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Eaton Square 1

Eaton Square was one of three garden squares in Belgravia commissioned by the Grosvenor Estate to house Prime Ministers and ambassadors. Today, most of the houses are divided into apartments that are substantial in scale and generous in proportion. James Gorst was approached to completely remodel this flat throughout.

The design fuses luxurious materials and fine finishes with clean modern lines. There is a degree of continuation from Shelley Court with a degree of sobriety lightened up by contemporary pieces and art. In the sitting room there are silk curtains at the windows, furniture by Christian Liaigre and Philippe Hurel, rugs by Sandy Jones, as well as a painting by Robert Motherwell over the fireplace…that shines out against a palette of predominantly neutral and natural tones.

The master bathroom is one of the most dramatic spaces in the apartment. Here, Nero Portoro marble is used to create a series of marble-clad enclosures for the shower and other services in a composition reminiscent of an art installation.

“I admit (despite the fact that there were builders finishing up) that it was jaw-droppingly beautiful.”

Evening Standard, February 2007
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James Gorst’s work has helped to heal one of the most unnecessary and painful wounds in contemporary British architecture: between the traditionalists and the modernists. Like Louis Kahn in the United States or Peter Zumthor in Switzerland, Gorst reminds us that modernism can be beautifully reconciled with the underlying principles of classicism and that modern materials and idioms can carry all the elegance, dignity and grandeur associated with historical masterpieces.

Alain de Botton

© 2025 James Gorst Architects. All rights reserved.

Design: Tom Green Design. Build: Designagogo.