Rooftop Apartment
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The two-storey apartment is on top of a Victorian building in east London, and accessed from its neighbour
Six-bedroom apartment with extensive glazing, above a converted Victorian warehouse in Shoreditch
The upper floor is open plan, arranged around a central bathroom pod that has translucent walls. Above the bathroom is a skylight with a metal-halide light that can project shadows of raindrops. The master bedroom can be shut off from the living space by pulling out sliding walls, faced with grey carpet for acoustic modulation, from the bathroom pod.
The lower level is set back, and also down below the existing parapet. Its five bedrooms open directly on to decking, enclosed by metal mesh up which wisteria and clematis cirrhosa are trained. This planted mesh will become a green enclosure, and a veil for the building. Coupled with double layers of blinds on the upper floor it provides adequate privacy for such an isolated space.
The roof of the existing warehouse could not take any additional load, so a new steel structure transfers all the load through the existing brick piers. The apartment is suspended from the structure, giving it entirely column-free spaces.
Data
- Begun: Aug 2005
- Completed: Aug 2006
- Floor area: 260m2
- Sector: House
- Address: 20 Clere Street, Islington, London, EC2A 4LL, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Tonkin Liu
- Client: Private
- Structural engineer: Expedition Engineering
- SAP Consultant: ECD Architects
- Quantity surveyor: KHK Group
- Fire engineer: Warrington Fire Research Consultants
- Main contractor: MJH
- Services engineer: BDSP Partnership
Suppliers
- Steelwork: City Steel
- Glazing: Schuco International
- Mesh: Bekaert
- Cladding: Argonaut