First look at Chelsea Barracks: the gardens of controversial £3.5 billion site opened to public for first time in 150 years

Development altered after intervention from Charles opens gardens to public for first time in 150 years.
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It has taken 12 years and survived a bitter court battle, a royal intervention and Brexit, but today the wraps were finally ready to come off the £3.5 billion new neighbourhood at the former Chelsea Barracks.

The Standard was given an exclusive preview of the gardens designed for the residents of the housing scheme — where even the cheapest two-bedroom apartment costs £5.25 million and six-storey townhouses, each with their own basement swimming pool, start from £37 million.

Residents will start moving into the first 68 apartments and 13 houses from August, with hundreds more homes being built over the site’s 13 acres opposite the Chelsea Flower Show grounds.

Open spaces make up 40 per cent of the development with garden designer Jo Thompson — a four-times gold medal-winner at the world’s most prestigious horticultural event — brought in to “Chelsify” the planting.

The biggest open space, Mulberry Square, was inspired by the colourful striped paintings of London-born artist Bridget Riley and is more than 100 metres long.

From today, the gardens will be open to the public for the first time in more than 150 years after this slice of Belgravia was enclosed and turned into barracks to house two battalions of infantry.

The site was sold by the Ministry of Defence for £959 million in 2007 for a then record price to a consortium made up of the developers Qatari Diar — owned by the Gulf state’s royal family — and Christian Candy’s Guernsey-based CPC Group.

However, the original plans to build “a load of One Hyde Parks” on the site were scrapped in 2009 when Prince Charles wrote to the then prime minister of Qatar describing how his “heart sank” when he saw the “Brutalist” steel and glass designs from architect Lord Rogers.

Qatari Diar later withdrew its planning application sparking an £81 million legal dispute with Mr Candy that was settled in 2010.

A more traditionalist scheme of Portland stone blocks and garden squares, from architect Squire & Partners and landscaper Neil Porter, was drawn up and is now close to completion.

Richard Oakes, of Qatari Diar, said: “Today’s buyers are very different to those of 2007 and 2008. The reason this scheme has been successful is that there is a sensitivity to it, a nod to the local vernacular … It feels like a piece of Belgravia.”

Prince Charles has been kept abreast of the progress of the development and has an open invitation to visit, Mr Oakes added.

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