Rooftop Glass Extension

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In inner city locations like London, the opportunity to extend buildings outwards is minimal thanks to the tight and congested buildings. However, architects and designers can maximise the high-rise nature of these cities to extend upwards, creating rooftop extensions to increase office space, create recreational outdoor spaces or offer attractive events areas.

At IQ Glass, we work on many of these London rooftop glass extension projects, bringing a wide range of bespoke glazing designs to these building projects. Proper and strategic use of architectural glazing is important on these projects, maximising the impressive views the elevated locations offer and ensuring the interior spaces are designed with their use in mind.

Read on below for our eight favourite rooftop glass extensions showcasing a range of glazing designs from around London.

A rooftop glass extension with slim sliding doors

Key Features

On the top floor of the Picadilly BAFTA headquarters, the Richard Attenborough Rooms are an exclusive events space, available to hire for all manner of private events. The rooftop bar space also showcases specialist architectural glazing from IQ with our slim sliding doors occupying the rear elevation of the rooftop glass extension.

This wall of minimal framed sliding doors provides access to the small outdoor terrace – which is a luxury for most London spaces – as well as maximising the amount of natural light that enters the central London rooftop.

The slim sliding doors combine with a bespoke glass roof, all tied together with the existing art deco finishings of the building to create a timeless luxury finish to the rooftop extension.

A rooftop glass extension with flush glazed doors

On Borough High Street, set behind a Corten cladding screen, this rooftop glass extension is barely visible from the street. That is thanks to the angled glass walls of the rooftop space, minimising the visual impact of the extension from the street below.

The angled glass walls of the extension were created from structural glazing to allow for the slope and frameless design. At the end of the rooftop extension are a set of flush glazed doors, designed to sit flush with the exterior glass wall.

This new rooftop addition was part of a larger office renovation on Borough High Street and created additional office space within the building.

A steel framed rooftop glass extension

On the top floor of Grainhouse is an outdoor recreational area, as part of the modern office development in Covent Garden. The new rooftop space is accessed by a steel framed rooftop glass extension by IQ.

The bespoke steel framed doors were from our Mondrian range, combining together with steel framed glass walls and bespoke glass roofs to create a unique rooftop glass box.

The industrial design of the steel framed extension matched the brick and metal interiors of the award-winning office refurbishment which took five run-down buildings and brought them together into one high specification office building.

A rooftop extension with glass sliding doors

Overlooking the BT tower, the rooftop extension at Rathbone Place integrated Keller minimal windows sliding doors along the top floor, leading to a small external terrace.

Using glass balustrades, the outdoor balcony offers amazing views of the London skyline.

From inside the rooftop extension, the slim sightlines of the sliding doors combine with the frameless balustrade design to offer expectational views across London, even when the doors are closed.

A rooftop glass extension on Savile Row

IQ have undertaken many projects on this famous street in London. At Derwent London’s headquarters, we created a series of rooftop glass boxes in various styles to suit the specific design of the building area.

On a lower rooftop, a more traditional design was used for the glass wintergarden. Steel framed doors are located at either end and the ‘up and over’ glass design used L shaped steel supports internally. The glass of the roof also uses a bespoke ceramic frit pattern to reduce the transparent surface area of the glass and therefore reduce overheating.

On the very top floor of the building a further rooftop glass extension was created using large format sliding doors and stainless-steel finishes. This creates a much more modern finish that offers a high impact when first viewed. With views over London, the rooftop extension is used for entertainment.

A structural glass ‘up and over’ rooftop extension

To the top floor of additional light and ceiling space was created using a series of ‘up and over’ structural glass designs. These frameless glass structures slot between the angled solid structure of the rooftop extension, creating an additional floor whilst minimising shadowing and visual impact from below.

Using structural glass for these elements of the rooftop extension allowed us to maintain a frameless design throughout.

A mirrored rooftop glass extension

Near Kings Cross and located on the intersection of Pentonville Road and Grays Inn Road, HUT architecture created a new floor of office space with a mirrored glass facade from IQ.

Using high specification solar control glass, we created a glass facade that was mirrored during the day, reflecting external views and hiding the new floor within the skyline.

Internally, the glass was transparent, allowing controlled light in and maximising the views over this corner plot.

A rooftop glass extension with curved glass walls

Located in Clerkenwell, Pennybank is a historic office building that was renovated by the team at Emrys. IQ worked with the team to provide the architectural glazing designs throughout the office development, including the new rooftop glass extension.

Here, the rooftop glass extension outline was designed to follow the existing facade line of the building. The curved glass wall of the rooftop extension follows this line, seamlessly connecting with the flat return elevations with integrated doors.