Lowndes Square is a residential garden square at the north-west end of Belgravia, London, SW1. It is formed of archetypal grand terraces of light stucco houses, cream or white. The length of the central rectangular garden is parallel with Sloane Street to the west; visible from the north-west corner is a corner of the Harvey Nichols store, beyond which is Knightsbridge tube station. Ecclesiastically (that is, in the Anglican Church), it remains in a northern projection of one of the parishes of Chelsea,[1] except its east side, which is in the very small parish of St Paul, Knightsbridge,[2] a division which is mirrored secularly by the boundaries of two London Boroughs (Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea).
Ownership and building design
The square has the highest percentage of highly anonymous (shell company) ownership in the UK, accounting for 40% of the houses.[3][bettersourceneeded]
Its houses are valued in excess of £10 million and so are mainly internally converted into apartments, some of which are multi-level. Locally listed building status for most of the buildings means the façades and exterior structure above ground must remain little changed. Nos. 11 and 12 have higher, main statutory-level protection.[4]
As with Belgrave Square, George Basevi designed most of the houses. Lowndes Court, a classical apartment block, takes up the south side bar No. 34 (former Nos. 28–33); the north side (former No. 50 and possibly higher) is the Park Tower (Hotel), which fronts Knightsbridge, an arterial road on the other side.
