Open-Plan Conversions Woolwich
Open-plan kitchen, diner and living conversions in Woolwich, 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 across Woolwich, in the post-war and newer flats that make up most SE18 homes and in the bay-fronted Victorian and Edwardian terraces with their rear closet wings and side returns. We turn cramped separate rooms into knock-throughs, kitchen-diners and broken-plan layouts that still stand up properly.
In Woolwich, 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 Woolwich: 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 Woolwich 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 the Royal Borough of Greenwich 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 living in Woolwich terraces
The original layout of a Woolwich terrace keeps the front reception, middle room and rear kitchen boxed apart, which is why so many owners want them opened up. A double knock-through into one long reception, a kitchen-diner running back through the closet wing, or a broken-plan arrangement with a Crittall-style glazed divider are all popular ways to make these SE18 homes feel light and connected.
Almost every one of these layouts means taking out a load-bearing wall, so a structural engineer sizes a steel beam to carry the floors and masonry above. The beam bears onto padstones, we prop the structure while the wall comes down in stages, and the steel is set before the props are released, so the opening is created without ever risking the floors above.
Housing in Woolwich
Woolwich has around 21,990 homes on the Council Tax list: 75% post-war, 2% interwar and 24% predate 1919, with 74% flats and 26% houses. Where most homes are flats, opening up a flat in Woolwich changes its fire escape route, which building control checks.
Opening a Woolwich terrace onto a side-return infill and the charge
Royal Greenwich has a charging rule for a familiar Woolwich terrace project: a side-return infill that opens the old kitchen into one big room. Where an extension opens up an existing elevation into an open-plan layout, Royal Greenwich adds half the floor area of the adjacent rooms to the chargeable area. The charges are banded, with one band for a domestic single storey extension not exceeding 10m2 and a higher one for a domestic extension of 10 to 60m2. A narrow infill can land in the higher band once the rooms it opens into are counted.
Do the sum before the application goes in. Take the floor area of the infill, add half the area of the kitchen and any room joined to it, and see which band the total falls in. The band decides the charge on a building notice and the plan and inspection charges on full plans. If you plan to keep a nib, a glazed screen or a doorway between the new space and the middle room of a Woolwich terrace, ask Royal Greenwich how the rule treats that layout before the drawings are final.
Getting a Woolwich knock-through signed off
An internal open-plan conversion is controlled under the Building Regulations rather than planning, so the Royal Borough of Greenwich building control department inspects the beam, its bearings and the fire and ventilation requirements that come with joining rooms together. Planning does not come into it, even in a conservation area, but a listed building needs listed building consent for the structure inside as well as outside.
Where the beam takes its bearing from the party wall shared with the neighbouring terrace, the Party Wall Act applies and you serve notice as building owner before work starts, using the drawings we supply. A Crittall glazed screen or a retained nib can keep some separation while still feeling open, and we build in the fire protection and any acoustic detailing the new layout needs, then arrange the building control sign-off that completes the job.
- Structural engineer coordination and building control sign-off
- Beam depth checked against existing ceiling heights
- Ventilation and extraction planned for an open kitchen
VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 6 statistical areas in Woolwich. Counts rounded by the VOA.
Why Choose GS Renovation in Woolwich
Woolwich homeowners choose GS Renovation for open-plan conversions because one team plans and builds the whole thing: the engineer we appoint sizes the steel for your knock-through or kitchen-diner, we install it, and Greenwich building control signs off the beam and fire safety. You serve any party wall notices on the neighbouring terrace, with the drawings we give you. You also get careful propping, tidy working and our founder's 30+ years of experience.
Reviewed jobs near Woolwich
1 MyBuilder review from Woolwich, with each customer's own job title:
- Replace kitchen extractor hob, Woolwich, 27 Apr 2024 (5 out of 5)
Read all 31 on our reviews page.
Giorgio is an excellent and intelligent workman, and with very reasonable prices! He installed a kitchen extractor fan in a complicated situation…
George was brilliant. Lovely bloke, very reasonably priced and a perfectionist to boot. He completed our small kitchen renovation with care and great…
George was very friendly and helpful from start to finish. He worked really hard to ensure our kitchen was installed to a high standard and was…
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about Open-Plan Conversions Woolwich
What does the open-plan conversion quotation for a Woolwich home cover?
The open-plan conversion quotation for a Woolwich home covers the whole job through to sign-off, typically within £3,000 to £8,000 or more (indicative). It lists the structural work, the following trades, building regulations approval of the steel and interlinked alarms, and the making good at SE18, with the engineer's design shown as its own line. GS Renovation issues it in writing so you have something to hold us to.
I want to knock through my Woolwich terrace into a kitchen-diner. Do I need planning permission?
For the internal structure, no. Knocking through and installing a steel beam is governed by the Building Regulations, so Greenwich building control inspects and certifies it. That is true in a conservation area as well, but a listed building needs listed building consent for internal work too. Because the beam usually bears into the shared party wall, you serve party wall notice on your neighbour first, as building owner.
How does fire safety change when my Woolwich flat becomes open plan?
The protected hallway that lets you walk past the kitchen to the front door disappears, and Part B treats that as a change to the escape route. Greenwich building control will want a fire strategy agreed before work starts, which may keep bedrooms opening onto a protected lobby. The freeholder will want to see it too, since your flat door and hall form part of the block's fire design.
Should my Woolwich terrace house become a through lounge or a kitchen-diner?
It depends where you want the light and the noise. In a terrace house, joining front and middle rooms gives a long through lounge lit from both ends, while joining the middle room to the rear kitchen makes a kitchen-diner beside the garden. Each option usually needs its own beam, sized by the engineer.
Will a beam show in my low-ceilinged Woolwich flat?
If a beam is needed, it usually shows. Post-war flats often have modest ceiling heights, and a concrete slab above offers no void to hide steel in. The engineer may choose a wide, shallow section or a concrete lintel, and some owners turn the bulkhead into a feature with lighting set into it. Where the wall proves to be non-structural, the opening can run flush to the ceiling.
Where does cooking steam go in an open-plan Woolwich flat?
Out through a ducted hood, sized for a larger room than the kitchen alone. Part F requires kitchen extraction to outside, and once the kitchen opens into the living area, steam and smells drift into soft furnishings unless the hood runs at a good rate. In a flat the duct route to an external wall is the constraint, and the freeholder usually has to approve any new hole in the facade.
Are the newer Woolwich flats already too open to open up further?
Often the plan is already open, so the request changes. In Woolwich 31% of homes were built in 2000 or later, and in a flat that young the kitchen may already share a room with the living space. The request may then be a bedroom wall moved or a study joined in, and those walls may carry fire separation or services for the block. Get the building's drawings from the managing agent before assuming any wall can move.
Which fire paperwork should an open-plan Woolwich extension produce?
For a domestic extension Royal Greenwich may need a fire alarm commissioning certificate before completion, alongside the electrical installation certificate, gas certificate and double-glazing specification. In an open-plan terrace the alarm matters because the hall stops being a closed route to the front door. Ask the electrician to commission and certify the interlinked detection before the decorators start, so it is in the file when the completion notice goes in.
Does an open-plan Woolwich layout for sharers raise a planning question?
It can. Royal Greenwich's Article 4 direction requiring planning permission to convert a house into an HMO covers the whole borough and came into force on 27 September 2018. Opening the ground floor into one shared living space, with the front room turned into a bedroom, is a layout built for sharers. If three or more unrelated people will share the kitchen or bathroom, get the permission before the walls come out.
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