A two-storey station building in cream-coloured brick with arched windows and an ornamental balustrade at roof level was built at the eastern end.

[8] Residential development had been gradually spreading westward from Belgravia since the 1840s, but the area around the station site was mainly in horticultural use as market gardens when the new line was constructed.

[10] On 1 August 1870, the DR opened additional tracks between Gloucester Road and South Kensington and the West Brompton shuttle became a through service.

The service was run by the North London Railway (NLR) from its terminus at Broad Street (now demolished) in the City of London via the North London line to Willesden Junction, then the West London Line to Addison Road and the DR to Mansion House – at that time the eastern terminus of the DR.[13] From 1 August 1872, the Middle Circle service also began operations through Gloucester Road, running from Moorgate along the MR's tracks on the north side of the Inner Circle to Paddington, then over the Hammersmith & City Railway (H&CR) track to Latimer Road, then, via a now demolished link, on the WLEJR to Addison Road and the DR to Mansion House.

[15] The station was redesigned by Metropolitan Railway consultant architect George Campbell Sherrin, including removing of the elliptical roof.

The southern section of the Inner Circle was suffering considerable congestion between South Kensington and Mansion House, between which stations the DR was running an average of 20 trains per hour with more in the peak periods.

[18] To relieve the congestion, the DR planned an express deep-level tube line starting from a connection to its sub-surface tracks west of Gloucester Road and running to Mansion House.

The tunnels were planned to run about 60 to 70 feet (18–21 m) beneath the existing sub-surface route with only one intermediate stop at Charing Cross (now Embankment).

[7] A new surface building for the lifts was designed by Leslie Green with the GNP&BR's distinctive ox-blood red glazed terracotta façade.

[23] As part of the development over the sub-surface platforms, the station buildings were remodelled internally to share a single entrance and ticket office.

On 24 May 1957, Teresa Lubienska, a Polish Countess who had survived Auschwitz concentration camp, was stabbed five times on the eastbound Piccadilly line platform and died shortly afterwards.

Artworks have been by a variety of artists over the past 20 years, including David Shrigley,[27] Chiho Aoshima[28] and Heather Phillipson.