Sofitel Legend Pyramids
Middle East & Africa
View Project
King’s Road
- Location
- London, UK
- Services
- Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Wayfinding
- Sector
- Mixed Use, Office
- Accreditations
- World Architecture News (WAN) Awards, 2021: Gold – Future / Mixed Use
A King’s Road redevelopment returning green to Chelsea’s high street
The site sits partway down King’s Road in Chelsea, a street whose character runs from royal carriage route to 1960s and 70s counter-cultural high street. Surrounded by conservation areas and significant listed buildings, the brief asked for an architectural response refined and authentic to its setting while recovering something of the renegade character the road carried in its postwar decades. The existing building has limited architectural value, with a large, deep footprint poorly suited to contemporary retail, and its replacement offers an opportunity to reintroduce public realm and green space to this part of the road.
The design draws on the road’s botanical history, with references to apothecary shelves and plant-collection display worked into the elevations. A transparent garden box sits prominently at the front of the scheme, anchoring the building’s identity along King’s Road.
A green roof responsive to neighbouring residents
Green is integrated through a sedum-tiered roofscape that steps down to address significant rights-of-light considerations for residents at the rear and sides. Alongside mitigating light impact on neighbouring homes, the roofscape introduces biodiversity into the scheme and provides green views for surrounding properties.
The project has been submitted for planning and is targeting BREEAM Outstanding for the workplace.
