Planning for open plan kitchen/dining/ living room help

[OneForTheRoadThen]

We are planning on converting our separate kitchen and dining room into one large open plan area. We won't be extending the house at all but will be knocking through a supporting walk that will need reinforcing and changing doorways etc.

Do we need an architect? We need help planning a layout etc, where would we go to help help with this? Thanks

I've done this a couple of times, you need a good builder, not an architect. If it's a supporting wall they will put in a steel to replace the support that the wall you remove provides, and then you just need to decide what you want in the space and where you want it.

architects won't normally take a small job like this. get a good builder in and start planning your kitchen yourself.

post floorplans here if you want advice on the kitchen layout

Thanks both! That's good to know

Needs a structural engineer though doesn't it to work out what steels are needed and therefore all be compliant with building regs?

But I'd still start with a good builder and expect them to have one they work with.

I used www.hometales.co.uk for my design and build so might be worth asking them what you need?

We used an architect, structural engineer and interior designer but that was probably overkill! The interior designer was great for giving an overall look to the space though

We had a good builder and independent structural engineer to sign off on the steel beam. Engineer provided the drawings and builder followed his spec.