David Kohn Architects has completed House on a Hill, a three-storey penthouse residence above a Victorian warehouse in Covent Garden, London. Characterised by stepped volumes, curved and angular bay windows, and dark brick cladding, the rooftop home reinterprets traditional residential architecture while responding to the capital’s historic skyline.
Located on Smart’s Place in central London, the project sits atop an existing brick warehouse. Rather than treating the addition as a conventional roof extension, David Kohn Architects conceived the design as an entirely new house placed above the city, creating what the studio describes as a “house on a hill.”
Bay windows shape living spaces and rooftop gardens
“The two-storey tiered extension responds to the richness of the surrounding rooflines, and its plan recalls those of pre-modern town houses with an arrangement of living rooms with projecting bay windows,” said the studio.
“The project recalls many precedents from domestic architecture through the ages – Sir John Soane’s Museum to the Villa Necchi in Milan – and previous practice projects, from Red House to A Room for London,” added founder David Kohn.
“The design nonetheless strives for a specific response to site and an attitude to life today,” he added.
The stepped composition creates a sequence of south-facing living spaces defined by distinctive bay windows. A dining room, library, and lounge occupy the southern elevation, allowing the interiors to function either as separate rooms or as a continuous enfilade that opens directly onto landscaped rooftop terraces.
Landscape architect Todd Longstaffe-Gowan designed the surrounding gardens, using trees and planting to provide privacy, natural shading, and framed views across central London.
“The three main living spaces – living room, library and dining room – each have a different geometry and relationship to skyline views but no doors between them,” Kohn told Dezeen.
“So they can either be enjoyed independently or as an enfilade for a party,” he continued. “From each interior, you look through a densely planted and treed garden at a skyline view of central London. It is a retreat from the centre, at the centre.”
Interior architecture combines bespoke shelving with sculptural ceilings
The library features a sweeping curved bookshelf that follows the geometry of its projecting bay window, while gently undulating plasterboard ceilings introduce subtle sculptural forms throughout the living and dining areas.
On the upper level, another row of stepped bay windows accommodates the bedrooms and a study. Because this floor is recessed from the lower level, each room benefits from more secluded balcony terraces overlooking the surrounding rooftops.
Custom shelving, integrated picture rails, recessed niches, and deep window seats accommodate an extensive collection of books and objects. Meanwhile, striped timber panelling adds warmth and continuity throughout the interiors.
A service spine containing the kitchen, bathrooms, lift, and staircase runs along the northern party wall, allowing the principal living spaces to maximise natural light and city views. Circular coloured skylights introduce daylight into the stairwell and shower, creating moments of visual contrast within the home’s restrained material palette.
Dark brick exterior distinguishes the rooftop addition
The entire extension is clad in vertically laid dark plum-coloured brickwork with contrasting pale mortar. While the material references the surrounding Victorian buildings, it establishes a distinct contemporary identity against London’s varied roofscape.
House on a Hill was completed by David Kohn Architects for Baylight Properties. The project continues the studio’s exploration of expressive residential architecture, combining traditional domestic references with contemporary spatial planning to create a distinctive rooftop home in the heart of London.