Mews House

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 

Planning Approved

Our client had the incredible opportunity to purchase two neighbouring mews houses in Knightsbridge. These houses were once the stables serving the large Georgian houses to the rear of the Mews built in the 1840’s. The site is located within the Thurloe Estate and forms part of the Smith’s Charity Conservation Area.

These stables were never intended for modern living and as a result these properties are very small and have no rear access on the ground floor. Furthermore, years of internal alterations created convoluted layouts with ineffective staircases and impractical mezzanines.

The proposal amalgamates the two properties and creates a central staircase to maximise the tiny footprint. A single level of basement is formed to provide two generous double bedrooms and a bathroom.

With the understanding that space and natural light are to be maximised the ‘the upside-down house’ concept has been explored by placing the communal spaces on the upper levels. A wonderful double height space forms the living area with a feature staircase leading up to the master bedroom and bathroom. A minimal kitchen with island seating was part of the client brief which allowed the limited space to be better used for the communal spaces. The rear fenestrations decrease in aperture as you ascend to create greater privacy to the rear elevations which face the larger adjoining houses to the rear. The ground floor sacrifices valuable area and creates a courtyard space which extends to the new basement level forming an intimate amenity space which brings natural light to the lower-level bedrooms.

In order to align with the Thurloe Estate and Smith’s Charity Conservation Area appraisals it was essential that the scheme retains the front façade.