Decorating Park Square

Park Square was designed by John Nash and built between 1823 and 1825 as the formal southern gateway to Regent's Park, the great metropolitan improvement scheme conceived by Nash for the Prince Regent. The two terraces, Park Square East and Park Square West, flank the entrance to the park from Marylebone Road, creating a grand architectural portal that announces the transition from the commercial bustle of central London to the designed landscape of the park. Nash's design for Park Square was characteristically ambitious, conceiving the terraces as palatial compositions that would rival the great aristocratic mansions of Mayfair while actually containing individual houses of more modest dimensions. The stuccoed facades, with their giant-order columns, pedimented centrepieces, and balustrated parapets, create the appearance of a single palatial building on each side of the square, an architectural conceit that Nash perfected in his Regent's Park terraces. The original residents were drawn from the upper echelons of society, including titled aristocrats, wealthy merchants, and distinguished professionals who valued the prestige of a Nash address and the amenity of the park setting. During the twentieth century, many houses were converted to professional and institutional use, particularly medical practices drawn by the proximity of Harley Street. The terraces suffered bomb damage during the Second World War, and several sections were rebuilt in the post-war period, maintaining Nash's original design. Park Square is Grade I listed and falls within the Regent's Park Conservation Area, with the Crown Estate maintaining oversight as freeholder and both Camden Council and the City of Westminster exercising conservation controls.

The decoration of Park Square's Grade I listed Nash terraces demands the absolute highest standards of heritage painting, under the close supervision of the Crown Estate's surveyors, the conservation officer, and Historic England. The stuccoed facades must be painted with Keim mineral silicate paint in the approved colour, which replicates the warm cream tone of the original Parker's Roman Cement that Nash specified. All stucco repairs must use lime-based materials that replicate the characteristics of the original render, and any replacement of decorative elements, including column capitals, entablature mouldings, and cornice profiles, must be carried out by specialist plasterers using traditional techniques. The monumental scale of the facades means that scaffolding is a major undertaking, requiring coordination with the Crown Estate and careful planning to minimise disruption to the multiple occupiers. The giant-order Ionic columns require special attention, as their curved surfaces demand a paint application technique that produces an even film thickness without runs or sags. The elaborate Regency ironwork requires the most painstaking hand preparation, with the anthemion crests and scrollwork patterns demanding small tools to reach every surface. The protective paint system must use traditional linseed oil-based products in the approved colours, typically black for the railings and dark bronze green for the gates. The timber sash windows, of substantial section appropriate to the scale of the architecture, benefit from traditional linseed oil paint in off-white or cream. Any colour changes require formal approval through the listed building consent process.