One of the most famous city parks in the world, London's Hyde Park, is surrounded by upmarket residential areas – Kensington to the west, Mayfair to the east and Knightsbridge to the south. –
With some of Britain's royal family in residence at Kensington Palace, the grand Dorchester Hotel on Park Lane and Knightsbridge's famous retailers Harvey Nichols and Harrods all a short walk from anywhere in Hyde Park, the area is synonymous with the wealth and class.
But the north side of Hyde Park, which traces its history back to Henry VIII, has sometimes lagged behind in terms of lofty status. Until now.
Park Modern is a new-build development on Bayswater Road, on the north side of Hyde Park, boasting 57 one-to-six bedroom residences, including a £60 million ($76 million) penthouse of more than 7,000 square feet.
It's the £530 million dream and now luxury reality of the developers Fenton Whelan, who are among several companies spearheading the £3 billion rejuvenation of the Queensway area.
The aim is to create a new world-class residential location with upscale and luxury amenities and make the area between Marble Arch and Notting Hill one of London's trendiest neighbourhoods.
With projects that include real estate, luxury hotels, shops, restaurants and public spaces, the reinvention of Queensway would bring the area into line with the desirable locations to the south and the east of Hyde Park.
Park Modern is the brain child of the two founders of Fenton Whelan, former investment bankers Sanjay Sharma and James Van Den Heule.
The building is designed by the architect Lee Polisano, with a wavelike facade looking over the park's trees.
The balcony's view stretches from Kensington Palace to the Royal Albert Hall, from Westminster and the City of London, preceded by Hyde Park.
The south-facing aspect means the views are guaranteed from sunrise to sunset.
“We’ve been working on this for 10 years,” Mr Sharma told The National. “This is our flagship development.”
“The south of the park was always viewed as the prime residential area, but we always thought that the geographic positioning of the south-facing view, looking down across the Park to the beautiful buildings was actually a superior location and I think that’s been proven right.”
The development has 52 one to four bedroom apartments, three penthouses and two mews houses.
The apartments have full-height windows and private terraces that look over Hyde Park. All the bedrooms have en suite bathrooms, and the principal suites having a walk-in dressing room.
The entrance halls feature Calcatta Vogue white marble slab flooring and kitchens with Gaggenau appliances.
Prices for a one-bedroomed apartment at Park Modern start at £2.15 million.
“We’ve had buyers from everywhere. The first group of people were ex-pat Brits who used to live in either Singapore or Hong Kong and wanted to come back to the UK,” Mr Van Den Heule told The National.
“Also, there were people downsizing from Kensington, Notting Hill and Holland Park, and then we had a really eclectic mix of European and Middle Eastern buyers from the UAE and Qatar.”
Mr Sharma added: “We’ve got people from the tech industry, pharmaceutical industry, a few finance people – so, a real gamut of professionals as well as geographies.”
Self-style in a huge penthouse
At £60 million, the top floor 7,000 square foot penthouse is being sold as what's referred in the industry as a “shell and core”. This means it is a large empty space that can be designed and filled by the buyer.
The shell and core principle allows the buyer to configure their own penthouse.
Luxury amenities
Park Modern also features a host of luxury amenities.
The building has a 24-hour concierge, a 25 metre swimming pool, vitality pool, sauna and steam rooms, a modern gym, spa, private cinema, treatment room and salon, all serviced by hospitality firm Rhodium.
When Mr Sharma and Mr Van Den Heule first had the idea for Park Modern, they wanted to have an upmarket restaurant in the building for the community and residents.
The result is The Park restaurant by leading London restaurateur Jeremy King.
Mr King is one of London’s most successful restaurateurs and has owned and managed a host of celebrated restaurants including Le Caprice, The Ivy and The Wolseley, as well as founding Mayfair’s Beaumont hotel.
The Park is one of three restaurants that Mr King has undertaken recently, with Arlington in Mayfair and Simpson’s in The Strand, due to open early next year.
The Park feels like an American diner with a luxury edge; an upmarket cafe with a homely aspect.
“We wanted to have something that was accessible all day, rather than it being a trendy nightspot or a breakfast cafe. This is all of the above,” Mr Van Den Heule told The National.
Park Modern aims to be different from London's skyscraper blocks of flats in places like Vauxhall or Docklands.
It aims to give residents luxury amenities just an lift ride away, but they're also part of an area that is undergoing a major rejuvenation.
