Supporting wall?

[p3dro]

Hi all,
I have a 2-up 2-down with the staircase to the first floor in the middle of the ground floor, splitting the ground floor in 2 (living room at front, dining room at rear)
I'd like to build a wardrobe over this staircase so I don't lose space in any of the rooms (I'm aware of the head hight rule for staircases) but when I started removing some of the very old plaster inside the larger of the 2 bedrooms upstairs, I found what can be seen in the pictures attached.
Does this mean the wall is a supporting wall?
I'm assuming what can be seen is a wooden wall plate running the length of the wall with really poor quality brickwork underneath providing the support??
Am I right? (that door you can see at the end is the current cupboard over the stairs that I want to expand to make wider)
I was hoping I could just knock a hole in the wall and build out over the staircase but I think this means I need to put a concrete lintel in over where the wardrobe will go? before I make a big hole....
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers.
P

 

[tony1851]

In the old 2-up-2 downs with the staircase in the middle, the dividing walls upstairs are often 'brick-on-edge' partitions, stiffened with timber studwork and a few timber horizontals. They are not strictly loadbearing in the normal sense, but will be supporting the ceiling joists, which will be nailed to the timber plate.

You need to strip off the plaster in the area where the cupboard will be, to see it there are any timber studs, in which case you might not need a concrete beam.

 

[p3dro]

thanks very much tony, that makes sense.
i'll keep scraping & hoovering until i can see the entire structure under the plaster.

 

[p3dro]

So I did a bit more digging, and seem to have found timber studs (2x4?) every 25inches or so (ignoring the one above door with is probably just holding the strip-wood in place)
Not sure about any horizontals but then they would need to go anyway if I were to put a wardrobe in.
Does this suggest the brickwork can come out, as long as these studs are left in?
Or is it not so straight-forward...
Any help greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
P