Montrose Place

The site is between Grosvenor Place and Belgrave Square in London spanning two mews. The initial analysis stated, ‘a great location but a terrible site’. The boundaries of the site reflected the typology; narrow streets and therefore poor overlooking, and a solid 4 storey wall to be maintained to the south and west boundary.

The garden wall, designed by Andrew Goldsworthy was created along with an imposing entrance gate, opening to the courtyard and on to a colonnade linking the entrance to the internal circulation cores, situated around a floating garden. Above and behind the garden wall rises the building, the facades of which are controlled by a modular proportioning system using a simple background architecture (a big box) and ‘floating wall’ which project from the building. Between the two are located balconies, glass boxes, terraces and the colonnade. The two elements are subtly varied to create all the facades both on the street and in the gardens. A notable inclusion in the project is the exemplar inclusion of affordable housing within a luxury scheme which has its own garaging and entrance.