At the inception of the redevelopment, the Conservative-led Hammersmith and Fulham Council, having granted planning permission, approached the Boundary Commission to have it re-designated as part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
(Nicholas Freeman)[5] Chelsea Harbour was designed by architects Moxley Jenner & Partners, developed by Mansford, with Bovis Homes Group serving as project management consultants.
The design required the contractor to reduce the size of the Dock by 1/3rd from the north end, to form the 75-berth Marina; and to re-construct the lock chamber, lock-gates, and cill.
In April 1987 a "commissioning Champagne Party" was held on two pontoons in the newly flooded "marina" for all the staff directly involved.
Bovis project-managed the construction of the hotel from piling-level to roadway-level, and the remainder of the structure above-ground was completed by a client who had concluded a long lease with Chelsea Harbour Ltd.
[10] The Chelsea Harbour Design Centre is home to over 70 showrooms, occupying nearly 66,000 sq ft gross internal space topped by three large glazed domes over a galleria.
The extract below of John Rocque's Map of London, 1746 shows Fulham in the loop of the Thames, with Counter's Creek distinctly visible to the left, just below the 'elbow' in the river.
Sands End and the future Chelsea Harbour area lies immediately to the left of the mouth of the tributary, which is called 'Chelsea Creek' at this juncture.