the hands, a former cabinet minister and MP for Chelsea and Fulham, said he had concerns about the size and crowd proposed for the Kings Road 81-103 site. He also expressed concerns about the potential impact on the privacy of people living nearby and issues such as parking.
in his letter to Kensington and Chelsea CouncilHe said that “it is necessary to make every effort to preserve the unique character of the local area”, which is located next to a conservation area.
The project, by developer King’s Road Property, will involve the demolition of a four-storey 1980s building and its replacement with a five-storey office block, with a rooftop terrace and patio on the ground and lower floors.
Save group Chelsea Society He said demolishing the building would contravene local planning policy, which recommends retaining and renovating the building rather than demolishing it.
The group added that the building is “serviceable and not unattractive in appearance”.
Pilbrow & Partners said its design, with Roman brick and Portland stone, was “inspired by the traditional qualities of Chelsea architecture”. She added that the new office space will be according to “the highest standards of sustainability and luxury.”
The site had previously been the subject of a planning application for a six-story building designed by Benoy, one floor higher than the new offerings. The council rejected it in 2021 after receiving more than 1,000 objections.
Bilbro said she learned from this and downplayed the bulk of the new plans. The architect also proposes to keep large retail food stores on the ground floor instead of small shops, as suggested in previous plans.
the rejected Pinoy diagram (left); and the latest Pilbrow & Partners app (right)
However, the Chelsea Association continued to object to the rise new planswhich it said would make the new building “excessively dominant” in the local area.
The design, she said, would contrast with the character of King’s Road, whose distinguishing features are, architecturally speaking, its low-rise buildings, the multiplicity and variety of its individual shops, the irregularity of its skyline and the combination of its narrowness and liveliness. cheer’.
Meanwhile, a local group, the Smith Street and Woodfull Street Association, described the plans as ‘a classic and extreme example of overdevelopment – an attempt to squeeze a huge, tall, wide and bulky building into a site so small as to accommodate it, which would inevitably result in damage Irreparably gross to the character and appearance of King’s Road and its surroundings.
This is the second time that Bilbao has been embroiled in a row over the renovation versus demolition of the London Marks & Spencer car. Housing Secretary Michael Gove is due to make a decision about the clinic’s plans for the Oxford Street flagship store in July, after he contacted them last year.
AJ has contacted Bilbao for comment on King’s Road plans.