26 King Street Covent Garden, London WC2
An aerial precedent for sensitive rooftop extensions, combining a dark metal-clad, curved-glass pavilion and green roof atop a classic historic facade.
- What we like about this project
- The curved corner glazing softly mirrors the rounded geometry of the underlying historic parapet.
Materials
- metal
- glass
- stucco
- greenery
Visual identifiers
- rooftop-extension
- green-roof
- curved-metal-facade
- historic-retrofit
Style tags
- contemporary
- historic-retrofit
- contextual
Visual tags
- rooftop
- historic-preservation
- vertical-extension
- urban-infill
- metal-panel
- Geometry
- A stepped-back dark metallic pavilion with curved corners sits symmetrically atop the rigid vertical rhythm of an ornate historic masonry facade.
- Facade system
- Curved glazed curtain wall with dark metallic framing and integrated louvered penthouse.
- Structural guess
- Lightweight steel framing or timber superstructure added to existing masonry bearing walls.
- Spatial scale
- Medium-scale urban insertion; a single-story rooftop pavilion adding mass to a multi-story city building.
- Lighting
- Direct daylight casting sharp shadows across the white historic cornice and dark rooftop louvers.
- Atmosphere
- Clean, deliberate architectural integration contrasting old masonry with modern metallic lightness.
- Environmental context
- Dense urban historic context surrounded by abstracted or muted neighboring masonry volumes.
- Spatial experience
- The view emphasizes the contrast between heavy historic massing below and lightweight, transparent rooftop habitation above.
- Composition rhythm
- Horizontal banding of the green roof and louvers counterpointed by the vertical punched windows of the historic base.
- Style reading
- Contemporary rooftop vertical addition
- Program
- Commercial office or penthouse rooftop addition
- Perspective
- Aerial/Site
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- metal, glass, stucco, greenery
- Visual identifiers
- rooftop-extension, green-roof, curved-metal-facade, historic-retrofit
- Style tags
- contemporary, historic-retrofit, contextual
- Visual tags
- rooftop, historic-preservation, vertical-extension, urban-infill, metal-panel
- Geometry
- A stepped-back dark metallic pavilion with curved corners sits symmetrically atop the rigid vertical rhythm of an ornate historic masonry facade.
- Facade system
- Curved glazed curtain wall with dark metallic framing and integrated louvered penthouse.
- Structural guess
- Lightweight steel framing or timber superstructure added to existing masonry bearing walls.
- Spatial scale
- Medium-scale urban insertion; a single-story rooftop pavilion adding mass to a multi-story city building.
- Lighting
- Direct daylight casting sharp shadows across the white historic cornice and dark rooftop louvers.
- Atmosphere
- Clean, deliberate architectural integration contrasting old masonry with modern metallic lightness.
- Environmental context
- Dense urban historic context surrounded by abstracted or muted neighboring masonry volumes.
- Spatial experience
- The view emphasizes the contrast between heavy historic massing below and lightweight, transparent rooftop habitation above.
- Composition rhythm
- Horizontal banding of the green roof and louvers counterpointed by the vertical punched windows of the historic base.
- Style reading
- Contemporary rooftop vertical addition
- Program
- Commercial office or penthouse rooftop addition
- Perspective
- Aerial/Site
- Discipline
- architecture