With interiors by Bryan O’Sullivan and an elevated art scheme, The Capston – Ballymore’s legacy residential project next door to the US Embassy in Nine Elms – channels the past to reshape the future of the London apartment building.
A dazzling new apartment building is taking shape next door to the US Embassy in London’s Nine Elms. In its conceptual intent and ambition, The Capston owes more to the grand tradition of iconic New York apartment blocks from the early 20th century such as the San Remo or El Dorado than to the rash of well-appointed but forgettable residential towers that have lined much of the nearby stretch of the Thames.
Recently launched, though still in its early stages of construction, The Capston is described by its developers Ballymore as “the final piece and crowning glory” of its Embassy Gardens development between Battersea Power Station and Vauxhall Station. The area, as part of the wider Nine Elms regeneration zone, was one of the last tracts of post-war industrial London to be developed, with the relocated US Embassy providing momentum for what is now a thriving quarter that includes restaurants, bars, the Sky Pool, and company HQs such as Apple and Penguin Random House.
“The Capston will be the final and most coveted location at Embassy Gardens, destined to take its place among the historic addresses bordering the great River Thames,” says Ballymore’s founder and CEO, Sean Mulryan. “We wanted to create a building that will push Ballymore to new heights.”
“The Capston will be the final and most coveted location at Embassy Gardens, destined to take its place among the historic addresses bordering the great River Thames.”
Sean Mulryan, Founder and CEO, Ballymore
To walk into the parts of The Capston that are already complete is to appreciate that Ballymore is backing these sentiments with action. For starters, Bryan O’Sullivan has been detailed as the project’s interior designer, and his hand is already evident. The Irish-born, London-based designer is known for his work at addresses such as Claridge’s and the Connaught in London – but he’s also one of the finest residential designers of his generation, with landmark projects from Beaux-Arts Paris houses to superyacht interiors. Most importantly, he has a boldly recognisable look that blends the innovative precepts of materiality that lay behind Art Deco with a completely contemporary sensibility.
O’Sullivan is a wise choice by Mulryan, who is himself a long-time lover of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, and their collaboration is already evident in the reception area and show apartments. “It seemed to me the perfect project to draw inspiration from the great pioneers of the Art Deco movement to create interiors that are works of extraordinary beauty and that represent something truly special for this final phase of Embassy Gardens,” Mulryan says.
The foyer is a perfect example, both in brief and execution. The Deco influences are clear in the marble arches, burled wood panelling and stained-glass ceiling dome by Stuart Suckling. It is not a pastiche; rather, it is doing what Art Deco’s proponents were doing a century ago, which was to harness the best available artisans, materials and techniques, and to shape them into a piece of architectural art.
When it reaches completion in 2028, The Capston will consist of 247 residences, from studios to three-bedroom apartments, set across two buildings that connect in the middle via the ground-floor reception areas, communal parts and Japanese gardens. The apartments are decent sizes, but rather than prioritising vast lateral space, they have taken their design cue from the ideal of the London townhouse, with liveable rooms on a human scale. All have terraces with views, and all will be finished to exacting standards.
However, it’s in the communal parts that The Capston truly excels. The library, for example, is a room designed to linger in. As harmonious in dimension as a Georgian country house, it also brings to mind the care with which the communal spaces in New York’s iconic Steinway Tower have been restored – which is to say, they are spaces that transcend function and are designed to last a century. Overlooking the courtyard garden, the library’s walnut burled walls, marble arches and inset ceiling frame the centrepiece – a ceramic sculpted fireplace by Fabienne L’Hostis.
The same care and attention has been paid to The Hepworth – the private cocktail bar and restaurant for residents, situated on the upper floors with stunning views over the city. While it is still a way from completion, the scheme includes a hand-painted ceiling mural by the artist Sam Wood – an example of the important role art will play throughout The Capston.
“I have been enjoying and collecting art for the greater part of my life, and over time, it has proved to be a great source of inspiration and joy,” says Mulryan. “At The Capston, we are proud to be placing today’s leading artists, artisans and designers unreservedly at centre stage – it is our ambition for The Capston to become a repository of all that is excellent in the world of art, craft and design.”
“It is our ambition for The Capston to become a repository of all that is excellent in the world of art, craft and design.”
Sean Mulryan
Examples are evident throughout the building’s plan, including works by the figurative sculptor Anna Gillespie, contemporary artist Guggi and marble sculptor Vincenzo Muratore. There is even an “Artist’s Parlour” – which, with the Drawing Room, Library and Foyer, forms a quartet of interconnected rooms in the reception pavilion. Beyond these spaces lies a residents’ gym – also designed by Bryan O’Sullivan – which is every bit as elegant as the reception rooms.
There’s a lot to recommend in The Capston. The extent to which Ballymore is leaning into its art, design and architecture is to be celebrated: they are clearly competing not on size, height or square footage – though they have all those things, too – but on the value that the authenticity of one’s surroundings can add to life. This, together with the world-class concierge service they are building into the design from the ground up, makes The Capston, when it is complete, a highly compelling player in the capital’s residential scene – and one that could set the benchmark for decades to come.
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