Pioneering build-to-let schemes in Kensington & Chelsea get the go ahead
Assael schemes, 19-27 Young Street and Hortensia Road, both within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, have received planning consent.
The developments for Grainger plc have been designed primarily for the private rented sector market providing high quality long term private and purpose built rented properties.
The elegant Young Street scheme is located just off Kensington High Street and will include 53 one, two and three bed homes, with a gym, high tech residents’ club lounge, cinema, and business suite. The basement level will have car and bike parking and storage facilities. The proposed development will replace an existing under-utilised 1960’s car park.
The design approach is based on Assael’s comprehensive understanding of the site’s surrounding area. The height of the development is designed to rise along Young Street, from five storeys in the south to eight storeys in the north, and to complement the nearby traditional houses, busy Kensington High Street and one of London’s oldest squares. A courtyard will feature at the heart of the development and create an aesthetic amenity space for residents while improving the aspect of those existing properties overlooking the site.
The Hortensia Road scheme also sits on an underused car park on a prominent corner of the Kings Road. It will provide 31 new homes, with a mix of affordable units and social rented apartments, each with their own private balcony and access to communal areas.
Our careful understanding of the site context has informed a contemporary and high-quality design that respects and enhances the local area. Particular attention has also been paid to the height and massing of these buildings with the lower three storey building situated on Hortensia Road and the five and seven storey apartments blocks stepping up on the corner of Hortensia and Kings Road.
Assael Director, John Badman, commented: “We are currently working on a number of projects that incorporate build-to-let accommodation at a scale that brings operational efficiencies for clients and their investors. Both of these schemes will provide high quality homes in two notable yet underused sites in London. Hortensia Road has resulted in a contemporary yet sensitive building that enhances the local area, and our design for Young Street is seen as an elegant addition to the neighbourhood, with a sensitive approach to scale mediating between the residential houses of Kensington Square and civic retail centre of Kensington High Street.”