CONTACTAward-winning residential developer London Square has acquired a former care home and convent site in the heart of one of the capital’s most historic conservation areas - neighbouring the magnificent Royal Hospital Chelsea, home to the Chelsea Pensioners.
London Square purchased the freehold 0.74 acre site in Tite Street for £54m from the Daughters of the Cross, an international Congregation, which established St Wilfrid’s’s Convent there in 1976, providing a hostel for working women, which later became a care home. The funds raised by the sale of the site will be used by the charity to support its continued delivery and development of the wide range of services it provides to vulnerable and marginalised communities wherever the Sisters minister.
Constructed in the 1970s to replace a former children’s hospital, the care home closed in 2019 and the convent vacated in 2023. Tite Street, which links Royal Hospital Road to the Thames Embankment, has a rich artistic and literary lineage, with famous residents including Oscar Wilde, whose former home is adorned with a blue plaque. Artist John Singer Sargent also lived there.
Tite Street mainly consists of handsome four-storey Victorian and period homes. The existing buildings for the St Wilfrid’s Convent are listed as a negative element in Tite Street, which forms part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s Royal Hospital Conservation Area. The National Army Museum is next door, a designated national museum with a Royal Charter granted by Elizabeth II in 1960, which exists to inspire the public about the story of the Army and the people who served in it.
An extensive consultation by London Square will now commence with residents in Tite Street and the surrounding area, the Royal Hospital, the National Army Museum, ward councillors and officers from Kensington and Chelsea Council, the Chelsea Society and other key local interest groups, to help shape plans to return the site to a residential streetscape with attractive new homes in keeping with its heritage location. Gallery space for local artists as a community use is being considered as part of the plans.
London Square is working with the National Army Museum to incorporate its car park into the scheme which would provide the Museum with a rare opportunity to extend with a new underground exhibition and gallery space, and a new landscaped garden with public access.
Known as the Chelsea Heritage Quarter, the area is one of the most fashionable and coveted districts in prime London, with The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and home to 300 Chelsea Pensioners, as one of London’s most splendid landmarks. The Royal Hospital hosts the Chelsea Flower Show each year, attracting many thousands of visitors each year. London Square sponsored a garden at Chelsea last year, winning Gold for its London Square Community Garden, which was visited and admired by the King and Queen.
Sloane Square, the shops, bars and restaurants of the King’s Road and the Thames are all within walking distance. With its listed buildings, garden squares and leafy streets, Chelsea has retained its village feel, with generations of families living in the area, as well as international buyers attracted by its cachet and central location.
London Square has an outstanding track record for delivering developments in historically important locations. A notable example is the award-winning restoration and conversion of the Grade II listed Star and Garter Building on Richmond Hill, where London Square worked closely with its former owner, The Star and Garter Homes charity. The sale of the building enabled the charity to build three new homes to provide care for service veterans.
Adam Lawrence, Founder and Chief Executive, London Square
Adam Lawrence continues "We look forward to working with the local community and the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to deliver a new chapter for the site, returning it to residential use with exceptional design that will enhance and reflect the rich heritage of the street and its illustrious neighbours.”
Sister Veronica Hagen, The Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross, said: “Daughters of the Cross has supported the vulnerable and elderly in the UK since 1863, while St Wilfrid’s Care Home provided care to its residents for more than 40 years. We are sad to have to say goodbye but the sale of the site will support the continued delivery and development of a wide range of services to vulnerable and marginalised communities wherever the Daughters of the Cross minister.”
Justin Maciejewski, Director, National Army Museum
Justin Maciejewski continues "This will enable us to achieve our vision to share the history and heritage of our soldiers and their service in the Army, across the globe and down the centuries. This is a once in a generation opportunity to enrich the cultural landscape of this wonderful Royal borough.”
Knight Frank’s Residential Land and Education & Charities teams jointly acted in the sale of 29 Tite Street. Head of Central London Land Nick Alderman said: “Knight Frank worked closely with the Daughters of the Cross to identify a buyer appropriate for this remarkable site and its charitable past. We saw strong interest and a competitive bidding process, which is testament to the rarity of this exceptional site.”
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