Cavalry barracks, designed from 1959, built 1967-70. Architects Basil Spence & Partners; structural engineers Ove Arup & Partners; main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine & Sons Ltd.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport disagreed with Historic England’s recommendation for this case. For further information please contact the Historic England Listing Group.

Plans for the first barracks to occupy the present site were submitted for Royal approval in March 1792 by the architect James Johnson. The decision to rebuild reflected the Army’s desire for more efficient and better-sited facilities, but also anticipated a nationwide campaign of barrack building in response to governmental fears of civil unrest and radicalism. The barracks was occupied in December 1793 by the First Regiment of Life Guards. By 1795 the complex included a quadrangular barrack block of three storeys (with stabling for 385 horses on the ground floor and living quarters above), hospital, officers’ quarters, forage barn, horse infirmary, riding school and ancillary buildings. By the mid C19, concern at the overcrowded, obsolete and dilapidated accommodation at Hyde Park barracks led to an open architectural competition for a replacement, won in 1855 by the brothers Thomas Henry and Matthew Digby Wyatt. After much deliberation and delay, including the appointment of a Barrack and Hospital Improvement Commission, the War Office resolved to rebuild in 1876, commissioning designs from T.H. Wyatt.

The barracks were rebuilt in 1878-80 in red brick with Portland stone dressings in a mixed classical style. Officers of the Royal Engineers including the architect Lieutenant H. H. Cole were responsible for the planning, whilst Wyatt appears to have supplied elevations only. At the east end of the site were two parallel barrack blocks fronting Knightsbridge and Hyde Park and enclosing a parade ground. They too had solders’ accommodation over stables. To the west was a riding school, three-storey officers’ quarters, officers’ stables and an infirmary stables; a high boundary wall enclosed the whole site. The Barracks escaped enemy action during the Second World War, but the ensuing decades saw the inadequacy of the accommodation again raised. In 1956 the War Office proposed to rebuild the barracks to provide accommodation for both squadrons of what is now known as the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (HCMR): the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals (a regiment formed in 1969 from the Royal Horse Guards and Royal Dragoons). There was to be stabling, a riding school and a forage barn for over 270 horses and quarters and mess facilities for over 500 soldiers, including married quarters.

(Sir) Basil Spence was approached in 1957 to produce a masterplan for the Hyde Park Barracks and over the next two years helped to draw up the brief. Spence may have been recommended by Lord Mountbatten, an acquaintance with close ties to the Household Cavalry; no other architect seems to have been approached. A formal commission from the War Office was forthcoming in November 1959, when Spence was asked to rebuild the barracks to his own design, but adhering to governmental cost limits and the Army’s standard barrack specifications. A multi-headed client body included representatives of the Ministry of War (incorporated into the Ministry of Defence in 1964); the Ministry of Works (renamed the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works in 1962 and incorporated into the Department of the Environment in 1970); and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. From the start, the commission combined prestige and controversy. Spence initially benefited from the support of (Sir) Donald Gibson (architect to the War Office 1958-62) and John Profumo (Secretary of State for War 1960-63). Notwithstanding, certain aspects of the design were persistently criticised by the public, planning authorities and amenity societies alike. The principal reservations – the perceived inadequacy of the site and the impact of building upon the fringes of Hyde Park – had also dogged Spence’s C18 and C19 predecessors.

A long phase of negotiation commenced in early 1960 when Spence presented outline designs to the Royal Fine Arts Commission (RFAC) and the London County Council (LCC). After objections to the tower, Spence circulated various alternatives, including a design featuring a long slab block. The RFAC were eventually persuaded that the merits of a tower, which permitted a larger riding school and parade ground, outweighed its visual impact on Hyde Park. Discussions with the LCC revolved around the permitted ‘plot ratio’ of the tower and its planning guidelines on tall buildings. Negotiations with the Treasury resulted in cost-saving amendments such as the co-location of the stables and forage barn and the relocation of the officers’ mess from the top floor of the tower to a lower building. The latter decision was influenced by a regimental tradition of riding the drum-horse from the stables to the mess wardrobe room, which would have required a lift of sufficient dimensions to accommodate a mounted horse (Glendinning 2012, 202). After completing further alterations requested by the Regiment, Spence’s scheme received final approval in July 1963.

