No. 3 Fitzroy Square is a grand Grade I listed townhouse designed by the pre-eminent Georgian architect, Robert Adam. Completed at the end of his career in 1798, it stands at the centre of an impressive palace-fronted terrace forming the east side of the Square.

Intended as an elegant city house for the Georgian aristocracy, it features a Palladian Portland stone façade, a sweeping top-lit cantilevered stone staircase and finely decorated marble fireplaces. The first-floor drawing room spans the full 3-bay width of the house with floor-to-ceiling sash windows framing views of the square’s private garden.

James Gorst Architects were involved with restoring the house in one way or another since 1998. At the time it was a run down office connected to a 1950s asbestos-contaminated mews. Following periods of gradual alteration, changes of ownership and lengthy planning discussions the building was finally comprehensively renovated and extended in 2022. The works included the construction of a new mews house and the full conservation of the historic spaces. Restoration work was extensive and fastidious. The damaged façade was repaired and a missing bucrania frieze was reinstated using casts based on surviving Robert Adam drawings.

The architecture of the new mews house is differentiated from the historic parts of the house whilst echoing its elegance and spatial generosity. A new modern Portland stone cantilevered staircase mirrors the primary Adam stair in the historic house and a new walkway connects the historic piano nobile with a dramatic vaulted modern kitchen in the mews.

At lower ground level an articulated ceiling spans a new travertine-lined swimming pool and sauna, both naturally lit through the existing lightwell. The quiet calm of the finished house belies the complexity and multiplicity of trades involved in its restoration. The house can once again be enjoyed as it was originally intended.

Photography by James Retief.