Our design team share their insight into one of their latest design projects – creating the communal courtyard garden for the high-end residential development, No. 1 Palace Street…
No. 1 Palace Street is an exciting new development taking shape in the heart of London. A unique 300,000 square foot island site with views towards Buckingham Palace, it is an extraordinary heritage revival which integrates five different architectural styles: Italian Renaissance, Beaux-Arts, French Renaissance, Queen Anne and 21st century Contemporary.
Whilst it was once the Palace Hotel, which entertained the distinguished guests of Queen Victoria, it is now being transformed into 72 luxury apartments. At the centre of the development, you’ll find a secluded courtyard garden for the residents, which has been an exciting project to work on.
Working with developers, Northacre and architects, Squire & Partners, we designed a garden that could be enjoyed both from the ground and visually from above too. We wanted the courtyard to reflect the high quality buildings and interior design, providing an attractive green communal space for residents to walk through, sit in, or look over from their apartments. As such, the garden features elements of pattern – such as the contrasting banded granite paving, adding a touch of restrained elegance.
The courtyard features a sleek polished granite water feature at its heart, with a raised pedestal to house a contemporary sculpture, helping to add a sense of tranquility to the space. A raised terrace area provides generous seating, flanked by box top hornbeam trees for structure – which will be subtly up-lit at night. Around the edges, you’ll find timber bench seating integrated into raised beds of planting, with further raised beds flowing through the space.
We’ve been working intermittently on this project since 2014, so it’s exciting that we have now completed the design process and we’re beginning to see works underway on site. Of course we’ll be monitoring until completion and snagging is complete, but we’re looking forward to seeing some first results on this amazing project later this year!
September 10, 2020
