Phase 1, Queen's Road Estate, Richmond upon Thames

Phase 1, Queen's Road Estate, Richmond upon Thames

This is a Grade II listed residential development comprising the first phase of a larger estate. Built on a 1.18 hectare site, it provides accommodation for 370 residents in 91 units ranging from two to seven persons, consisting of informally arranged two, three and four-storey flats, maisonettes and houses with one to four bedrooms. Some units include garages.

The buildings are constructed in red-brown brick with flush dressings in similar brick, with slate roofs visible where exposed. Windows and door units have been recently replaced with brown-finished aluminium double-glazed units designed to match the original timber windows. Steel balustrades are fitted to steps and balconies, while the site is enclosed by post and rail fencing with timber posts and tubular steel rails. Street names are inscribed in ceramic panels set into the brickwork. Hard surfaces include brick paving and coarse aggregate concrete driveways.

The layout is divided into distinct zones. To the south of Hobart Place, a southern group of irregularly massed attached houses, maisonettes and flats features both pitched and flat roofs. Set behind a brick wall facing Queen's Road, they overlook an enclosed courtyard to the rear accessed from Sayers Walk and by footpaths cutting through the terraces. Some units are reached via brick steps with brick parapets and steel balustrades, with offset entrances beneath sloping-roofed porches. Passages cut through at ground level provide entry to and views of the secluded inner courtyard. Upper floors overlooking the courtyard have windows opening onto steel balconies and flush dormers rising above the roofline.

The northern sections comprise regular terraces of two and three-storey units set over garages at semi-basement level, facing Hobart Place and Reynolds Place which serve as service roads. They are designed with flat roofs and blocky projecting bays that alternate with recessed entrance bays. These entrance bays have sloping, sometimes glazed, porches and slate-hung upper floors. Entrances on the angles with Chisholm and Cambrian Roads have glazed porches between brick cheeks, while some windows feature plain projecting brick architraves. Raised ground level entrances are linked by terraces and steps with steel balustrades. Flush rectangular dormer windows project above roof lines, and upper floors at the rear have windows opening onto steel balconies.

The northern angles with Chisholm and Cambrian Roads are offset and set back from the road behind trees, mitigating the impact on the existing street plan. The layout opens out to the east and is set into the hillside, with houses overlooking small private gardens and, south of Chisholm Road, a small communal playground. Footpaths lined with planting cut through to Chisholm Road and link it to Cambrian Road. The site adjoins existing houses on Chisholm and Cambrian Roads and backs onto woodland and Richmond Park.

Throughout the development, windows and most rear door units have been replaced in brown-finished aluminium double-glazed units with an added transom to conform with current building regulations. At junctions with public roads, brick parapet walls and post and rail fences define the space without creating barriers. Gardens are contained behind brick walls and fences. Pedestrian areas are paved and stepped, while sloping driveways are laid in coarse concrete aggregate lined in flush brick to provide grip and texture that integrates them within the overall scheme.

The interiors were not inspected.

Phases 2 and 3 of the development are not included in this listing.