The existing house was originally designed in 1896 by Sydney R. J. Smith, also the architect for Tate Britain. The house had been lived in by several prominent families culminating in Queen Mary occupying the property in 1931. Home to the Brazilian Embassy for many years, the house has been acquired by a prominent Middle Eastern family who are looking to create a new London Home.

The approach taken is to carefully restore the main body of the house and replace a more recent side addition with a series of spaces that will be highly contemporary and will form a striking contrast to the original historic house. Part of the strategy is to create a continuous double-height vertical garden that will provide a visually remarkable backdrop to life in this new home.