Detailed design work then commenced, supervised by Spence and associate-in-charge Anthony Blee. The design vocabulary of concrete arches and red brickwork is also present at Spence's contemporaneous Sussex University (begun in 1960). It was influenced by Le Corbusier’s Maisons Jaoul (Paris) of 1954-56 and Darbourne & Darke’s Lillington Gardens housing (London Borough of Westminster), won in competition in 1961. The Victorian barracks were demolished in late 1965 and work started on site in February 1967. The barracks were completed in October 1970 at a final cost of over £4 million, some £1.2m over the contract estimate, prompting an investigation and legal action against Spence and his contractor. Problems soon arose after the Cavalry moved in when it was discovered that horse urine was corroding the concrete structure. An Army report of 1971, however, found that the initial occupants were satisfied with their new barracks.

Critical response was initially distinctly mixed, with debate centring on the appropriateness of the tower. The matter was famously raised by Lord Molson in the House of Lords: ‘Basil Spence will go down in history remembered as being the man who perpetrated the defacement not only of one of the Royal Parks, as in the case of the Barracks, but of two (Hansard, 4 July 1972; this is a reference to 50 Queen Anne's Gate, a Spence project which overlooked St James’s Park). The complex also received praise: the architect Michael Manser commented in The Observer, ‘On completion it represents almost the only building of distinction to have been built adjoining Hyde Park since the last war. Robustly modelled, romantically flamboyant and slightly whimsical, this is a twentieth century London barracks’. Building praised the architectural design as ‘elegant and immaculately detailed’. In July 1982, soldiers and horses from the Blues and Royals were killed in the IRA Hyde Park bombing close to the barracks.

Late C20 / early C21 alterations included the addition of the band practice room; the heightening and refurbishment of the Stables (Block A) and Barrack Block (Block C); the refurbishment of the messes in Blocks B and D; and partial window replacement including the Tower (Block F) and Married Officers' Quarters (Block G). Much of the shuttered concrete originally left exposed as an interior finish has since been painted. Hyde Park Barracks at the time of writing (2015) accommodates approximately 340 soldiers and 255 horses.

Sir Basil Spence (1907-1976) was one of Britain’s best known C20 architects. In 1959, Spence was then at the apogee of his career, an establishment figure and the closest the architectural profession had to a household name. Coventry Cathedral was finished in 1962 and the commissions for the British Embassy in Rome and the University of Sussex had recently been secured; a knighthood soon followed, as did the Order of Merit. By the 1970s, Spence’s critical reputation had waned and his later works suffered from a wider backlash against modern architecture and an increasingly vocal conservation lobby. In recent decades Spence’s career and works have been the subject of critical re-evaluation and major studies by architectural historians, particularly following the centenary of his birth. At the time of writing (2015) he has 17 separate List entries to his name on the National Heritage List of England, of which two are Grade I (Coventry Cathedral and Falmer House at the University of Sussex), and nine are Grade II*.

Cavalry barracks, designed from 1959, built 1967-70. Architects Basil Spence & Partners; structural engineers Ove Arup & Partners; main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine & Sons Ltd.

MATERIALS: construction is of reinforced-concrete, the exposed edge beams and shallow arches and vaults having board-marked finishes. The lower buildings are clad in red brick in stretcher bond with raked joints. A contrasting reeded finish was chosen for the concrete frame of the Tower (Block F) and the northern elevation of the Stables (Block A), achieved by pick hammering in-situ. Windows are metal framed (replacements* are not of special interest). Internal finishes include fair-face brickwork, board-marked reinforced concrete (over-painted in many places) and painted plastered surfaces.

LAYOUT: Hyde Park Barracks occupies a narrow and tapering site between Knightsbridge (to the south) and the South Carriage Drive of Hyde Park (to the north). The site is occupied by eight blocks (including the tower) and enclosed by high brick walls. The principle of separating pedestrian from equestrian circulation led to a ceremonial entrance for horse traffic on South Carriage Drive. This is marked by the re-set tympanum of the Victorian Riding School and gives access to the parade ground. Pedestrian and vehicular entrances are located on the Knightsbridge site.

