In the large cities this option is embraced for two reasons. First of all, the land on which one can build from scratch is pretty much nonexistent at this point. Second of all, the view from the rooftop of a tall building is a lot more impressive and beautiful than the view from the ground floor for example.
The pop-up restaurant in Milan
Palazzo Beltrami in Piazza Della Scala is a beautiful building in Milan. It recently got a temporary rooftop addition designed by Park Associati. The structure is a pop-up restaurant and this is just one of the many possible locations in which it can be installed. The restaurant is opened to the public and, on occasion, it can host special events where leading chefs are invited to showcase their skills.
The restaurant can be completely assembled in two days and it consists of eight individual blocks installed by crane at the desired location. The interior is divided into two sections. One is the kitchen and the other is the dining area which is organized around a single large table.
The temporary restaurant in Paris
Although it was installed on the roof Le Palais de Tokyo museum in Paris, this is actually a transportable restaurant which can be relocated to a different location. It was a project by architect Pascal Grasso and it consists of a glass cabin and a metal screen.
Inside, the restaurant features a dining room which can sit up to 12 people and a central cooking area. In between the metal screen and the glass structure there’s LED lighting which makes the restaurant stand out at night.
The LoftCube in Austria.
Hotel Daniel is located in Graz, Austria and, in addition to its 107 rooms which have been recently completely redesigned, it now also offers its guests a rooftop loft. Named LoftCube, the structure was installed on the hotel’s roof and it has become the highest hotel suite in town.
The LoftCube was designed by Werner Aisslinger and it’s a prefab structure which can basically be relocated anywhere else, allowing it to be very versatile and to also be used as a vacation house. The suite measures 44 square meters and it’s the first one of its kind to be permanently installed on a rooftop.
The rooftop cabin in Athens.
Because these days it has become pretty much impossible to find an empty remote plot for a getaway cabin, architects Panos Dragonas and Varvara Christopoulou decided to create a cabin that can be installed on rooftops.
The duo created this interesting structure which allows those in Athens to escape the daily routine and to get away from everything without actually leaving the city. They named their project Detached and they envisioned it as a small cabin measuring 9 square meters. It looks like a wooden shed elevated on four pillars.
The rooftop trailer park in South Africa.
Trailers are meant to be taken out into the wilderness or at least somewhere with beautiful views. Who would expect a trailer park to be located on the rooftop of a building? Yet that’s exactly where the Grand Daddy trailer park hotel can be found.
Here, on top of a building in South Africa, these trailers with Florida license plates bring a little bit of America into the Metropole hotel. This trailer park is their most recent addition and it’s indeed very interesting. The interior of the trailers are very bold and suit the themed names which have been given to them, such as Goldilocks & the 3 bears, Dorothy or Plasantville.
The Everland mobile hotel.
If you want a room with a view, wherever you are, you should definitely stay at the Everland hotel. It has the perfect room for you which is actually a capsule installed on a building’s roof. It measures 35 square meters and it can only be booked for one night.
The interior of the capsule includes a king-size bed, a mini bar, a lounge, a bathroom and a retro vinyl record collection and it was a project by architect duo L/B. The Everland Hotel is not fixed to only one location. In fact, it traveled quite a lot so, who knows, maybe it will pop up in your own town next.
The rooftop office extension in Vienna
Back in 1988 when the law firm that occupied the first and second floor of this building in Vienna wanted to extend their office, the solution found was to create a rooftop addition. The project is a two-storey structure, 7.8 meters high sitting on a 400 square meter surface.
The interior consists of a 90 square meter meeting room, three office units and a reception area. The whole project lasted a year and, when it was completed, it stood out with its unusual design. The futuristic look still allows it to stand out even today.
The rooftop house extension in Rotterdam
This is Didden Village, a project by MVRDV situated in Rotterdam. The name is a bit odd, considering that the project was developed on the roof of an existing building. But once you take a look at the redesigned rooftop, you understand what it’s all about.
The architects built a series of houses divided by streets, plazas and alleys so this whole project resembles a mini village. The project consisted of an extension of a private residence. The solution found by the architects was not only ingenious but really interesting and inspiring.
The container rooftop workshop in Buenos Aires
This whole project started out simple. The client wanted to enlarge a small house and wanted FPS Architecture to develop it. The extension would become a workshop for the owner and it had to be built on a small budget.
In order to respond to all the client’s requests, the architects came up with the idea to build on top of the existing house and to use a shipping container. The container was connected to the interior spaces with a set of stairs. The solution found was fast, simple and practical.
Family home built on top of a warehouse in London
Because the owners of this rooftop home needed more space for their growing family and didn’t want to leave the city, they tried a rather unusual approach. Instead of moving into a bigger and a lot more expensive home, they chose to build this extension on the roof of a warehouse building.
The end result was this 2,800 square foot apartment with a steel frame. The project was completed after five years and raised a lot of challenges. For example, since the warehouse didn’t have an elevator, the couple had to build a bridge so they could use the elevator from a nearby office building.
The new rooftop addition of this old Victorian warehouse
Building on top of old warehouses is actually not that unusual, a point proven by this project. This is the Hanover House, the result of a refurbishment and roof extension project. The new rooftop addition merged with the existing warehouse and together they formed a single structure.
Manhattan’s rooftop houses
In a city like Manhattan, it’s basically impossible to find an empty lot to build on. So, naturally, architects found other solutions. So it’s not exactly a huge surprise to see all these houses built on top of existing buildings. The first one is a mysterious-looking structure that those living in the area like to tell stories about. However, it seems to be merely a guest room connected to the top floor apartment.
Another odd-looking extension is this large house which occupies the entire roof of the building and even has a chimney and everything.
And then there’s this rooftop addition which looks a lot like a ski chalet. This is actually the house of architect Andrew Tesoro and it’s a really quirky and interesting structure.
