Belgravia — a period mansion-block apartment reconfigured within its retained structure

The brief

A London property investor commissioned a full refurbishment of an apartment in a period Belgravia mansion block, designed by Reza Parizi of Price Parizi. The brief was to reconfigure the layout and bring the flat to a premium residential standard, while keeping the building’s period character intact.

The property and the constraints

A period mansion-block apartment in Belgravia, in the kind of building where the structure, the neighbours and the heritage fabric all set the rules before the design does. The flat needed taking back to its shell, but the columns and load-bearing walls had to stay exactly where they were. The original timber windows and the cornicing were worth keeping. And because the flat sits inside an occupied block, every delivery, strip-out and noisy phase had to be planned around the building and the people living around it. There was no skip space on the street and little room to store anything inside, so waste left the site continuously instead of piling up. On a small central-London flat that is a constant discipline, not a one-off clearance.

The build

Full internal strip-out: existing kitchen and appliances, two bathrooms, all floor and ceiling finishes with their insulation, and the entire plumbing and electrical systems. Careful removal of non-structural internal walls, with columns and load-bearing walls retained. Cornicing kept where it could be saved. New layout, two new bathrooms, new kitchen, full rewire and re-plumb. All radiators removed and replaced with system-powered underfloor heating throughout, with the 120-litre hot water cylinder concealed inside a kitchen unit. Heritage timber windows refurbished and draught-proofed, with secondary glazing added for warmth and quiet. The front door refurbished and upgraded to a 60-minute fire rating, and fire-rated doors fitted internally. Premium decorative finish throughout.

Challenges and how we resolved them

The reconfiguration had to happen inside a fixed structural cage. We stripped the flat to its shell but kept every column and load-bearing wall, so the new layout was designed around what could not move rather than against it. The windows were the second decision. Replacing period timber sashes in a building like this is rarely the right answer, so we refurbished and draught-proofed the existing windows and added secondary glazing — better thermal and acoustic performance, original windows kept. Fire safety was the third. In a multi-occupancy block the upgrades matter, so the front door was brought up to a 60-minute rating and internal doors replaced with fire-rated equivalents, without making the flat read like a fire-door showroom. Heating was the fourth. Rather than give up wall space to radiators in a compact flat, we removed them all and laid system-powered underfloor heating throughout, then hid the 120-litre hot water cylinder inside a kitchen unit. The flat got back usable wall and floor space, and the servicing disappeared into the fabric.

Approach

We worked to the architect’s tender schedules — finishes, fittings, doors and windows specified line by line — and coordinated with Reza Parizi throughout. Strip-out first, back to sound structure. Mechanical and electrical first-fix before any finishes went on. Then a finishing sequence held to a premium tolerance, because in a flat at this level the snag list is written by the eye, not the spec.

The result

A period Belgravia apartment taken back to its structure and rebuilt as a contemporary home, with the cornicing, the proportions and the original windows kept and the services, layout, bathrooms and kitchen all new. Fire safety upgraded. Warmer and quieter than it was, with the heritage glazing still in place.