The following 'EXTERIOR' and 'INTERIOR' description of the individual blocks traverses the site from east to west; it adopts the naming scheme (Block A etc) in use at the barracks since its initial occupation in 1970. Overall, the interiors are generally plain or altered throughout the complex, and not of particular interest unless otherwise noted.

STABLES (BLOCK A): the Stables are located at the east end of the site. Of approximately square plan, Block A comprises two floors of stabling over a basement, and is accessed from the west and east by ramps. A rooftop storey* was added in the early 1990s, externally clad in zinc; it is not of special interest. Block A is clad with red brick over which is a high concrete parapet. The Hyde Park (north) elevation has a strong rhythm of projecting concrete ventilation shafts (with pick-hammered reeded finish), alternating with brickwork into which are let horizontal slit windows. The Knightsbridge (south) elevation has a cantilevered deck to the upper floor, supported on deep single and paired concrete beams, and leading to an escape ramp to the east. Canopies cantilevered from the parapet mark the entrances to the stable. The end (east) elevation is blind, apart from a double-height opening and concrete piers at ground-floor level. To the west is a bridge link to Block B and a stair/lift tower with board-marked concrete finishes internally and externally. The stair/lift tower was remodelled and heightened in the early 1990s; these interventions* are not of special interest. At the entrance to the first-floor is a memorial tablet, mounted on a brick plinth, commemorating the seven horses killed in the 1982 Hyde Park bombings. Between Blocks A and B is an early C21 circular covered horse walker*; this is not of special interest.

Overall the interior is utilitarian and purely functional. Two stable floors, one for each regiment, are each served by their own forage stores, cleaning facilities, and saddle and tack rooms. The upper-level stable opens onto a balcony overlooking Knightsbridge Road. Each stable contains five ‘stabling halls’: parallel rows of stalls. The majority of original stalls have been replaced by larger loose boxes*; these are not of special interest. The ceilings are high and supported on secondary beams and deep transverse beams. The secondary beams are of trough-section and act as internal drains for gullies in the floors above. Dung passes from chutes into containers on a moving belt, which is in turn conveyed to a lorry collection point. Much of the servicing, including mechanical ventilation, plumbing and goods lifts were replaced in the early C21, when the concrete floor surfaces and ramps were resurfaced. The services* and floors and ramp surfaces* were designed for periodic renewal and are not of special interest. The basement includes a forage barn, which is connected to the stables by lifts. The 1990s additional storey* contains locker rooms and equipment storage and is not of special interest.

OTHER RANKS’ MESS (BLOCK B): Block B is a rectangular structure of four storeys with two basement floors. It is planned around a central lift core and the upper floors are lit by two light wells. The upper two storeys are brick-clad with windows variously grouped into vertical and horizontal groupings, arranged according to the internal planning. The elevation is further relieved by voids ‘cut into’ the volume, across which run exposed lengths of the structural frame. The upper floors are cantilevered out to the north and south, supported on five bays of shallow barrel vaulting with projecting beam ends. The lower floors are arranged on a regular grid, clad in reinforced concrete and incorporating a vaulted undercroft. The central bay to the north has a concrete canopy cantilevered over the main entrance, which incorporates a first floor balcony. The Knightsbridge (south) elevation has a varied treatment with a blind first floor with ribbon window set underneath a broad concrete edge beam. The upper floors have, respectively, a double row of horizontal slit windows, and windows largely of sash proportion. Between Blocks B and C is a recessed lift/stair core of board-marked reinforced concrete, heightened in the early 1990s. The 1990s heightening* is not of special interest. A covered walkway links the blocks at first-floor level.

At ground-floor level is a two-bay, open-fronted undercroft for the inspection of the guard in inclement weather. The adjacent forge comprises a shoeing area and smithy with four furnaces and anvils. Acoustic baffles suspended from the vaults of the forge are later additions. The first-floor mess was originally an imposing interior with board-marked concrete finishes, slatted timber ceilings and partitions and a mural by John Spence. It has been altered by the insertion of a suspended ceiling, the over-painting of concrete finishes and the loss of the Spence mural. Elements and finishes associated with the subsequent refurbishment* are not of special interest. The upper floors contain a social club, games room and bar; a shop, kitchen and stores; administrative, welfare, training and conference facilities and a tailors' shop. The basement contains the quartermaster's department, offices, saddlers' shop and full dress store (the latter relocated here in 1996).

