KEMPER SYSTEM TOPS
LONDON’S BEST NEW
EXTENSION
Kemper System has helped to create an award-winning home
a studio for their practice. One of the most striking features of the new extension is a curved,
10m-long roof, which dominates the space and frames a bean-
shaped courtyard. A pipe runs down the building’s rear wall to
meet the new roof. When rainwater gathers at the top of the
townhouse it falls through the pipe and follows the roof’s curving
leading edge to a spout over a long rainwater harvesting tank. The
tank floods the patio at the push of a button, transforming it into a
reflecting pool.
A ‘GOOD PLACE ON A BAD DAY’ ROBUST AND FLEXIBLE WATERPROOFING
The two-storey extension reframes the rear of the building and Structurally, the roof is unique as it has been built using layers of
6mm plywood, which sandwich an insulating core and allow for
25 circular skylights. A thin steel support post hidden within the
glazing framing allows the roof to apparently span free over the
space.
extension, featuring a unique swooping roof structure.
Designed by architects Tonkin Liu, the ‘Sun Rain Room’ forms
part of the restoration of a Grade II Listed Georgian townhouse in
London and features the work of local craftspeople. The building
is also home to architects Anna Liu and Mike Tonkin and provides
features a new garden room offering living space and a meeting
area for the studio. A mirrored wall in the covered outdoor area
beyond conceals a workshop, cooking area, tool shed, store, and
deep planter for the small trees in the green roof above. Below
the patio, the existing basement has been extended to create a
bedroom, two bathrooms and an enlarged plant-filled lightwell.
Given the unusual shape and style of the roof structure, Kemper
System’s Kemperol 2K-PUR was specified for the waterproofing.