Marlborough Buildings: Difference between revisions

Building in Walton Street, Chelsea

The Marlborough Buildings is the original name for two historic blocks of flats in Chelsea. They were built in 1890 by the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company on the site of cottages in Bull’s Gardens.^[1] This was part of a late Victorian movement to improve housing for the working poor. At the time the site was regarded as a poor area.^[2] In Charles Booth’s poverty map map the area is classified as “Very poor, casual. Chronic want”.

The buildings consisted of two blocks with a courtyard in between. They provided low cost housing for 500 people. The entrance was through an arch from Walton Street.^[3] It was one of a number of social housing projects in Chelsea.^[4] The original owners sold the property and in the 1970s and 80s, the flats transitioned from low-rent social housing into private ownership. The site was renamed The Marlborough – reflecting its gentrified status as a desirable address. In 2015, the courtyard was redesigned by Chris Dyson Associates^[5] and the landscaping was undertaken by Frost Landscapes.^[6]