London’s Sloane Street has been transformed into a ‘green boulevard’
Iconic shopping destination Sloane Street has had a facelift, now boasting wider pavements, enhanced seating and lighting, and a massive planting scheme

Last week marked the completion of the transformation of London’s Sloane Street – a project described by property management company, Cadogan Estates, as ‘one of the most significant streetscape improvements in almost 250 years’. The Chelsea address, which is known for its luxury shopping offering, has been turned into a ‘green boulevard’.
The plan was overseen by architecture practice John McAslan + Partners, whose chair, John McAslan, has described how Sloane Street’s generous width and architectural asymmetry allowed for the creation of a ‘grand boulevard’, with the objective of ‘enhancing wellbeing and increasing dwell time’. ‘Green infrastructure and a horticulturally-driven design’ have been implemented, as well as measures for ‘strengthening security and easing traffic’.
Sloane Street's transformation
The one-kilometre boulevard, which stretches from Knightsbridge to Sloane Square, has undergone a ‘greening’ achieved by a massive planting scheme inspired by the horticultural heritage of Chelsea, conceived by Flower Show-winner Andy Sturgeon. This scheme introduced more than 100 new trees, following a ‘royal’ colour palette of reds, purples and blues. The plants will offer year-round splendour with flowers, berries and a sculptural branch structure in winter.
A more pedestrian-friendly environment has been implemented by widening the pavement by 23 percent. Lighting has also been enhanced and street furniture introduced. Other changes include the introduction of granite and brass studs demarcating reconfigured parking bays; planters that act as a physical buffer between traffic and pedestrians; and artisanal iron lighting columns inspired by the Holy Trinity Church on Sloane Street.
McAslan has also described how the plan ‘enriches biodiversity and ensures a lasting environmental legacy’ for Sloane Street by implementing sustainability measures such as the use of UK-sourced stone, drought-resistant plants, and LED lighting to reduce energy consumption.
The history of Sloane Street
Sloane Street was originally commissioned by the 1st Earl Cadogan in the 18th century. 300 years later, the site is still owned by the same family, now the Cadogan Group, which is the main landlord in Chelsea and Knightsbridge, and the second-largest of the surviving aristocratic freehold estates after the Grosvenor Estate (comprising Mayfair and Belgravia). Cadogan invested £46 million in this project.
Today, Sloane Street is a London institution. In the 1990s, the Chelsea address became synonymous with the ‘Sloane Ranger’, the nickname given to the upper class young women who frequented the area and its proliferation of flagship stores for many of the biggest brands in fashion. The recent improvements to Sloane Street, argues McAslan, means that it now rivals the grandeur of Avenue Montaigne in Paris and Via Condotti in Rome.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
It all speaks to the question of how you create welcoming urban environments. In this case, the answer seems to be a combination of spaciousness, greenery, lighting and other meticulously-thought-out details, down to the warm hue of the Yorkstone that lines the street.
Anna Solomon is Wallpaper’s digital staff writer, working across all of Wallpaper.com’s core pillars. She has a special interest in interiors and curates the weekly spotlight series, The Inside Story. Before joining the team at the start of 2025, she was senior editor at Luxury London Magazine and Luxurylondon.co.uk, where she covered all things lifestyle and interviewed tastemakers such as Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors, Priya Ahluwalia, Zandra Rhodes, and Ellen von Unwerth.
-
Café Kitsuné x Iittala bring Nordic clarity to the coffee ritual
Finnish design house Iittala unites its modernist aesthetic with Café Kitsuné’s refined simplicity for a new mug collection, available in four colours
-
Tiffany & Co’s artist mentorship at Frieze London puts creative exchange centre stage
At Frieze London 2025, Tiffany & Co partners with the fair’s Artist-to-Artist initiative, expanding its reach and reaffirming the value of mentorship within the global art community
-
'They're like my friends:’ Max Lamb exhibits a decade of chairs in a former church hall
The British designer’s new London show, ‘Exercises in Seating' (until 2 November 2025), brings together over 30 diverse works in a circle of connection
-
Join us on a first look inside Regent’s View, the revamped canalside gasholder project in London
Regent's View, the RSHP-designed development for St William, situated on a former gasholder site on a canal in east London, has just completed its first phase
-
The Royal College of Art has announced plans for renewal of its Kensington campus
The Royal College of Art project, led by Witherford Watson Mann Architects, includes the revitalisation of the Darwin Building and more, in the hopes of establishing an open and future-facing place of creativity
-
Ursula K Le Guin’s maps of imaginary worlds are charted in a new exhibition
Ursula K Le Guin, the late American author, best known for her science fiction novels, is celebrated in a new exhibition at the Architectural Association in London, charting her whimsical maps, which bring her fantasy worlds alive
-
Max Creasy on the future of architectural photography and a shift to the ‘snapshot’
A show of photographer Max Creasy’s work opens at the AA in London, asking a key question: where is contemporary architectural photography heading?
-
Tour this immaculately composed Islington house for an art collector who loves entertaining
An Islington house by Emil Eve Architects, on coveted Thornhill Road, combines warm minimalism and some expert spatial planning
-
The new 2025 London Open House Festival tours to book
2025 London Open House launches this weekend, running 13-21 September; here, we celebrate the newcomers in the residential realm, flagging the exciting additions to the festival's growing home tour programme
-
Slides, clouds and a box of presents: it’s the Dulwich Picture Gallery’s quirky new pavilion
At the Dulwich Picture Gallery in south London, ArtPlay Pavilion by Carmody Groarke and a rich Sculpture Garden open, fusing culture and fun for young audiences
-
A whopping 92% of this slick London office fit-out came from reused materials
Could PLP Architecture's new workspace provide a new model for circularity?