In London’s Covent Garden, Smart’s Place shows how brick can give a rooftop addition a clear identity without ignoring its neighbors. Designed by David Kohn Architects for Baylight Properties, the 3,046-square-foot, two-story home sits atop a 19th-century warehouse and uses a vertically stacked, plum-colored brick cladding with pale mortar to create a textured exterior that fits the local streetscape.
Inside, the ground floor is organized as an enfilade, with connected dining, library, and lounge spaces that open toward south-facing bay windows and a terrace. A lift links the new residence to the office space below, keeping the stacked uses connected within the existing building.
Upstairs, the plan includes two bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, a study, and integrated shelving. Wood-paneled interiors were designed with displaying art and ceramics in mind. Circular skylights bring daylight down to the central staircase, and recessed bay windows carve out private terraces landscaped by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan.
For mason contractors, the project is a reminder that bond pattern and mortar color can do a lot of the heavy lifting in the final look. With vertically stacked brick and light mortar, alignment, joint consistency, and clean detailing around bays and recesses are front and center. Smart’s Place also highlights how masonry aesthetics can be pushed in tight urban work, where additions have to respect what’s already there while still reading as new.
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