Rooftop Apartment

Tonkin Liu, London, 2006

 

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The two-storey apartment is on top of a Victorian building in east London, and accessed from its neighbour 

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  • The two-storey apartment is on top of a Victorian building in east London, and accessed from its neighbour    
  • A robust stair leads from the lower terrace to the upper floor, with a spiral stair going up to the roof    
  • On one side there is a gable wall from an earlier neighbour. The back of the apartment is clad in reflective aluminium veiled with white mesh, and the access bridge and bright entrance door are just visible below it    
  • The lower level is set back, and also down below the existing parapet    
  • The same secure inexpensive mesh is used on the internal stair as externally. The luminous entrance door can been seen underneath    
  • Children    
  • The five bedrooms open directly on to decking    
  • Fourth floor plan    
  • Fifth floor plan    
  • Section    
  • The original building, before the addition    

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

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