Look up: could the future of British housing be in the sky?
Innovative airspace developer Skyroom unveils vision for British housing, announcing a dedicated Key Workers Homes Fund and presenting its planning-approved, four-storey Bermondsey residential project with architecture studio TDO
![Skyroom St Jamess Road Elevated North View](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/b7hpTAmkasSCToDShxg2aG-415-80.jpg)
‘The primary cost in buying or renting a home is not the home itself, but the urban land on which the home is built,' says Arthur Kay, founder and CEO of Skyroom, the technology and urban development company that aims to create homes in the airspace above existing buildings. His company promotes an unusual, but, especially given the urgency of the country's housing crisis, arguably extremely enticing idea.
‘Urban development needs to come with a recognition of the social and environmental costs: changing the use of a building might damage a community,' continues Kay. ‘Knocking down and starting again makes places unrecognisable; and flattening sections of the city releases vast amounts of embodied carbon contained within buildings.'
Skyroom says it has the answer to that. The company has been working in the background for years, perfecting its goals and approach and fine tuning how they can negotiate a series of hurdles, from technical and structural questions to planning and ownership issues. A white paper published in 2018 by them and the UCL's Institute for Global Prosperity, and including a foreword by Lord Richard Rogers, outlined the initiative's key points and research – prioritising key workers.
This was followed by the launch of a Key Worker Homes Fund, with an initial commitment of £100 million, announced earlier this month. ‘The 15-minute-city model is much talked of, but in a city with a market as competitive as London, it’s hard to imagine that it will be within reach for many key workers. Skyroom creates homes which alleviate the expense, fatigue, and health risks of long commutes, allowing key workers to live well, near to where they work,' says Kay.
Now, working with London architecture studio TDO, they have announced that they received planning permission for their very first project to go on – a four-storey airspace development on St James’s Road in Bermondsey.
The development will sit on top of an existing three-storey apartment block in the South London neighbourhood. It will offer fifteen new homes and two large, planted roof terraces – something that both new and old residents will be able to benefit from. The aim is for key workers to be locals to the area they support and empower through their work. The Fund, says the team, will work with London's Local Authorities and Housing and will be key in delivering this vision of an affordable, sustainable housing solution that is community-focused.
It sounds simple in theory, but it is a long term commitment that comes with a complex set of challenges. Kay is enthusiastic: ‘By 2030, we aim to have provided London’s key workers with 10,000 Skyroom homes in the airspace above existing buildings. These homes will collectively save over 15 million tonnes in CO2-equivalent emissions over their lifetime, or the same effect as taking all of London's vehicles off the road for a year.'
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Tour the Natural History Museum’s new gardens, a Jurassic lark in London
The Natural History Museum in London has unveiled two new gardens, with resident dinosaurs, after a transformation led by architects Feilden Fowles
By Bridget Downing Published
-
Drama Republic moves into a colourful, handcrafted workspace in London
For the new creative HQ of production company Drama Republic, Emil Eve Architects remodels a warehouse into office space in London’s Holborn
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
Hideaway House in London features timber panelling inspired by the New York hospitality scene
The elegantly refurbished Hideaway House by Studio McW in London features timber panelling inspired by Philip Johnson’s The Four Seasons Restaurant
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
An Uxbridge annexe by Bureau de Change is a design for effortless intergenerational living
Uxbridge Bower, a residential annexe in west London, is a contemporary addition offering both privacy and connection for the needs of a family
By Tianna Williams Published
-
‘Modern Buildings’ tours south-east London through a guide to post-war Blackheath and Greenwich
‘Modern Buildings: Blackheath and Greenwich’ is a detailed survey of a London borough’s rich trove of new modernist architecture
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Triangle House invites you to its inner world of colourful surprises
Triangle House by Artefact is a private home in Epsom, outside London, combining Caribbean style, colour and functionality
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Tour the refreshed Saint Andrew Holborn: an icon reveals its crisp new interior in London
DaeWha Kang reimagines Saint Andrew Holborn church through a sensitive architectural solution that blends tradition and modernity in London
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A Suffolk house by Studio Bark pairs a fresh visual language with low-energy design
Suffolk house Water Farm is off-the-grid but defiantly on the map, a bold new object in the landscape with a strong visual impact and minimal carbon footprint
By Jonathan Bell Published