Bourne House

BWA was asked by the Howard de Walden Estate to create a new roof pavilion and terrace extension above their Bourne House property in the Central London Marylebone area. The design takes an unused flat roof on the edge of the Harley Street Conservation Area and transforms it into a rich bio-diverse landscape, a welcome addition in an area missing key green urban infrastructure for birds, bats and bees. The planted borders will be hidden behind a continuous mansard roof surround with an open top roof. This external room will replace an existing sea of broken TV aerials, messy redundant services/wiring and utilitarian flat roof space, all clearly detrimental to roofscapes in a conservation area, particularly as they are highly visible from all the taller surrounding buildings. Identified as a key interaction space for the office tenants, this mini pavilion provides an indoor ‘teapoint’ and break out space, while the external space is equipped with additional seating and tables for users to enjoy a carefully curated urban green setting.