The Mansion, Marylebone Lane

Categories Housing
Completion 2019
Project Team Deborah Saunt, David Hills, Alistair Blake, James Ward
Awards
UK Property Awards 2019: Best Architecture Multiple Residence London - Winner

The Mansion at Marylebone Lane is a high-quality residential development in London’s West End with a strong sense of local identity. Its distinctly contemporary design echoes the Edwardian terracotta façades of its surrounding streets, offering a positive experience for both passers-by and residents with a beautiful new garden visible from the street.

The building comprises of a lower ground and ground floor; seven upper floors with 23 residential units; large setbacks with roof terraces; two basement levels. The cladding of The Mansion relates to the design of nearby 28 South Molton Street, DSDHA’s flagship store for Bosideng, where the glazed terracotta and curtain walls offer a contemporary interpretation of traditional masonry.

Contemporary craft

The building is dressed in a warm, reflected glazed terracotta faience facade with a subtle variation in colour and shade to add visual interest and complexity – its warm red colour changes in tone depending on viewing position as well as lighting conditions. The thé-au-lait – tea-with-milk – tonality was developed with a specialist company in Germany over two years, and is inspired by the tiles on the nearby Wigmore Hall.

The rear of the building features a paler shade of glazed terracotta, referencing the white-glazed brick courtyards of Victorian London. The cladding on the top two floors become muted and neutral with a less reflective surface in order to maintain the calm and quiet backdrop to nearby Stratford House.

A complex historical and urban setting

The intricate geometry of The Mansion at Marylebone Lane negotiates an array of complex site constraints. Situated in a transitional area between the lively Oxford Street and Mayfair to the south and the village-like atmosphere of Marylebone to the north, it sits alongside a Conservation Area and is visible behind the roofline of the Grade I-listed Stratford House. In addition, the new building sits just above the London Underground Jubilee Line.

A new courtyard garden to the rear of the building provides a pleasant arrival sequence from the street entrance and brings views of greenery to neighbouring properties.

A dignified backdrop to Stratford House

A critical consideration for the site’s development was its presence in the view of Grade I-listed Stratford House from the junction of Oxford Street and Stratford Place, identified as a significant contribution to Westminster’s townscape and historic character by the Westminster City Council Conservation Area Audit. The previous building had a negative impact on this view.

The cascading terraces of the new building are shaped and angled such that the profile of the building forms an inconspicuous backdrop behind the Stratford House roofline, ensuring this key view is improved.

Project Team:

Client: Clivedale Ventures Limited

Architect: DSDHA

Interior Design: FKA Architecture+Interiors

Landscape Architect: Grant Associates

Structural Engineer: WSP

Planning Consultant: DP9

Townscape Consultant: Richard Coleman

Contractor: McAleer & Rushe