18 CASE STUDY
A 72-home heritage project is in the works, offering those with the money the opportunity to live adjacent to Buckingham Palace. Northacre’s CEO, Niccolò Barattieri di San Pietro, and its construction director, Robert Gibson, take Jack Wooler through what is arguably one of London’s most complex projects.
A royal welcome N
– and will be fit out in the
o.1 Palace Street is currently taking form in the centre of London – offering high-end buyers the opportunity to live in the only residen- tial development with views of Buckingham Palace Gardens. In its 300,000 ft2 of gross area, the project is amalgamating five structures into a single building. This involved the retention of four historic facades, the creation of a new entrance on the remain- ing one, and a complete rebuild of the structure in between them. Led by architect-founded developer Northacre, each apartment is intended to be unique in design and layout. These apartments are split between one to five bedrooms, ranging in size from 679 ft2 5,343 ft2
to
luxurious materials befitting its location and price point.
Alongside the apartments, the project
has also seen the addition of the ameni- ties now all-but necessitated in such schemes, including a pool, gym and 3,500 ft2
of entertainment space. UNIQUE COLLECTION
While Northacre has long been develop- ing restoration works in central London, its construction director, Robert Gibson, tells me that No.1 Palace Street is “one of the company’s most ambitious projects to date.”
He explains that the development is a
“THESE BUILDINGS HAVE ENABLED US TO CREATE A PHENOMENALLY UNIQUE AND BEAUTIFUL PRODUCT, AND VERY IMPORTANTLY, GENERATE ADDITIONAL VALUE AS WELL”
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“unique collection” of buildings, with the revitalising designs intended to represent a blend of the traditional and contempo- rary, and encompassing five distinct architectural styles for each segment. These styles range from 1860s Grade II
Listed Italian Renaissance, 1880s French Renaissance, 1880s French Beaux-Arts, 1890s Queen Anne, and modern design by architects Squire + Partners. According to Robert, the project is also
unique in its construction method, “probably being the only current construction project in London covering retained facades, a Grade II listed build- ing, four-level basement using top-down construction and internal fit-out of the highest quality, all on an island site.”
To realise such a challenging project,
the construction director tells me that the team is working with “best-in-class” suppliers and contributors, including contractor Balfour Beatty, architects Squire + Partners, and JLL and Clifton Property Partners handling the sales of the remaining apartments.
A ROYAL WELCOME After introducing the project, the construction director walked me through some of the site’s rich history. Set within a historic conservation area, one building of the original five has had a particularly interesting past, with a long-standing affiliation with British Royalty. Robert says that Buckingham Gate, the
Grade II listed wing of the development, was a “major landmark” called The Palace Hotel, and once hosted guests of Queen Victoria before the third wing of the Palace itself was built. When the opportunity arose to
purchase this property, as well as four other buildings surrounding it, says Robert, the company’s CEO, Niccolò Barattieri di San reportedly asked himself: “How many more opportunities could you come across to buy a whole block of five different architectural styles in one building next to Buckingham Palace?” “The reality is,” Robert responds, “that
there will be none.” He continues: “Despite the many complications that we face when working on a retention project of this scale, these buildings have enabled us to create a phenomenally unique and beautiful product, and very importantly, generate additional value as well.”
BEHIND THE FACADE To sketch in some more background about the site when he first saw it – before Robert joined the project – CEO Niccolò joins the conversation, telling me that “the whole site had been redevel- oped in the 1980s, which wasn’t a great era for construction.” During this process, he says that the building was turned into an office for the
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