The notion that a loft conversion has to be boring is firmly put its place when one looks at the work completed by POW Architects at Byrne House in central London. In this development, by omitting the area which is usually defined as “low eaves storage space”, POW’s design flooded the room in the new loft extension as well as the main living area below with natural daylight, extending the sense of light and space to both rooms. The use of zinc sheet cladding on the external façades is also a welcome departure from the norm. By employing varied length, width and colour sheets of this versatile and modern building material, there is an impression created that this contemporary rooftop box is “dripping”, “running” and “morphing” down in to the existing Victorian structure which sits beneath it. Lauded by the local authority and loved by the building owner, the design and delivery of this truly modern approach to an otherwise mundane building genre can only be considered a triumph. As recognized by the Architects Journal Retrofit Awards