BARRACK BLOCK (BLOCK C): The Barrack Block is an elongated rectangle fronting Knightsbridge to create space for the parade ground to the north. Originally of six storeys, a seventh was added in the early 1990s. The long elevations are of similar appearance: four storeys and fourteen bays boldly cantilevered over the two lowest storeys. In the depth of the cantilever is a canopied walkway with a vault of board-marked reinforced concrete. The upper floors have a complex bay rhythm of windows of varying proportion, horizontally separated by recessed panels of board-marked concrete. Groups of one and two bays are separated by a narrow, deeply-recessed bay of board-marked concrete. The window frames are early C21 replacements*; these are not of special interest. The 1990s addition* comprises a zinc-clad Mansard roof with dormer windows and is not of special interest.

On the Knightsbridge elevation, the raised and lower ground floors take the form of double-height brick panels flanked by narrow windows and concrete spandrel panels; there are rows of slit windows to the recessed bays. To the north, a cloistered walkway (of sufficient height for a mounted soldier in full dress uniform) is reached by blue engineering brick steps. The north elevation is punctuated by an off-centre stair/lift core, detailed with blind storey-height panels of board-marked reinforced concrete, flanked by vertical slit windows. Into the ground floor panel has been cast the regimental arms, set within a circular frame. On the south elevation, the same bay is recessed and carried down to the boxed-out commanding officer’s office at raised ground floor level. Underneath is the main pedestrian entrance to the barracks. Central to the west elevation are twin vertical strips of windows, of similar appearance to the long elevations. The two storeys of office accommodation under the vaulting continue to the west in the form of a two-storey, flat roofed block.

The raised ground and lower ground floors contain the administrative offices. Above are soldiers’ barrack rooms, originally single rooms for corporals and four-man rooms for troopers. The bedrooms retain original skirting boards and radiators. The accommodation has been refurbished (including the removal of many of the fitted units for uniform storage) and are now of little interest internally. All replacement* elements associated with the refurbishment of Block C are not of special interest. The stairwells have board-marked concrete walls and balustrades with steel handrails.

NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS’ MESS / GYMNASIUM (BLOCK D): Block D is square on plan and adjoins Block E to the west. It is of four storeys with a brick-clad reinforced concrete frame. As with Block B, the varied shape and disposition of its openings reflects internal planning. The ground and first floors are largely blind, presenting four vertical slit windows to South Carriage Drive and a double-height entrance to the south. The six bays of barrel vaulting and projecting beams to the gymnasium are exposed to the east elevation, the narrower vault in the southern-but-one bay highlighting the main entrance. The deep, board-marked beams are exposed in the north and south elevations. The second floor windows are narrow slits; those to the east vertical and those to the north and west mostly horizontal. The openings to the third floor have vertical proportions and extend upwards to reveal the concrete edge beam. An opening in the west elevation gives access to a concrete spiral stair to the flat roof of Block B.

The basement contains workshops, a former rifle range (converted to stores) and an armoury. On the ground floor is a double-height gymnasium with a vaulted ceiling, brick walls and clerestory windows in the arches. The softwood floor* is a replacement, and is not of special interest. The first-floor mess is a largely open-plan space with a dining area and bar; the suspended ceilings* are later additions and are not of special interest. The anteroom to the mess, originally top-lit from a concrete vault, has been altered by the insertion of a suspended ceiling* and the replacement* of built-in seating and other finishes. Elements and finishes associated with the subsequent refurbishment* are not of special interest. Two C19 statues of guardsmen, previously removed from the Victorian barracks to plinths in the anteroom, are now positioned at the entrance. The first floor also contains the riding master’s office, which looks out onto the Riding School (Block E). The principal stairwell is a grand space with walls and balusters in painted, board-marked concrete (onto which a set of royal arms from the C18 barracks has been remounted) and brass and painted steel handrails. Other staircases generally have fair-faced brickwork to external walls; painted, board-marked concrete internal walls and balustrades, and painted tubular steel handrails. The fourth floor contains living quarters for non-commissioned officers.

