One Kensington Gardens, London



Architect
Sir David Chipperfield
Date Built
Completed 2015
Location
Kensington High Street & De Vere Gardens
Description
One Kensington Gardens is a residential development that incorporates a new-build block that looks across Kensington High Street into Kensington Gardens.  It also involves a new building hidden from public view behind the retained facades of 19th Century terraced houses on De Vere Gardens (above) and Victoria Road.

The architect's website explains that, "... The Kensington Road building is clad in handset Portland stone at ground level and each floor above is defined by a thin band of Portland stone referencing the strong horizontal lines in the surrounding traditional façades. The elevations are finished with solid bronze balustrades and window framing to all balconies."







In all the development provides 97 high-quality residential units, 29 in the new buildings at the Kensington High Street end and 68 behind the retained facades.  In the building behind the old facades, "...the apartment layouts have been generated from the existing arrangement of windows and party walls and take the form of a sequence of clearly defined and interrelated, well-proportioned rooms."





The Chipperfield website adds that, ".... As the new building on Kensington Road turns away from Hyde Park, the rhythm of the columns change to break up the street elevation into a more varied series of façades, culminating in the rhythm of the interlocking precast elements of the new Victoria Road building. ....





.... At the centre of the development are a series of internal courtyards, clad in a matte glazed white brick. Whilst not publicly accessible, they provide the surrounding apartments with natural light and a visual connection to a considered landscape design."