in New Cross changes its fire escape route, which building control checks, which matters here because most homes are flats.
Broken plan in New Cross still counts as structural work
A New Cross terrace does not have to lose its whole spine wall to feel open. Some owners keep short nibs at each end and a bulkhead above, which shortens the span and keeps some of the original room shapes. Lewisham says building control approval is needed for the removal or partial removal of load-bearing walls, partitions, joists and beams, so a wide opening with nibs is as notifiable as taking the wall out entirely. The structural engineer we appoint still sizes the beam and checks the bearings, and the nibs have to be sound enough to carry it.
Opening up the back of the house can move the downstairs WC as well. Terraced houses are 25% of New Cross homes, and in a Victorian terrace the WC may sit at the back where the new kitchen-diner wants to be. Lewisham says an inspection is needed where a WC or bath is installed or its position is altered. So a relocated WC goes on the same application as the wall, and its new soil run is laid and inspected before the floor of the joined room is levelled and finished.
Getting knock-throughs signed off in SE14
Opening up a New Cross terrace is structural work under the Building Regulations, so Lewisham Council's building control or a registered building control approver reviews the beam design, inspects the steel and bearings before they are boxed in, and certifies the job. It is not a planning matter; a listed house is the exception and needs listed building consent.
Since the wall you are opening frequently sits on or against the shared party wall, and may contain a flue, the Party Wall Act often applies and you serve notice on the neighbour first as building owner. We supply the drawings the notice needs, coordinate the engineer and building control, prop and demolish safely, and finish the kitchen-diner or knock-through cleanly, from flush ceilings to any Crittall divider, so the open-plan result looks intended rather than improvised.
- Open-plan kitchen-diner conversions
- Ventilation and extraction planned for an open kitchen
- Level flooring and threshold removal across the whole space
VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for New Cross Gate, New Cross South and Telegraph Hill. Counts rounded by the VOA.
The GS Renovation Difference in New Cross
For open-plan conversions in New Cross, GS Renovation delivers the structure behind the design. We appoint the engineer for the beam calculations, and one team handles Lewisham building control sign-off and the build itself, whether it is a knock-through, a kitchen-diner across the side return or a Crittall-divided broken-plan scheme. Safe propping, tidy working in your SE14 home and our founder's 30+ years of experience underpin the result.
George was brilliant. Lovely bloke, very reasonably priced and a perfectionist to boot. He completed our small kitchen renovation with care and great…
Giorgio is an excellent and intelligent workman, and with very reasonable prices! He installed a kitchen extractor fan in a complicated situation…
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…
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about Open-Plan Conversions New Cross
What happens to the open-plan conversion price if the scope changes in New Cross?
The open-plan conversion price in New Cross moves visibly when the scope changes, because the quotation is itemised within £3,000 to £8,000 or more (indicative). A change at SE14 is priced against the same lines rather than renegotiated, and any change touching the approvals, such as the engineer's calculations and building regulations approval of the steel, is flagged. GS Renovation issues a written variation and waits for approval.
Can I knock my two reception rooms into one in a New Cross terrace?
Usually yes, but the dividing wall is typically load-bearing and often holds a chimney breast, so it needs a steel beam sized by a structural engineer, not just a wider doorway. We prop the floors, remove the wall in stages and seat the beam on padstones, with Lewisham building control signing off the steel. Where the beam bears into the shared wall, you serve a party wall notice on next door first.
Can I make my New Cross flat open-plan?
Often, but the fire strategy decides the shape. With about three quarters of New Cross homes being flats, this comes up a lot. Merging hall, kitchen and living room removes the protected route to the front door, and under Part B the inspector must accept how escape will work in the new layout. The lease usually requires the freeholder's consent too, and if a wall is load-bearing, an engineer's design.
Will an open-plan New Cross flat be noisier for the neighbours?
It can be, because walls you remove were absorbing sound. A large room with hard floors carries footsteps and voices down into the flat below and across to the one next door, particularly in a converted house with timber floors. Acoustic underlay, a resilient ceiling below where you control it, and soft furnishings all help. Check the lease for any flooring clause before choosing a hard surface.
Are the floor levels different between rooms being joined in a New Cross house?
Frequently. Where a terrace house has its kitchen in the rear wing, that floor is often a step lower, and it may be solid concrete while the front rooms sit on suspended timber. Joining them needs a decision: keep a step as a deliberate change of zone, raise the lower floor, or ramp. It is resolved before the beam goes in, because it affects the finished ceiling height.
Does the chimney breast in the dividing wall of a New Cross terrace have to go too?
Not necessarily. In many layouts the breast sits at one end of the wall being removed, and the engineer can either use it as one bearing for the beam or design for its removal with the stack above supported. Keeping it saves work and gives a natural pier; removing it widens the opening. If the breast lies in the party wall, notice goes to next door either way.
Should the kitchen and the wall removal in a New Cross open plan share one application?
Yes. Lewisham's building control fees chart treats removal of an internal wall, with 2 inspections, and installation of a new kitchen, with 3 inspections, as separate items. Where the new room joins both, list both at the start. The inspector then sees the steel and the first fix pipework and wiring in one sequence, and there is no second application halfway through the New Cross job.
Is opening up a house in the Hatcham conservation area a planning matter?
Not for internal walls in an unlisted house. The Hatcham conservation area, designated in 1990, covers the commercial buildings on New Cross Road and the terrace housing behind, and designation controls the outside of buildings. The work becomes a planning question when it reaches the exterior, for example new folding doors in the rear wall of a house divided into flats. Lewisham says flats or subdivided houses in conservation areas must seek planning permission for changes to the exterior. A listed house needs consent for the internal work as well.
Can a shared house near Goldsmiths be opened up and still be let?
It can, but the fire arrangements come first. Lewisham's own inspectors check fire safety as part of building control, and a house let to several sharers usually relies on a protected hall and stair to get people out. Taking the wall between the hall and a living room removes that protection. The layout is designed with the escape route kept, for example with a glazed fire rated screen, before the structural engineer we appoint sizes the steel.
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