A hushed rooftop room in London

The perfect place to write, edit and publish 

“We were looking for a house that was a bit special. And this house has two outstanding features. One, it has a terrace outside which is like an extra room in summer and it has this fabulous room up here which is great all year round. The second thing is actually that it seals off and is quiet. In London this is quite rare, and so for me to be able to close the roof windows and shut out the outside world is equally as important as the light.” 

With the potential for outdoor enjoyment as well as a desirable indoor rooftop space that has been designed to be used whatever the season, the house boasts versatility. This means Drew and his wife can enjoy the benefits of the outdoors, whether that’s from sitting outside or sitting inside and watching the world go by. 

The second remarkable aspect is the ability to isolate the London noise by closing the VELUX 3in1 roof windows. While the Smiths love the bustling city, the ability to shield themselves from the outside world and create a serene environment has carved out a sense of retreat within the confines of their home.  

“The light up here is fantastic. I need light, I need it to look at proofs, look at visuals, photographs, things like that. It’s an essential component.” 

“I’m best known as a writer, my partner’s a publisher – so I help with the publishing business. So, I might be wearing my editor’s hat, or I might be wearing the writer’s hat, and I’ll do some drawing and arty things.” 

An unbelievable transformation

“We had this overwhelming problem, which was the windows, they’d reached a point where the struts were rusting, the windows themselves had corrugated iron in the middle and that was a problem because it being at the top of the house, we couldn’t redo anything downstairs because we knew we had this almighty mess coming up, up here.”

The use of outdated materials, and with the struts rusting, meant that the windows were in a state of disrepair. The Smiths knew that this was a high-priority job that needed to be addressed before they could make improvements to the lower parts of the house. So, to improve the aesthetic appeal and functionality, the Smiths knew that VELUX 3in1 roof windows were the solution.

“I think what it’s done is liberated this top room because it is a fantastic room, but we couldn’t really use it before. It’s given us back one of the reasons we bought this house. This is a big space, it requires a big design solution and having the roof windows that can stretch the whole way across did the job!”

Enhanced usability and convenience

“In a very practical way, the VELUX app is great because the roof windows are so wide, they go over the stairwell. Plus, you have the sort of sit-back-and-play with your app, and I’ll just lower the blind a little bit here and open that window over there. It’s very flash but it’s very good!”

The app has proven to be a fun tool that makes adjusting the roof windows easy and has become an indispensable aspect of the home’s functionality.