Eccleston Square lies at the heart of Victoria, just south of Victoria railway terminal, and just west of Westminster. The area is a triangle, with Victoria station at the top, bordered by the national rail lines to the west, Vauxhall Bridge Road to the east and Warwick Way to the south. The buildings here are a mixture of commercial (particularly near Victoria station), residences (particularly closer to Pimlico) and entertainment areas (the Apollo Victoria Theatre is a prime example). Architecturally, the area is a mix of Victorian and Regency-era terraces, ranging from three to five stories high, as well as modern buildings, of glass and concrete, interspaced between them, particularly along Vauxhall Bridge Road and closer to Victoria station. The area is a transportation hub – besides Victoria railway and coach station, Vauxhall Bridge Road connects directly to Vauxhall Bridge, a prime river crossing.

Victoria station was first known as Grosvenor Terminus, as it was built on the old Grosvenor Canal basin. The station started when the London Brighton & South Coast Railway and the London Chatham & Dover Railway pooled their resources to back the station; though the station was built in two sections, for each company, and the design differences show until today. A roof was built to please the rich residents of Pimlico and Belgravia, who feared the soot and noise from the steam engines, and thus for many years only crude wooden huts greeted travellers (the roof would eventually be replaced).

The Victoria area was for many years known as ‘the Devil’s Acre’, a term coined by Charles Dickens for the slum which existed in the area up to 1851. Despite the station being built, however, the neighbourhood remained a backwater in comparison to its surrounding areas for many years.

Ecclestone Square Park is a rectangular square in the middle of residential terraces. In the early-1800s the plot of land was a market garden, producing as many as four crops on the same soil per year, with the help from a high-water table and the horse manure from nearby mews. A lot of the fresh water came from a nearby reservoir (the aforementioned Grosvenor Canal Basin), which is today the site of Victoria station. The garden today has been managed by Roger Phillips since 1981, who makes sure the soil quality is maintained at the highest level.

While the area is undoubtedly well-connected, it is also one of the most congested places in London, owing to its proximity to one of the busiest stations in the country, if not the busiest. Furthermore, Victoria Coach Station, the hub of many intercity stagecoaches, adds coaches and passengers to the area.

There are plans for a major redevelopment of Victoria station, to cope with the increase in passengers going through the area. A new entrance at Wilton Road was being built, meaning commuters no longer have to enter via the main station. It was also announced that the main Victoria station will be receiving a £30 million upgrade, intended to start work on enhancing its capacity and improving its accessibility. More ticket barriers will be placed and the halls expanded to accommodate the increased number of users and passengers the station is now serving. Food halls and outlets will be removed but new outlets will be constructed on platform level elsewhere to compensate. In addition, newer developments have already been completed adjacent to the station, to provide more office, retail and commercial, as well as residential space.

Victoria Nova, which was completed in 2017 and strategically located beside the station, is expecting another building to be added to the block, as part of owner Land Securities’ n2 scheme. The Nova development as a whole is set across 897,000 sq ft. and three buildings – Nova North, Nova South and The Nova Building. Nova Food, which is two minutes from Victoria station, features 17 restaurants and three pop-up kiosks. The n2 scheme will be the next addition in the Nova portfolio, with office space with a terrace on each floor, opening-up the public realm and connecting Nova to Cardinal Place.