When Derwent merged with London Merchant Securities, they inherited a vast portfolio of London property. One of these buildings was Queens Cinema at the junction of Westbourne Grove and Queensway in Bayswater. The building had ceased to be a cinema for many years and was last used by Whitbread as a TGI restaurant.
Project Name: Queens Apartments
Studio Name: Stiff + Trevillion
Location: London, United Kingdom
Photography: Kilian O’Sullivan
Completion date: 2014
After exhaustive feasibility studies and consultation with the Westminster planners, Stiff+Trevillion were instructed to make a planning application for 16 flats with ground floor retail. Although it was not listed, the decision was made to retain the original art deco façade to the south and build a new concrete framed building behind.
This is the first stand-alone residential scheme that Derwent London developed. The project was completed in January 2015, and the quality and attention to detail reflects their design lead development ethos.
The result is a unique landmark block of exceptionally high quality, a building that sets a benchmark for future development in this part of Westminster. This building and its associated public realm work is the first in a series of redevelopments that will see Queensway and southeast Bayswater transform in the coming years.
This has been reflected in the interest that the development generated. Derwent London chose to sell to the local market rather than overseas. The ambition is to make this a lived in part of the city.
The apartments have generous circulation space, one of the benefits of the Lifetime Homes guidelines, and well proportioned living and bedrooms. All but two of the flats have external terraces. The Penthouse occupies the set back top floor and is surrounded on three sides by stone terraces. It enjoys the views to the south; Hyde Park is visible at the other end of Queensway.
The building has Bulthaup kitchens throughout, and the bathrooms Lefroy Brooks brassware and Carrara marble wall cladding. Herringbone oak floors have been installed in the living spaces and carpet to the bedrooms.
Technically the project blends a luxurious interior with innovative heating and cooling systems that provide sustainable and comfortable living environment. Rainwater recycling, green roofs and PV panels also contribute to its Code 4 rating.
The retail was been designed to be either one or two units. It faces south with a loading area to the rear. The car park is at the rear of the site and provides direct access to the lift and stair to the apartments above.
The building was a 2015 RIBA London Region award winner and was recently announced as a 2016 Civic Trust Award winner, it was shortlisted in the 2016 bd Architect of the Year Awards. In 2013 the building won an NLA (New London Architecture) Award in the Conservation and Retrofit Category.
