Urban Design Guide - Section 2 Enhance and ... - Islington Council

2.2 HEIGHT AND SCALE
Fonthill Rd - the mansard roof continues
without a break over two properties
undermining the rhythm of the 2 bay frontages.
Diespeker Wharf - Despite its strong roof line
the vertical proportions still read through.
In commercial streets which are characterised
by larger buildings / longer street frontages,
there is often more freedom to model the
street frontages, particularly where the
frontage is more heterogeneous.
Nevertheless, consideration should also be
given to how they work within the rhythm
of the wider street frontage; they can also
benefit from the use of vertical proportioning
devices.
Relationship of the Roofline and the
Elevation
Rooflines should normally respond to the
articulation of the rest of the façade. It should
normally be possible to read the width of the
plot divisions from the bottom to the top of
the building. The roofline should reflect the
rhythm, harmony and scale of the longer
street frontage. Stepped or sculptured
rooflines can appear monolithic particularly
where the shape of the roof does not pick up
the sub division of the façade.
2.2.7 Sloping Sites
Stepped Rooflines and Frontages
Street frontages that run down a hill should
normally have a stepped roofline frontage and
threshold that echoes their topography and
allows the ground floor to synchronise with
the footway and threshold space. Large blank
flank walls at the junction between buildings
should be avoided. Splitting residential
buildings into narrower plot widths with a
smaller number of flats of self contained
service cores, also allow street frontages to
step down a sloping street.
The vertical proportions are undermined by
the roof treatment that continues largely
unbroken across the roof emphasising the
buildings monolithic size.
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Islington Urban Design Guide December 2006