Post-War Redevelopment
Between 1955 and 1960 office-building greatly altered the
appearance of the Knightsbridge Green area (fig. 27). The
opportunity was taken to carry out some road-widening at
this time, both in Knightsbridge and Brompton Road, but
no important changes were made to the rather congested
road pattern, and the overall effect of the redevelopment
fell far short of complete transformation. In the late 1950s,
however, plans for Knightsbridge Green were put forward
which, had they been implemented, would have turned the
road intersection at Scotch Corner into a roundabout comparable to those at Marble Arch and Hyde Park Corner,
overlooked by some of the biggest tower-blocks in central
London. The Knightsbridge Green development, it was
confidently asserted in the early 1960s, reached back 'over
the town planning chaos of recent years to recapture
London's diverse and vital character'. (ref. 107) The utopian
vision lingered until 1965, when it faded away in the light
of changed economic conditions.
The scheme, which effectively originated with the London County Council (LCC), began to take shape during
the planning of Land Securities' Bowater House a few
years earlier (see page 59). (ref. 108) It was intimated then that the
new entrance to Hyde Park under Bowater House at Edinburgh Gate (replacing that at Albert Gate) would be the
first stage in a long-term plan to improve traffic circulation, the intended centrepiece being the roundabout at
Scotch Corner. Subsequently the LCC Town Planning
Committee liaised closely with the owner of almost all the
ground likely to be affected by such a scheme, Capital and
Counties Property Ltd, to produce a development plan satisfactory from road-traffic, commercial, and 'civic' angles.
Early plans drawn up by Capital and Counties' architects Guy Morgan & Partners featured blocks of 116ft and
126ft, but the Committee felt that there was a strong case
for a much higher building on civic grounds. The LCC,
under its Architect Hubert Bennett and Senior Planning
Officer Leslie W. Lane, accordingly produced a modified
scheme. This proposed a colossal slab-block on a podium
(320ft high in all) between Sloane Street and Brompton
Road, facing Bowater House across the roundabout, where
a smaller slab-block was to be sited. By 1962 the great
roundabout, which was to take in the entire Park Mansions
site, had been freed from buildings altogether, taking on
the form of a sunken 'piazza'. Instead of the large slabblock there were to be three tower-blocks containing flats,
offices, and a hotel, mounted over a shopping precinct connected by escalators to the Underground and more shops
at basement level. The scale of the cluster of towers – the
tallest more than 400ft high – was such as to have dwarfed
Bowater House. At the new Knightsbridge Barracks, then
in the planning stage, Sir Basil Spence's intended pointblock was designed to form a visually appealing group with
this civilian trio.
Figure 27:
Knightsbridge Green area in 1991
In July 1965, however, Capital and Counties announced
that their project was unlikely to be carried out, citing a
number of reasons including the increased cost of building,
technical difficulties to do with the relocation of Basil
Street fire-station as part of the development, and the
problem posed by protected residential tenancies under the
forthcoming 1965 Rent Act. Without the associated property development, it was out of the question for the LCC to
finance the road improvements and the entire project fell
by the wayside.
No special architectural or 'townscape' interest attaches
to any of the post-war blocks already erected hereabouts
when the Knightsbridge Green scheme was formulated.
Caltex House (No. 1 Knightsbridge Green and Nos
44–58 Brompton Road), was designed by Stone, Toms &
Partners for Edger Investments Limited (a subsidiary of
the Alliance Assurance Company), and built in 1955–7 by
Sir Robert McAlpine & Sons Limited. (ref. 109) Occupying the
site of Tattersalls' auction yard and adjoining properties,
the building incorporates Tattersall's Tavern, a new public
house replacing the Pakenham Tavern, the demolition of
which allowed the eastern end of Raphael Street to be
straightened. (ref. 110) As a further nod to the history of the site,
Caltex House is adorned with a sculpture representing
horses, Triga, by Franta Belsky, made of reinforced concrete coated with plastic metal. (ref. 111)
Adjoining Caltex House to the west is Silver City
House (Nos 58A–64 Brompton Road), designed by Frank
Scarlett for Beaufort Estates and constructed c. 1956–8 by
Harry Neal Limited. (ref. 112) Like Caltex House, this presents a
low range of shops to Brompton Road, with taller offices
behind. Also facing Brompton Road, and largely outside
the old parish boundary of St Margaret's, Camelot
House (Nos 66–76 Brompton Road) was designed by
Gunton & Gunton and built in 1960 for the City of London Real Property Company Limited; it was originally
called Lionel House. The development includes a Post
Office and depot in Lancelot Place. (ref. 113)
To the north of Raphael Street, Mercury House (Nos
195–199 Knightsbridge) was built in 1956–9 to designs by
Guy Morgan & Partners. It comprises three linked office
buildings with views north over Hyde Park (Plate 18d).
The inspiration for the development is said to have come
from Sir Aynsley Bridgland, chairman both of Haleybridge
Investment Trust Limited, the owners, and of the old
Knightsbridge firm Humphreys Ltd, who built it. (ref. 114) In
front of the buildings stands The Seer, a bronze figuregroup of 1957 by Gilbert Ledward (Plate 18c).
Prudential Assurance, the owner of Caltex House,
bought Mercury House in 1986 and subsequently obtained
the adjoining properties between Knightsbridge Green
and Lancelot Place, with the exceptions of Silver City
House, the Normandie Hotel and the sites of Nos 171–3
Knightsbridge. (ref. 115) A scheme for the complete redevelopment of this enormous site was proposed but ultimately did
not go ahead, and Mercury House has since been sold off
separately. At the time of writing (2000), refurbishment
rather than wholesale replacement of all this property
seems in prospect. <Mercury House was demolished in 2002 for 'The Knightsbridge', a high-rise residential development designed by Squire & Partners, completed in 2005.>