Just a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace, one of London’s more ambitious residential developments is under construction.
No.1 Palace Street is a 3,900 sq m luxury apartment development, and will comprise 72 properties in a six-storey, Grade II-listed building which also includes a four-storey basement. Northacre, which paid £176m for the site in 2014, is developer for the scheme.
Balfour Beatty is delivering the £130m construction contract, and began work on the island site in 2015.
The original building at Buckingham Gate, constructed in 1861, was the Palace Hotel. It was a major landmark of the Victorian period, hosting overflow guests of the palace. The land that surrounds the site was once a mulberry tree garden and aviary for the exotic birds of King James I – giving the Birdcage Walk Conservation Area its present day name.
Above: Balfour Beatty began work on the island site in 2015. Below: The interior of the Buckingham Gate entrance has been reconstructed
The facade is being retained – and restored – on the majority of the site, with just one new elevation being built. The interior is being completely reconstructed.
“The facade retention is the most challenging part of the project,” says Paul Howat, development director at Northacre. “We have put bracing between the floors to support the facade, while the construction of the interior progresses.”
For the below-ground construction, all sides of the “island” are being underpinned during the excavation works, before the basement itself is constructed. The four-storey basement build will include a gym, swimming pool and car parking.
The architect on the project is Squire & Partners, and the development will encompass five architectural styles: Italian Renaissance; French Renaissance; Beaux Arts; Queen Anne and contemporary.
No.1 Palace Street has a target completion date of December 2017. Once finished, it will house some of the capital’s most expensive apartments, many with unique views over the gardens of Buckingham Palace.
The building fronts on to the gardens of Buckingham Palace
