St John's Wood - Luxury homes to replace King's Troops' barracks

Published: 24 September 2010
by JOSH LOEB

A MAJOR project to turn St John’s Wood Barracks into upmarket housing will begin next year after a resubmitted planning application got the thumbs up from Westminster City Council. 

Gun salutes and trotting horses are to give way to 12 apartment blocks containing 133 upmarket flats and homes after ceremonial regiment the King’s Troop leave the historic military complex next year.

City Hall as just approved the plans, which will include the construction of 59 affordable units, available to households collectively earning less than £57,600.   

The Grade II-listed riding school, built in the early 1800s, will be retained and converted into a private leisure centre by developers, The Trustees of the Eyre Estate, to designs drawn up by architects John McAslan and Partners.

Forty of the units will be council housing and 19 will be “intermediate units,” shared ownership or flats available on a discount rent.

The plans followed an earlier application that drew criticism from local residents worried about loss of light from the building.

Councillor Robert Davis, deputy council leader and chairman of the planning committee, said: “This marks an exciting new phase for this historic site and although it will be sad to see the King’s Troop leave, the proposed development will greatly enhance the local area. 

“The scheme skilfully combines modern and traditional architecture, and is of a high quality design which is sympathetic to the surrounding area. The fact that half the homes will be affordable, along with the creation of a leisure centre in the Grade II-listed riding school, ensures the development benefits the whole community, while protecting the architectural heritage of this wonderful site.”

The St John’s Woods Barracks is one of the few built during the post-Waterloo period to improve security in the capital. 

They include a neo-classical officers’ mess dating from 1921 and modern buildings built in the 1970s.