LONDON — Julian Assange lives in a pricey building in one of London’s toniest districts. But he is not in the lap of luxury.

The once globe-trotting WikiLeaks founder is confined to several hundred square feet of space inside Ecuador’s London embassy. If he goes outside he will be arrested by British police and extradited to Sweden to be questioned about allegations of sexual assault.

The 41-year-old Australian computer expert has spent almost two months inside the embassy of the Latin American country, which on Thursday granted him asylum — but Ecuador lacks any obvious means of getting Assange past the police officers on the doorstep, onto a plane, and out of Britain.

The Ecuadoran embassy consists of a ground-floor, suite some 10 rooms in all, inside an imposing red-brick apartment block in London’s posh Knightsbridge area, practically next door to the luxury department store Harrods.

The mission has no bedrooms or guest accommodation. People who have visited Assange say he is living in an office that has been outfitted with a bed, access to a phone, and a connection to the Internet.

tight quarters

A shower has been installed, and the embassy has a small kitchenette. Assange also has received deliveries of pizza and other take-out food.

‘‘It’s not quite the Hilton,’’ said Gavin MacFadyen, a supporter who has met with Assange at the embassy.

Assange’s mother, Christine, has said that visiting friends ‘‘turn the music on and encourage him to dance with them.’’

But Christine Assange has expressed fears for her son’s health. She said last month that he was facing severe stress after weeks of confinement and more than 18 months fighting legal battles while under strict bail conditions in Britain.

‘‘He is under a lot of stress and it’s been long-term stress now for nearly two years and in conditions which are similar to detention,’’ she said.

Psychologists say the conditions are bound to take a psychological toll.

‘‘He is stuck in no man’s land,’’ said Cary Cooper, a psychology professor at England’s Lancaster University.

‘‘One of the things that causes people most stress is not having any control,’’ Cooper said. ‘‘He has none. The control is in other peoples’ hands — the UK government, the Ecuadorean government. Not in his.’’

By any standard, Assange has had a disruptive 18 months. Since December 2010, when he was arrested in London at Sweden’s request, Assange has been on police bail under conditions that required him to report daily to police, wear an electronic tag, and live at a designated address. He spent more than a year at the rural English home of WikiLeaks supporter and former journalist Vaughan Smith.