Duke of York Square, London

The practice won this project in a competition to design a masterplan for a new public square at the former Duke of York’s barracks, on the King’s Road in Chelsea. In subsequent phases of the project, we produced designs for Cavalry Square and the new Saatchi Gallery, as well as smaller spaces around new residential mews buildings.

Location: Chelsea, London SW1
Client: The Cadogan Estate
Commissioned: 1999
Completion: 2009

“The Duke of York Square is the first successful square in London designed for public use. I cannot compliment you enough for the vision and quality of design right down to the smallest detail.”

Richard Rogers, Architect

01 Our Vision

Our landscape masterplan for this new retail and cultural quarter in Chelsea created a series of animated but flexible public spaces for sitting and informal recreation, market stalls and events, providing a counterbalance to the busy thoroughfare of the King’s Road.

Elements of the site’s history are incorporated as artworks within the paving, while lighting and litter bins are integrated into the bespoke stone seating walls to reduce ‘clutter’.

02 Our Process

Cavalry Square is constructed over a basement car park and shared by the adjacent primary school, residents and office workers. Our plan created a flexible, robust yet elegant space, responding to the use, scale and architecture of the buildings that surround it.

As part of the third phase of our work, we produced landscape design proposals for the surroundings of the former Duke of York’s Headquarters building (the new Saatchi Gallery), including a new gravel terrace which fronts the building and new planting to frame the famous running track.

“Duke of York Square offers an oasis of traffic free calm in the heart of Chelsea and is easily one of London’s most atmospheric areas…”

britainisgreat.com

03 The Outcome

The high quality of the detailing, workmanship and materials has contributed to the enduring success of this site as a vibrant public space. Since 2005 the Square has hosted a Saturday food market, recently reviewed on the internet site Spotted by Locals: “On Saturday afternoons at Duke of York Square, shoppers and locals seem to take time to chill out. Steely faces melt into smiles, and gruff mutterings turn into laughter. [It] seems to have that kind of effect on people.”