Earl's Court · SW5

Structural Alterations in Earl's Court, SW5

Opening up the ground floor, removing load-bearing walls and forming new openings in Earl's Court houses, with our own structural engineers and building control approval.

Covered under one contract

  • Architectural and structural design
  • Planning or lawful development certificate
  • Foundations, walls, roof and steels
  • Glazing, rooflights and doors
  • Kitchen designed and fitted
  • Building control and party wall handled
Call us on 07939 239238

Structural Alterations in Earl's Court.

Most of the houses in Earl's Court were planned as a series of small rooms. Opening them up, whether that is knocking two reception rooms together, taking out the wall between the kitchen and dining room, or forming a wide opening onto the garden, is structural work, and it needs to be designed rather than improvised.

Our engineers design the steel beams, padstones and any temporary works, and our team installs them. The beam is usually hidden within the ceiling so the finished room shows no trace of the wall that was there. Building control inspects the work, and where the wall is shared with a neighbour we serve the party wall notices.

Structural alterations are often the first stage of a wider refurbishment, and we plan them as such, so the services, floor levels and finishes that follow are all designed together.

Structural Alterations across London

At a glance
Area
Earl's Court, SW5
Council
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Housing
Victorian terraces and garden squares, mansion blocks, houses converted to flats
Transport
Earl's Court (District, Piccadilly)
Rear or side return, on site
10 to 16 weeks
Design and approvals
8 to 14 weeks before start
Glazing lead time
6 to 10 weeks, ordered early
Consent
Permitted development or householder application
Party wall
Notices served by us
Central London

Earl's Court: the houses and the planning rules.

Earl's Court is late-Victorian London: tall terraces around garden squares such as Nevern Square and Philbeach Gardens, most of them long since converted into flats, with mansion blocks on the main roads. Ceilings are high, rooms are deep and the building fabric rewards a thorough refurbishment.

Our award-winning living space is here, in Nevern Square: a ground floor reworked as one long room with the kitchen hidden behind a wall of bespoke joinery, featured in House & Garden. We also supplied a seamless Corian worktop and basin for a bathroom in the same square.

The Nevern Square, Philbeach and Earl's Court Village conservation areas cover much of it.

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Planning applications go to RBKC. The garden squares are conservation areas and many terraces are listed or locally listed.

Flats

Most properties are leasehold flats, so a licence to alter from the freeholder is normally required alongside building regulations approval.

Party walls

Terraced construction means structural openings and new services usually engage the Party Wall Act; we serve the notices early.

Approvals for structural alterations in Earl's Court.

Structural work needs building regulations approval and an engineer's calculations; where the wall is shared with a neighbour, party wall notices are required, and listed buildings need listed building consent for internal alterations.

Planning applications go to RBKC. The garden squares are conservation areas and many terraces are listed or locally listed.

What structural alterations in Earl's Court includes.

  • Architectural and structural design
  • Planning or lawful development certificate
  • Foundations, walls, roof and steels
  • Glazing, rooflights and doors
  • Kitchen designed and fitted
  • Building control and party wall handled
How we work

From site visit to handover.

  1. 01

    Site visit & consultation

    We visit, listen and measure. Brief, budget and constraints understood before any advice is given.

  2. 02

    Design & itemised quote

    Our architects and engineers draw the scheme, and from that we provide a transparent, itemised quotation for your approval.

  3. 03

    Planning & approvals

    Planning applications, building control and party wall matters handled for you.

  4. 04

    Build, managed weekly

    Our own trades, sequenced by a site manager. Progress reported every week.

  5. 05

    Handover & aftercare

    Joint snagging walk-through, documentation, and a guarantee on our workmanship.

Common questions

Structural Alterations in Earl's Court: your questions.

Can you remove a load-bearing wall in a Earl's Court house?

Yes. Our structural engineer designs the steel beam and padstones, building control inspects the work, and if the wall is a party wall we serve the notices. The beam can usually be concealed within the ceiling depth.

Do structural alterations need planning permission?

Internal structural work does not need planning permission, but it always needs building regulations approval. Listed buildings need listed building consent for internal alterations.

Which parts of Earl's Court do you cover?

All of Earl's Court and SW5, including Nevern Square, Philbeach Gardens, Earl's Court Square, Bramham Gardens, Trebovir Road, Warwick Road, and the neighbouring districts. We are based in London and our teams work across central, north, north-west, west and south-west London.

Start a project

Talk to us about structural work in Earl's Court.

We will visit, listen and explain what is possible for your property and how it would be approved. No pressure, no sales pitch.