Carlton Tower Hotel, Cadogan Place, Kensington

Prepared a visual/ design appraisal for a Hearing, supporting the development of a screened outdoor enclosure to the Hotel. Objections by Kensington and Chelsea on townscape and design factors required a rebuttal to the Planning Inspector on concerns about ‘built clutter’, negative impact on the street scene and views in the Hans Town Conservation Area. Cadogan Place falls in the Sloane Street sub-area which encompasses a variety of ages and architecture, with the Queen Anne Style the most resonant. The Cadogan Hotel and Danish Embassy (1977) are landmarks within what is a fragmented street scene as individual buildings jostle for attention. The Hotel is a large concrete building that dominates the skyline. It abuts Cadogan Place Gardens (on Register of Historic Parks and Gardens) and is characterized by regular window spacing on the upper levels and an unbalanced arrangement of architectural orders at lower levels, giving the ground floor a poor sense of enclosure. Local view analysis found the proposals to have no impact on the key buildings that define the areas character. Our judgment on the vistas was that as the ground floor is not within the panorama of the Gardens so it would not affect its character.