RIDING SCHOOL (BLOCK E): Block E is a rectangular, double-height pavilion fronting South Carriage Drive and adjoining Block D to the east. Its reinforced-concrete frame is clad in brick and surmounted by ten bays of shallow vaulting which boldly oversails the south elevation. Clerestory windows are set into the arches. The main entrance is off-centre on the south elevation. The doors are electrically-operated, the controls being mounted on a pedestal to the right. The Riding School interior is a single-volume, double-height space, lit from clerestory windows and artificial lights hung from the archivolts (the lights* are later additions and not of special interest). The interior is of painted brick, with walls slanted at the base to prevent horses pushing riders into the wall. The lower walls are lined in timber tongue-and-groove boarding over a cement plinth. Angled mirrors are affixed to the walls, and a set of internal windows in the east wall allow the Riding School to be viewed from the riding master’s office in Block D. Between the south-east corner of Block E and an external ramp is a band practice room* of 1994. It is of two storeys of red brick with a zinc-clad roof, and is not of special interest.

FORMER MARRIED QUARTERS TOWER (BLOCK F): Block F, also known as the Peninsular Tower, is a residential point block of 33 storeys. It is of reinforced concrete construction comprising floor slabs and pre-cast edge beams bearing onto cross walls (the ends of which are exposed) and four external columns. The latter elements counteract the horizontality of the alternating ribbon windows and bush-hammered edge beams. The windows to the staircases have projecting concrete frames. The tower terminates in an elaborately modelled ‘corona’, and the cross walls jut out at the base to form fins. The main entrance is at an elevated position from the ground floor, accessed from a stepped walkway to the south. The Tower is square on plan, with four flats to each floor, divided by cross walls and a linear service zone of stairs, lifts and service risers. The interiors are very plain and not of special interest. There are three two- bedroom flats, with a corner living room, kitchen/diner and bathroom; the north western flats have three bedrooms. The flats, originally intended for family accommodation, were in 2014 refurbished to provide single living accommodation. The window frames*, doors*, and kitchen* and bathroom* fittings are replacements, although the original layout and some fittings have survived. At the top of the Tower are storage and plant rooms and a pair of squash courts with a mezzanine viewing gallery.

MARRIED OFFICERS QUARTERS’ (BLOCK G): Block G, also known as Waterloo House, comprises a row of eight maisonettes of cross-wall construction, raised over a wide vaulted undercroft and a lower ground floor. The vault structure comprises shallow vaults set between paired beams which clasp columns of H-section. Both lower floors currently serve as car parks. The structure is partly exposed and partly clad in brick. The undercroft is cantilevered out to the south to support a raised access deck, and to the north to provide the flats with a balcony. A set of concrete spiral stairs (incorporating a central refuse chute) provides gated access from Knightsbridge to the access deck; to the west, a further set of external dog-leg stairs connects with a first-floor link to Block H. The lower maisonette floors have wide picture windows and a recessed entrance bay. The projecting upper floors have a rhythm of recessed bays, unified by the horizontal edge beam, oversailing brick courses, continuous clerestory windows and concrete parapet. The early C21 replacement windows* are not of special interest.

The flats have a ground-floor kitchen, small entrance hall, WC, and stairs with timber handrail. Beyond is a living room with access to a balcony overlooking Hyde Park. The upper floors have four bedrooms a bathroom and a clerestory-lit landing. The westernmost flat, designed for the commanding officer, is wider and accommodates five bedrooms. The interiors are plain with few fittings of interest.

OFFICERS’ MESS (BLOCK H): Block H, the smallest of the principal buildings, is situated at the west end of the barracks. Construction is of reinforced concrete with brick cladding. There are two storeys over a four-bay vaulted undercroft, of similar design to Block G, and basement. A rooftop plant room, set back from the walls, is clad in zinc with dormer windows. The principal front, to South Carriage Drive, has two wide, fully-glazed bays, with sliding French windows at first-floor level giving access to a projecting reinforced concrete balcony and an iron balconette. They are flanked by narrower bays of vertical windows, those to the left being early C21 replacements*. The Knightsbridge elevation has an asymmetrical pattern of wide and narrow bays (with replacement early C21 windows*) which reflects the internal planning. The west elevation is dominated by a monumental boxed-out stair tower with fully-glazed end walls and vertical slit windows at the re-entrant angles. The east elevation is of five bays, comprising three central bays of small horizontal windows (the uppermost windows set into a projecting concrete structure at roof level), and flanking bays of vertical windows. The replacement windows* in Block H are not of special interest.

