Kensington Roof Gardens is a roof garden covering 1.5 acres (6,000 m²) of the top of the building at 99 Kensington High Street, in central London, near Kensington Gardens. The gardens are situated 100 ft (30 m) above street level, and provide a panoramic view over west London on a clear day.
The gardens were laid out between 1936 and 1938 by Ralph Hancock , a landscape architect, on the instructions of Trevor Bowen (then vice-president of Barkers, the company that then owned the site and had constructed the present building in 1932). The lower floors of the building were previously the location of Derry and Tom 's, a department store, and later Biba.
The garden is split into three parts:
- a formal Spanish garden, in a Moorish style, with fountains, vine-covered walkways and Chusan palms;
- a Tudor garden, with wisteria and roses;
- an English woodland garden, with over 100 species of trees, a stream, and a garden pond that is the home to some ducks and flamingos. Despite being on a rooftop, the trees were made the subject of tree preservation orders in 1976.
Kensington Roof Gardens are are not very widely known because they are not a tourist attraction, but are run as a restaurant and nightclub. The Roof Gardens have been owned by Sir Richard Branson since 1981, and, with Necker Island and two properties in Africa, they form part of the Virgin "Limited Edition".
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Last updated: 05-16-2005 08:25:12
