Sky living in the foothills of the city

Architect and Project Manager – Douglas and King Architects
Planning Consultant – Douglas and King Architects

Structural Engineer – Fluid
MandE – Ingine
QS – Andrew Morton Associates

Douglas and King have a long history of maximising the development potential of existing buildings through design led development. This project from 2012 is one of many penthouses designed and built by the practice for private clients, for developers and for the owners of existing buildings.

Douglas and King Architects designed the Shoreditch Penthouse extension for a private client/developer in the heart of Hackney. This project was featured in the Sunday Times, Bricks and Mortar magazine on 21st June 2019, the article can be viewed by clicking here!

The host building sits on a corner site in the heart of the South Shoreditch Conservation Area amidst Victorian warehouses and narrow surrounding streets.
The existing structure has two floors of commercial offices on the ground and first floors and apartments on the second and third floors. It’s footprint and airspace offered our clients an ideal platform for erecting a new apartment at roof level providing a generous floor area of 208m sq and offering exceptional views of the City of London skyline.

Its external terraces circumnavigate the penthouse encouraging exotic and indigenous plant forms to flourish on the south and west facing aspects and provides an outdoor area for quiet enjoyment.
The penthouse combines intimate and social spaces within it’s glazed and solid cladded facades, and internal sliding partitions enable these spaces to be separate or interconnected. A double set of sliding partitions enables the kitchen to be fully concealed or linked to the dining area.
Recessed roof lights allow natural light to flood through the apartment by day and at night the constellations of the stars are visible.

The proportions of the façade and full-height glazing interact with the grid positions determined by the host building.