268 Fulham Road: From old boozer to boutique beauty

Number 268 Fulham Road has lived many lives. Most of them have been as public houses under names such as Redcliffe Arms and The Fulham Bar & Grill. It was even the Chelsea Lodge Hotel once, but it has just entered an entirely new phase of being as luxury boutique homes. 

 

To get to that stage, it took a team of architects, engineers and interior designers, working for property developer Linton, a year completely tearing apart the dilapidated building.

 

“It was deeply unloved, shall we say,” says Gemma Gordon-Duff, who designed the apartment for interiors firm Tessuto. “We were unable to use any of the original period features. But actually it worked out brilliantly for us because we were able to plan the floor spacing and work with these incredibly high ceilings, which turned what could have been nice apartments into ‘wow’ apartments.”

 

All of the floors were removed and replaced with dark oak panelling and new floor levels were created which freed up another 150sqft of space. The disused attic has also transformed into a £2.95m, three-bedroom duplex penthouse. The rest of the space has been converted into a collection of five one- and two- bedroom apartments.

 

But it wasn’t just the building that posed a problem – the development sits on the corner of Fulham Road and Redcliffe Gardens, one of the busiest junctions in Chelsea. To combat the noise pollution,  the team had to fit quadruple glazing  (two sets of double-glazing for each window) in to completely block out the sound of traffic and heat-air exchange systems were installed throughout to circulate fresh air. 

 

Once the structure was set, Gordon-Duff went to work on the furnishings and artwork, which are tailored to each apartment. Soft greys are interspersed with bright pops of colour, and storage space is hidden within built-in wardrobes, in the mansard roofs around the border of the penthouse, and behind concealed doors and mirrors to keep things crisp and tidy.

 

“They’re loft-style but not aggressively contemporary. I wanted to do something that would do this amazing space justice and be sympathetic to the building.”