Asphalt-clad roof pods by Leth & Gori create new rooms on top of a Danish bungalow
This collection of angular asphalt-clad roof extensions provide elevated sleeping platforms, a study and a pair of funnel-shaped skylights for a home in eastern Denmark.
Copenhagen-based Leth & Gori were charged with extending a red-brick bungalow in Fredensborg – a small town located around 20 miles north of the Danish capital that is also home to the picturesque Fredensborg Palace and a 1960s-built housing scheme designed by Sydney Opera House architect Jørn Utzon.
Contending with strict planning relegations that prevented the family home from being expanded outwards, architects Uffe Leth and Karsten Gori instead devised a series of asphalt-wrapped extensions that could be built on the roof.
This approach gave the project its name, Roof House.
"Planning restrictions on the site called for a careful and minimal approach, and this led to the idea of extending the house upwards by adding a series of roof buildings," explained Leth and Gori.
The resulting asphalt-clad protrusions provide a new study above the parents' bedroom and three mezzanine sleeping platforms for the children, all of which are topped by small square skylights.
Two smaller funnel-shaped pods set over the lounge and kitchen function solely as skylights, angling light down into the ground level spaces.
"The new roof opens up the house towards the tree tops and the sky," said the architects. "The changing light filters through the branches."
Light ash floorboards were also added, along with a white bent steel staircase.
A narrow section of roof spans the gap in the remaining open side of the house's U-shaped plan, creating a courtyard in the centre of the building surrounded by glazing.
The architects also redesigned the brick facade of the building, adding large glass panels to the courtyard-facing walls.
A narrow finger of roof spans the open side of this paved area to create a fourth edge to the courtyard.
Photography is by Stamers Kontor and Leth & Gori.
Project credits:
Architect: Leth & Gori
Engineer: Jørgen Nielsen Rådgivende Ingeniører
