Parliament View, an Overview

Overlooking the Houses of Parliament this magnificent glass and steel apartment block houses 190 luxury apartments. Developed in the late 1990s and completed in 2001 Parliament View boasts spectacular riverside views and a design that is the envy of many architects.

Located at 1 Albert Embankment the development is within walking distance of many major London landmarks including The London Eye, Tate Modern and of course the Houses of Parliament. As a result, Parliament View attracts investors, tenants, holiday lets and owner-occupiers all wanting bragging rights to one of the most prestigious developments in London.

A History of Parliament View

Parliament View is situated at the junction of Lambeth Road, Lambeth Bridge and Albert Embankment. The aim of the embankment was to reclaim land from the River Thames and to provide a clear road along the Southbank of the Thames.

This was part of a much grander scheme by engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette to a culvert (i.e. cover over) many of the open sewers and small rivers that ran through London during the Victorian Era and had been the cause of many plagues and infections. It is well known that Queen Victoria was a morally pious monarch and her quest to clean up London both literally and figuratively has essentially given us the London that we see today.

But while Queen Victoria and her royal consort Albert may have employed Bazalgette to clear up London’s actual filth and create the sewer system this did not stop the Victorians from getting down and dirty by indulging in more carnal passions. And those who live in glass houses, (perhaps like Buckingham Palace as Queen Victoria did,) shouldn’t throw stones.

Queen Victoria’s eldest son, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) had a reputation as a playboy prince that would have put today’s Prince Harry to shame. Likewise, Queen Victoria’s Grandson (i.e. Edward VIII’s son), Prince Albert Victor, was caught up in the ‘Cleveland Street’ scandal about a homosexual brothel. Indeed Victoria herself was not immune to scandal, as rumours spread about her affair with her Manservant John Brown after the death of Prince Albert.

It’s perhaps by ironic coincidence that as Bazalgette was developing London’s sewer system, society gossip filled the newspapers and Oscar Wilde was writing the lines: ‘We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars’ the term ‘gutter press’ was invented!

Contemporary history is perhaps reassuringly more pedestrian with the only hint of titillation being that one of the apartments in Parliament View was used while filming the successful TV show ‘Secret Diary of call Girl’ which followed the exploits of Belle De Jour, a London high-class escort.

Living & Investing In Parliament View

The Parliament View development gained an enthusiastic following from the outset. EPR, the architects behind the development are quoted as saying: ‘The form and style of the proposals found immediate favour with The Royal Fine Art Commission, English Heritage, and the Local Planning Authority’.

The design of the building purposely uses its curvaceous form, with full height faceted glazing, to work with the flow of the existing roads while also maximising the frontage to the Thames and thereby adding value to the site.

The interior of the apartments is as slick as the exterior, with beech timber flooring to the reception rooms and hallways, Poggenpohl kitchens ensure the domestic specification is as stylish as its demograph and the Philippe Starck bathrooms are no less than what Parliament View’s well-heeled residents would expect in such a development.

The 24 hr concierge, underground parking and resident’s gymnasium are of course all part of the package.

With its unique corner location, fabulous views and proximity to Westminster, the City and Canary Wharf, Apartments in Parliament View are in constant demand and their prices have held steady. Therefore, the development attracts a huge range of buyers from overseas landlords and investors to corporate tenants and genuine Londoners looking for a long term home.

If one were to try and typify a Parliament View tenant then one need look no further than the Woody Allen Film Match Point in which the lead protagonists; an urban, stylish and successful couple, purchase their first London apartment in Parliament View.

Parliament View & Beyond

Look out of the full height windows of Parliament View and you will see much of Central London before you. The famous bits. Wander a few streets left or right of Parliament View and you will find supermarkets, doctors, churches and pubs. The domestic bits. Read on to discover the adult stores, gentleman’s clubs and secretive hangouts. The naughty bits….

…Behind Parliament View lies Lambeth High Street once a bustling but dirty slum in the Victorian Era, now a quiet residential street. Wander a little further down towards a series of railway arches you will come to a number of what can only be described as ‘decadent’ nightclubs. Not your brawling, masses here but instead a select crowd of discreet, ‘specialists’ looking to meet like-minded people.

In the opposite direction, a short walk to The Cut in Waterloo will take you to Honour, a friendly and welcoming adult store. Also on The Cut is Chariots, a men-only health spa providing gentlemen with a relaxing end to a trying day.

For those who enjoy eating out, the Shepherd Market in Mayfair, (which was once renowned in Victorian times for its prostitutes and for being the home to many a gentleman’s mistresses,) now boasts some of London’s finest restaurants. Not least Scott’s on Mount Street, arguably London’s Best Seafood Restaurant, though Assunta Madre one of Mayfair’s newest establishments is reportedly giving Scott’s a run for its money.

And so having delved into the denizens and decadent delights of a more forbidden London should you wish to print out the digital mementoes of your experiences, Scott Collier owns Snappy Snaps, a photographic studio at the very end of the Shepherd Market where he offers a very discreet service for celebrities, and VIPs looking to have their favourite images enlarged reproduced and retouched. Possibly providing the perfect house gift for someone moving into Parliament View?