Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Housing extension thinking about rain and light
21/12/2017.
[LON] UK
metalocus, PABLO SEBASTIÁN
metalocus, PABLO SEBASTIÁN
English architecture studio Tonkin Lui led by Anna Liu, Mike Tonkin has completed the ‘Sun rain rooms’, a two-storey extension and refurbishment of a listed georgian townhouse in London. The project serves as both a studio for the practice and a home for the partners’ family and features a serene garden terrace.
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Greg Storrar
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Greg Storrar
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Greg Storrar
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Edmund Sumner
Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects. Photograph © Greg Storrar
Site plan. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.
. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.Floor plans
Basament floor. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.
Ground floor. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.
First floor. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.
Floor plans. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.
Section. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.
Section. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.
Section. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.
Section. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.
Roof plan. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.
Detail section. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.
Roof drawing. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.
Axonometric. Sun Rain Room by Tonkin Liu Architects.
Rain can fall through a cut-out in the concave roof of this Clerkenwell house extension by Tonkin Liu, animating a shallow pool of water inside. The extension re-frames the rear terrace of the home to include a coffered plywood roof, curved in plan and section to allow maximum light into a garden
Descripción del proyecto por Tonkin Liu Description of project by Tonkin Liu
The Sun Rain Rooms is a two-storey extension and restoration of a Grade-II Listed Georgian townhouse. The extension re-frames the rear of the building by amplifying the characteristics found within its fabric. Designed and constructed by Tonkin Liu in collaboration with local craftspeople, it serves as both a studio for the practice and a home for the partners’ family. The perimeter walls of the rear courtyard support a plywood roof, curved in plan and section to allow maximum light into a patio garden.
Rainwater gathered at the top of the townhouse falls through a pipe, following 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. The roof’s thin 110mm structural shell is an insulated stressed-skin, joined by round coffered skylights that echo the wave pattern of raindrops landing in the pool. It is a good place to be on a bad day. The extension accommodates both prosaic and poetic aspects of domestic and studio rituals. Under the roof, a garden room offers a living space for the home and a meeting space for the studio.
A mirrored wall in the covered outdoor area beyond conceals a workshop, cooking area, potting 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 light-well. Animated by the sun and the rain, the extension a landscape that harbours a family of carefully selected specimen plants. The green roof, garden room, reflecting pool and sunken light-well form a multi-layered urban garden, both celebrating and bringing people closer to nature.
More information
Architects
Tonkin Liu Architects. Anna Liu, Mike Tonkin
Collaborators
Structural Engineer.- Rodrigues Associates; Tim MacFarlane (glass staircase)
Contractors
Camden Carpenters (main contractor); Jim Mustil (plywood roof contractor); AY Construction (basement contractor)
Area
80,0 m²
Dates
2017
Manufacturers
Allgood, Iguzzini, Cantifix, Skygarden, Decospan
Anna Liu, Mike Tonkin. Tonkin Liu
Tonkin Liu is a English firm founded by Anna Liu and Mike Tonkin. They have won ten RIBA Awards, which recognise ‘the best architecture in the UK and around the world’. The studio was showcased in Taschen’s ‘40 Under 40’ book on the future of architecture, and in The Architecture Foundation’s ‘Guide to Britain’s Best Young Architectural Practices’. They have appeared in The Independent’s ‘The Faces To Watch’, and on ‘Grand Designs’ with the Camera Jewel House. Most recently, the Singing Ringing Tree was named one of the 21 British landmarks of the 21st Century.
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