We're really delighted that our rooftop pavilion for Acme Studios, on top of their office and studio HQ in Mile End, has received planning permission. Acme are a fantastic charity who are the operators for our High House Artists' Studios in Purfleet, so we have really enjoyed being invited to work with them on their own offices.



The pavilion creates a new meeting and event space, as well as a staff kitchen, to extend Acme's offices which currently occupy half of the 4th floor roofscape in a 1970s extension. Conceptually, it treats the rooftop as a landscape framed and enclosed by the new and old buildings and the link between them; creating a series of external spaces with varying degrees of enclosure and exposure to the panoramic views across the city's skyline. The external boardwalks and decks skim over a beachlike planted shingle, and the new pavilion is a very simple volume clad in white corrugated aluminium, joined to the existing offices with a glazed link that extends to form a porch-like front to the main space.

Situated in the Regent's Canal conservation area, despite its small size and restrained design, the planning process required some delicate negotiation, so we are delighted to have the project approved. It seems almost inevitable, if somewhat perverse, that our smallest projects tend to attract a disproportionate amount of attention from the planners, while our bigger projects seem to get approved with little difficulty. But so far we have never had an application refused!