Originally built to accommodate stabling, carriage storage, and the extensive workforce tasked with overseeing logistics for the adjacent townhouses, the mews makes a distinctive and noteworthy contribution to Thomas Cubitt’s Belgravia streetscape. While the need for horse and groom would of course decline to the point of obsoletion, their architectural legacy promises to live on through a programme of space-efficient residential conversions.
Our response involved thinking critically about underutilised space and identifying opportunities for creating the floor area our client’s growing family required. We secured planning permission for both a new basement and a mansard roof extension, allowing us to increase the number of bedrooms from two to four. And we successfully integrated a garage, held on a separate lease from the Grosvenor Estate, to eliminate non-spaces from the plan.
While the constraints imposed by the landowner and the planning authority were particularly stringent, skips and building materials needing to be relocated several streets away, we succeeded in realising the vision on schedule through a considered strategy plan. Our experience means we can work in challenging contexts with confidence.
