According to Historic England, the history of Grand Union Walk, dates back to early 1980s. J Sainsbury PLC took ownership of an awkward strip on land in the heart of Camden with the aim of developing a supermarket.

Colin Amery, architecture critic and former assistant editor of the Architectural Review, was directly advising Lord Sainsbury during the mid-1980s and recommended Grimshaw after a previous scheme for the plot was deemed, "not quite good enough."

Over the course of planning, the scheme developed into a mixed use project, including the supermarket itself (which has been Grade II listed), the terrace of houses which form Grand Union Walk (Grade II listed in 2019) and a commercial building, known as Grand Union House. All of the elements were designed by Nichols Grimshaw and partners. The ambitious designs were an immediate hit with Camden Council and planning was approved swiftly in just over 6 weeks.

According to Historic England, "The original outline permission for the housing was for flats, but at Grimshaw’s suggestion this became a terrace of freehold houses (actually 10 houses and two flats), which are listed at Grade II. The housing offered Grimshaw his first opportunity to fit out a complete and relatively fixed interior; most of his previous commissions being single volume, open-plan spaces capable of flexible subdivision by occupants. When each house was sold the new owner received an ‘owners manual’, complete with specifications, details of services and suppliers."

The narrow site and the need to allow sunlight into living areas without south-facing windows dictated the distinctive form of the houses. At first-floor level, L-shaped open plan living spaces are top-lit; their double-height dining areas can act as external spaces, opening to a canal-facing balcony in summer months.

From the early 1990s Grimshaw came to popular attention with flagship projects such as the British Pavilion for the Seville Expo of 1992 for which he was awarded a CBE and the Grandstand to Lord’s Cricket Ground (1998). Grimshaw’s inclusion in the ‘British Architecture Today: Six Protagonists’ exhibition at the 1991 Venice Biennale heralded an international dimension to the practice which included the Berlin Stock Exchange (1997) and Bilbao Bus Station (1999).

Grimshaw received a knighthood for services to architecture in 2002 and was the 2019 recipient of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal. He is considered one of the pioneers of High-Tech architecture, a movement strongly identified with Britain in the late twentieth-century.