Albert Court, Prince Consort Road, South Kensington, viewed from Prince Consort Road. The block of mansion flats was built between 1890-1900 to designs by Frederick Hemings and later R. J. Worley, on land acquired previously by the Commissioners of the 1851 Exhibition. The building and road were named after Prince Albert, the driving force behind the successful Exhibition and subsequent development of the area. Initially in 1861, the Commissioners leased a large area of the land to the Royal Horticultural Society for gardens. In 1862, a second major exposition, the International Exhibition, was held in buildings surrounding the gardens. A combination of the RHS's financial difficulties and the Commissioners masterplan to develop the area as a cultural centre for the arts and sciences saw the RHS leave Kensington in 1888. Parts of the former gardens were leased for private housing to help finance the building of museums and educational institutions. Albert Court was built on a triangular site with a curved east-north facade on Kensington Gore following the outline of the former gardens, a west-facing elevation onto the South Steps leading to the Royal Albert Hall and a southern elevation on the newly-created Prince Consort Road. Albert Court was Grade II listed in 1981, listing number 1227161. The seven-storey block is faced with red brick and stone banding with iron railings to the basement. The southern facade is decorated with balconies supported by Corinthian columns and has conical roofed turrets at either end. The stone balustraded steps up to the Royal Albert Hall are visible, Grade II listed in 1987, listing number 1227182. There are a number of cars at meters and in parking bays. A nineteenth-century cast-iron street lamp converted from gas is in the foreground. Albert Court lies within the Knightsbridge Conservation Area designated in 1968 and is still extant as a residential block in 2023. The steps are also extant and were renamed Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Steps in 2013.
