London, United Kingdom
Fletcher Priest Architects’ Knightsbridge Estate is a 340,000 square feet project that includes four levels of enhanced retail, new offices at Hooper’s Court, homes around a secluded courtyard garden, a light-filled rooftop restaurant with panoramic views across west London, and a new, step-free entrance to Knightsbridge Station, as well as extensive public realm improvements.
The Knightsbridge Estate has recently been awarded a 2023 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Working with historic building consultants, the architects restored the architectural integrity of each individual building, where each gabled “house” has been considered to ensure a coherent design from ground to roof.
Due to its complex nature, the project is being completed in stages.
The architects carried out works to restore Hooper’s Court passage, increasing the site’s pedestrian permeability.
The new pathway features the original Knightsbridge Underground station facade in iconic oxblood tiles designed by Leslie Green in the early 1900s, which was updated to create a new office entrance.
700 people will work in new workspaces located off the reinvigorated public realm.
This part of the building contains a new step-free access to the Underground station below, which is currently under construction.
The design of the new elevation on One Hooper’s Court is inspired by gardener John Hooper of Knightsbridge, who laid out Hooper’s Court in the late 18th Century.
It is a digitally printed, vitreous enameled, unitized metal façade with a honeysuckle motif.
The theme extends to the rooftop restaurant, the glazed brick passageway to Brompton Road, and the interior lobby of the workplace reception.
A brand new restaurant on the top floor of One Hooper’s Court is covered in a perforated metal structure.
This allows light to penetrate the space whilst openable full-height panels filter the amount of light.
They also direct diners’ views towards the sunset over Harrods’ rooftops and protect the neighbors’ privacy.
The new Burberry flagship store, located on the prominent corner site between Sloane Street and Brompton Road, and the new Apple flagship store on Brompton Road are the first in a series of new retail spaces designed to redefine Knightsbridge’s shopping experience.
Burberry’s corner location is a key element of the larger project that is both a sensitive restoration and a daring, creative redesign which demonstrates how a thoughtful approach can enhance the city’s built heritage.
Careful research has been undertaken to develop the design for the entirety of The Knightsbridge Estate.
Using original drawings and architectural records, the team delivered previously unrealized elements of the original design for the building.
For example, the architects finally put in place the cupola designed for No. 1 Sloane Street by William Duvall Goodwin in 1903, but never built.
The architects also restored a 300-meter run of Edwardian gables by reinstating the lost half of a single building on Brompton Road.
The scope of this project is enormously important for residents, businesses, Londoners, and international visitors to the city.
A relocated main tube entrance with wider pavements on Brompton Road and a new step-free entrance on Hooper’s Court will make use of London Underground’s existing abandoned shafts and tunnels, allowing the renovation of 1 Sloane Street as a flagship retail unit.
The relocated entrance and wider pavement on Brompton Road counteract pedestrian crowding, ensuring a more functional and safer streetscape.
Clever behind-the-scenes adjustments, such as incorporating equipment to air-condition the Piccadilly Line within the roof, will have a big impact on the capacity of the Piccadilly Line and the quality of the station environment.
Project: The Knightsbridge Estate
Architects: Fletcher Priest Architects
Lead Architect: Keith Priest
General Contractor: Skanska UK
Client: Private
Photographers: Dirk Lindner
