Southside Quarter, Burns Road, London SW11

Situated within the gated grounds of a Victorian school conversion on Battersea’s Burns Road, this two-bedroom split-level apartment has an incredible sense of volume. It’s on the first floor, with tall windows and soaring ceilings that diffuse natural light across the ground and mezzanine levels. The building is within the Latchmere Estate Conservation Area, close to the leafy paths of Battersea Park and the buzz of Battersea Power Station.

The Building

The apartment is within one of the buildings that made up the former Latchmere School, an excellent example of a London Board school. It was built in 1883 under the direction of E. R. Robson, the first architect to the School Board for London, who pioneered the use of the Queen Anne style for school architecture. The buildings were redeveloped into apartments in 1996.

The Tour

The gated grounds of the handsome former school building are accessed by a secure voice entry system; a daytime caretaker looks after the grounds on weekdays. Carefully planted beds surround well-maintained lawns. The apartment is laid out over the first floor and is characterised by subtle, refined touches that speak to the considered craftsmanship employed throughout.

Engineered oak floorboards begin in the entrance hallway and continue across both levels. From the hallway, where there’s a WC and storage, is the main open-plan living space. The kitchen is at the back of the room, where cabinetry flows beneath elegant quartz countertops. It houses twin Blanco sinks, a double-width fridge freezer, three Neff ovens and a six-ring gas hob. There’s more cabinetry and a double wine cooler within a generous central island, where an overhanging countertop, also quartz, forms a neat breakfast bar.

A dining area at the front of the room is arranged below two tall sash windows that draw light into the space. The upper part of the wall is barefaced brick, which complements the oak used here to form deep sills beneath the sashes.

Stairs with black treads, open risers and black spindles reach up to the mezzanine level above. A versatile space, it’s currently configured as a living and working area and is bounded by black steel railings along one side.

There are two bedrooms: one on the ground floor, and one on the mezzanine level. The main bedroom is accessed via a small lobby beyond the ground-floor living space. Dual-aspect windows and impressive ceiling heights give it an airy feel, while exposed brick and timber storage introduce warm tones to the palette. Adjacent is the en suite bathroom, executed with monochromatic tiling that, on the walls, has a tactile wave texture. A luxurious bath sits on a plinth at one end, with a walk-in shower behind a frameless glass screen at the other. A substantial walk-in wardrobe with plenty of storage space can be accessed from the bedroom and from the entrance lobby.

Upstairs, the second bedroom has a peaceful, cosy feel, care of its secluded position. It has plenty of storage within a bank of inbuilt wardrobes and in the adjoining wet room-style en suite.

Outdoor Space

Meticulously maintained communal grounds surround the building. Its lush lawns are dotted with a variety of thoughtful and enchanting plantings, including huchera, lavender, roses, ferns, grasses, and fir bushes.

The apartment also has access to an allocated parking space.

The Area

Southside Quarter is just off Burns Road, a quiet residential street in the Latchmere Conservation Area of Battersea. The area has a broad range of popular shops, restaurants, bars and cafés. Latchmere Recreation Ground, with its children’s playground, is just along Burns Road.

Battersea Park, also close by, is one of London’s best-loved green spaces. Spanning 200 acres and laid out between 1854 and 1870, the Grade II*-listed park has an extensive frontage and riverside promenade to the Thames. Wide, leafy avenues meander around a large boating lake and through open lawned areas, with notable trees, children’s play areas, a children’s zoo, Pump House Gallery and sports facilities. The Pear Tree Cafe is set beside the lake and offers vibrant evenings of live music, with food by ex-Petersham Nurseries alumni Annabel Partridge and Will Burrett.

There are plenty of schools locally for all ages, including the excellent Newton Prep School and Thomas’s School, while excellent independent day schools are located nearby in Chelsea.

The closest train stations are Battersea Park, Queenstown Road, and Clapham Junction, each around 15 minutes away on foot, while regular bus services run to the West End and to Chelsea. For Underground services, the Northern Line extension at Battersea Power Station is around 20 minutes’ walk east. Victoria Station can be reached via bus from Cadogan Pier, from which the Thames Clipper Uber boat service connects to the City and Canary Wharf.

Tenure: Share of Freehold
Lease Length: approx. 999 years remaining
Service Charge: approx. £4,000 per annum
Council Tax Band: F