In architectural design, as in urban design, it is the roofs of buildings – “the fifth façade” – which are most often overlooked.
In our cities’ high-rise environments, the vertical elevations of buildings are often viewed fleetingly, and sometimes in the context of competing urban “clutter”. Sometimes they are hardly seen at all.
Whereas the horizontal roof plane is most often viewed, and for long periods, by residents and office workers in surrounding tower blocks.
In many ways, it is the architect’s roof plan, out of all the plans, which is the most important and yet the least resolved.
In nicholas’ work we strive to highly articulate the roof plane of low-rise urban buildings, giving it full formal expression. This might mean a continuance of the landscape of the ground plane – creating pedestrianised and usable green roofs (excellent for restaurants and venues).
Alternatively, it may mean turning and continuing the vertical façades horizontally – providing opportunities to shade the building and improve its environmental performance.
Finally, in the same way exterior walls are punctuated by windows, glazed apertures in roofs (when treated correctly) are an effective way of flooding the spaces below with diffuse natural light.
Such regenerative design solutions will always consider the sun path around the building throughout the seasons, and solar control for optimal light and shade.
We strongly believe that development should be regenerative – improving outcomes for both the environment and for people – and resolving how our cities look and behave from above is an important aspect of this.
