The historic Victorian headquarters of Lund & Blockley, luxury watchmakers to the late Queen Victoria, the UK royal family and Indian Maharajas, has been turned into a scheme of four multimillion pound apartments, with ground-floor foyer and 2,840 square foot art gallery.
Situated in the heart of St James’s, a prestigious location in the West End of London, The Pall Mall Collection, by Amazon Property in partnership with McLaren Construction Group, is situated on the north side of Pall Mall, close to St James’s Park and Palace, Clarence House and Mayfair.
Around 1869-70, the property at 42-43 Pall Mall was remodelled and became the shop premises and London headquarters of Lund & Blockley – the Bvlgari of their day – which made luxury pocket-watches. The property was acquired by Amazon Property in 2010 and was converted between 2013 and late 2015 to provide an art gallery and apartment foyer with dedicated concierge on the ground floor, with lift access to the four luxury apartments on the floors above.
The Pall Mall Collection has a retained “floating façade”, the Victorian original because of its historic significance. Behind, Amazon Property has created a striking new building with floor-to-ceiling glazing and open contemporary interiors.
There is one 1,762 square foot three-bedroom apartment per floor, with a 2,575 sq ft duplex penthouse across the top floor. The foyer and the entrance hall to each apartment has Art Deco-style feature flooring.
Each apartment has an entrance foyer opening on to a double reception, spanning the entire width of the building, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Pall Mall.
The upper floor of the duplex penthouse provides a dual aspect entertaining space with floor-to-ceiling windows to the front and rear façades, opening on to large private terraces.
On the lower floor are three VIP bedroom suites, with private terraces.
“Historically St James’s was an overlooked area in the heart of London’s West End. The Crown Estate has begun a multimillion pound investment project that is turning St James’s into a luxury retail, 5-star hotel and residential address; a sister neighbourhood to adjacent Mayfair and Belgravia,” said Chris Lanitis, the director at Amazon Property.
The initial September 2015 off-plan release of apartments at The Pall Mall Collection has now been sold, enabling Amazon Property to release the current collection of lateral apartments and duplex penthouse now that the scheme is built complete. Prices for the current release at The Pall Mall Collection range from £5,250,000 (Dh24,088,489) to £8,950,000.
Q&A: Amazon Properties reveals some more about the ultra-luxury development.
Are you expecting high demand for the apartments?
The initial September 2015 off-plan release of apartments at The Pall Mall Collection has already been sold, enabling Amazon Property to release the current collection of apartments and the duplex penthouse now that the scheme is complete.
At a starting price of more than £5 million, the interiors must be pretty high-end?
Each apartment is finished to an exacting and luxurious specification including Japanese inspired full height timber and glazed doors and pocket doors in Nero finish; sleek yacht-style high gloss lacquered custom fitted wardrobes; individually designed handmade kitchens with Calacatta Michelangelo marble and granite worktops.
What was the inspiration behind the design of the apartments?
The horological and royal history of the building helped inspire us, and is echoed in the marquetry, fine details and bespoke luxury we have created in the apartment living spaces. In our view it is fitting that a historic luxury brand headquarters from the Victorian era has now been given a fresh lease of life as luxurious ultra prime apartments.
Tell us a little more about the former residents, Lund & Blockley.
In 1885 they presented Queen Victoria with a special 18K gold pocket watch with the portrait of the Queen painted on enamel. From then onwards each new collection made at Pall Mall were marked as ‘Watches To The Queen’. The Royal marketing enabled the firm to sell opulent jewelled pocket watches to India’s wealthy Maharajas, with clients including the Maharajas of Patiala, Mysore and Orchha and the Nizam of Hyderabad, at that time the wealthiest man in the world. In the 1930s the firm was bought out by Camerer Cuss, a rival watch company. After the Second World War the building was occupied by the Northern Assurance Company.
* Chris Nelson
chnelson@thenational.ae
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