Albert Court (adjacent to Royal Albert Hall)

Albert Court is a late 19th century (Hemings), listed mansion block fronting Kensington Gore, located to the north of Prince Consort Road. As it is directly south of Royal Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, the proposal to adjust windows on the lower basement level needed careful consideration. Whilst the general sense of Albert Court is as an imposing yet restrained classically-influenced façade, incremental changes made in the last quarter of the 20th century have seen the introduction of new doors to window openings, new stairwells, railings and handrails. The advice initially required an assessment of the architectural and historic significance of the listed building and the surrounding Knightsbridge Conservation Area, where it was found that open areas around the edges of buildings in the form of lightwells are a common part of the built environment. In using such contextual information alongside the judgement that the sub-basement aspect of the building is largely invisible, proposals were qualified to remodel windows on a section of the northern vaults.