Colechurch House Rooftop
Repurposed
A new rooftop bar atop Colechurch House, transforming an overlooked terrace into a vibrant destination above London Bridge. The scheme is deliberately lightweight, making the most of the site’s existing fabric while respecting the building’s modernist brutalist heritage. A gentle intervention that reactivates a dormant surface with people, light and activity, it offers Colechurch a renewed presence on the skyline.
Project details
Client
LB Rooftop Bar
Location
London Bridge, London
Area
250 square meters
Type
Commercial
We were commissioned to explore the potential of the existing flat roof at Colechurch House as a lightweight, planning only proposal for a new rooftop bar. The study sought to repurpose a long-neglected surface through a modest, demountable intervention that works with the building rather than against it. By introducing temporary seating, planting and perimeter screening, the proposal seeked to open this elevated plane back to the public realm, offering a calm vantage point above the city from which to admire London’s skyline.
The Colechurch House rooftop took an overlooked surface, hidden in plain sight, and revealed its potential to host a new kind of urban experience. A gentle, reversible intervention was proposed that worked with the existing structure rather than against it. By embracing simplicity, celebrating the context, and allowing the surrounding skyline to take centre stage, this project demonstrates our belief that meaningful design can emerge from constraint, and that even the most derelict corners of the city can be reimagined with sensitivity, clarity and purpose.
Photography provided by London Bridge Rooftop
The resulting scheme creates a flexible social space that adapts seamlessly through summer, autumn and the festive season. Set delicately atop the Brutalist structure, the intervention offers a renewed layer of identity to Colechurch House. By animating an otherwise dormant surface with people, light and activity, the proposal gives the building a new moment on the skyline, allowing it to participate once again in London’s urban life.