The building is entered from a raised terrace within the undercroft. Wide steps were intended to provide a ceremonial entrance from Knightsbridge; these were cut off by railings later installed around Block H to Spence's design. A flight of replacement steel stairs gives access to the terrace. Here are two pairs of stone busts of military worthies, namely the Duke of Somerset, Lord Raglan, the Marquess of Londonderry and Viscount Hill, sculpted by Thomas Earp. They were salvaged from the C19 building and have been mounted on tall plinths.

Block H has a higher level of internal finish, is more ambitious in layout; the mess proper constitutes a series of set-piece interiors of clear special interest. From the entrance hall (the later addition of the entrance kiosk* is not of special interest), stairs with tubular brass handrails and brass trims to the risers lead up to the mess rooms. The anteroom and the dining room are well-appointed, double-height spaces, with hardwood floors, painted and plastered walls and wooden skirting boards. There are tongue-and-grooved softwood doors with substantial brass handles incorporating the regimental crest. Heating outlet plinths of wood and metal run around the perimeters of the rooms, and ceilings are separated from walls by a narrow gap. The ante room has full-height picture windows in wooden frames overlooking Hyde Park. A fireplace in the east wall has an arched cast-concrete lintel; mounted above is an oval panel of the arms of the House of Hanover, re-sited from the earlier barracks.

The adjacent dining room features a waist-height hardwood shelf supported on steel brackets. Across its width runs a mezzanine gallery; a timber slatted ceiling with integrated lighting is incorporated into its soffit. Access to the gallery is obtained via a slender spiral staircase of white-painted steel with oak treads inlaid with brass strips and a brass handrail. The gallery has a plain balustrade with brass handrails, and incorporates built-in reading desks with pen troughs and cylindrical reading lamps. In the north west corner is a small games room. To the south are three bedrooms for junior offices, with nine similar bedrooms on the upper floor. The basement originally contained the wardrobe room, for the storage of full dress uniforms, now relocated to Block B.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: the barracks are enclosed by a series of perimeter walls, in the same red brickwork as used for the buildings, and steel railings, painted black. The railings were added in the early 1970s to the designs of Basil Spence & Partners after IRA bomb threats. The eastern portion of the Knightsbridge boundary comprises brick panels with paired returns, the position of which align with the double beams of Block A. A vehicular entrance with metal gates is located between Blocks A and B. The walling between Blocks B and E is stepped to negotiate the tapering site. In front of Blocks C, panels of railings are set within brick plinths and posts. They include a wide vehicular gate and smaller side gate. Between Blocks D and F the brick boundary wall is surmounted with railings. The open undercroft to Block H is bounded on all three sides by high railings. More recently, low concrete bollards* were added around the steps; these are not of special interest.

The western portion of the Hyde Park boundary has railings of similar design. A brick wall continues to the east, connecting Blocks A, D and E which front directly onto the pavement. The ceremonial gateway is surmounted by a large pediment reused from the C19 Riding School, and features a decorated tympanum carved by Thomas Earp. This features the heads and forequarters of rearing horses set within a background of scrolled acanthus leaves; it is a deliberate exercise in antique primitivism and is of note as the most prominent reminder of the previous barracks complex. A clock is set into the original oculus. The pediment is set over imposts of board-marked concrete (their inner face incorporates sentry posts) and a double-leaf timber gate. The gateway is flanked by brick panels featuring (left) a slate plaque commemorating the opening of the barracks in 1970 and (right) a replacement signboard* (the signboard is not of special interest). Into the wall to the east has been incorporated a bronze plaque commemorating the death of Major M.F.M. Meiklejohn at Hyde Park in 1913. In front of Block B is a group of plaques* unveiled in 2008 by the British Horse Society; these are not of special interest. The walling in front of Block B is divided into brick panels with paired returns. Within the complex, immediately south of Block E is an early C20 granite horse trough.

* Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest.