Chelsea Harbour Living

Admiral Square is entered off Temple Avenue which runs round behind Carlyle House and Kings Quay.

In contrast to many of the other parts of the Chelsea Harbour development, Admiral Square is mainly brick-built in a mixture of traditional town house and mews house styles which is very attractive. Even the roadway between the terraces is brick-lined. Admiral Square is open at the Temple Avenue end. On either side, two terraces of houses run back from the road. At the far end, the terraces join a crescent- or bow- shaped block of flats. On either side of Admiral Square are arches which give pedestrian access to the unbuilt area towards the river on one side and to Kings Quay on the other.

The roadway runs right up the middle between the terraces. The surface is made up of bricks laid in an attractive herringbone effect. Each house on left and right has its own private front area, separated from the next by identical box hedges and attractive terracotta plant holders. The separation between the public access and the private drives in Admiral Square is emphasised by the use of slightly darker bricks laid in square patterns. Different coloured bricks in different patterns are then used to mark out the ‘front garden’ from the path to the front door. The forecourt is made additionally attractive because trees are planted right the way down and it has Victorian-looking lamp posts. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make what could have been a desert of tarmac, into something very attractive and homely.

Each Admiral Square house has its own garage. Next to it and set slightly back within the structure to provide a porch, is the main door. There are also cupboards for deliveries here. Above the garage door and running right along the front of each terrace is a large concrete balcony with a row of very attractive railings. There are three floors above the garage level. Each Admiral Square house has two sets of windows. At the first floor level where the balcony is, each house has a pair of French windows. At second floor level there are large windows and at third floor there are windows in the same style but slightly smaller, again in the 19th century tradition. It is all pulled together as a design by the identical stone-work of the lintels above the windows.

The building at the end of Admiral Square is a convex crescent. There is a ground floor door which gives access to the flats above. Outside the first floor windows is a substantial stone balcony with stone railings. This is supported on proper-looking columns. The windows for the flats above mirror those of the houses along the sides.

On the Kings Quay side of Admiral Square the terrace houses present a very similar façade at upper levels. They have their own individual first floor balconies. The windows are the same. But at ground floor level there are walled gardens of different sizes. There is also an attractive profusion of mature bushes and plants and flower beds which extend right round to the river frontage.

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