White Grounds | Guarnieri Architects

Whites Grounds is located in the Bermondsey conservation area, a central up and coming part of town close to London Bridge, where the Shard of Glass is being built, and the White Cube art gallery recently opened. The existing building is a five-storey-high warehouse dating back to the end of the nineteen century with a distinctive character and a gable roof structure. The project consisted in redesigning the interior of the top floor penthouse and the reshaping of the roof structure. It took on the challenge of adding a new structure to the conservation area. It is of contemporary look, and uses structural glass to differentiate itself from the character of the existing building. The glass complements nicely the lead and slates, which are the prevalent roof material of the conservation area. The glass structure extends the shape of the existing roof to its perimeter line, resulting in an unusual geometry. 8 square, trapezoid, and triangular panels of glass form the enclosure of the extension. The glass enclosure is continuous. The goal post structure that holds the sliding door onto the terrace is set behind the plane of the glass, allowing the use of one type of detail only for the entire glass box: a 38mm structural silicon bonded joint. In contrast with the complexity of the geometry, detailing is reduced to its minimal expression, empowering the material and its essential character, i.e. lightness. This part of the project is effectively a bedroom under the stars. The room contains a spacious open bathroom, with a long corian washbasin and a cocoon-shaped bathtub. A 6m long chest of drawers makes optimal use (for storage) of the space below the sloping roof. The flooring is made of 6m long solid oak planks treated with lay to achieve a bright finish, which adds to the character of lightness of the space. A set of sliding doors allows for a more open relation between the inside and the outside and to extend the outdoor space of the terrace into the room. When open, the room feels both interior and exterior. When closed, the transparency guarantees spectacular views across London, the sky, and the stars.