Going up in the world

If you're looking for inspiration for your home, simply raise your sights and look up. Although London is a remarkably horizontal city, residents none the less relish every opportunity to rise above the hubbub at street level and take in the views, delight in the patchwork of roofscapes and find peace among the chimney tops. To make the most of this under-used space, architects and designers are busy at work creating gardens, building pavilions and jolly gazebos - and even helping us to indulge ourselves in the wild luxuries of rooftop saunas and hot tubs. Here we look at three inspirational ideas for elevated spaces.

Fifties transformation

If you're looking for inspiration for your home, simply raise your sights and look up. Although London is a remarkably horizontal city, residents none the less relish every opportunity to rise above the hubbub at street level and take in the views, delight in the patchwork of roofscapes and find peace among the chimney tops. To make the most of this under-used space, architects and designers are busy at work creating gardens, building pavilions and jolly gazebos - and even helping us to indulge ourselves in the wild luxuries of rooftop saunas and hot tubs. Here we look at three inspirational ideas for elevated spaces.

The much-maligned 1950s flat roof suddenly becomes a haven of tranquillity when boring grey asphalt is swapped for timber decking, planters and an elegant sun pavilion. As part of his refurbishment of this 1950s house, architect Charles Barclay has added a new outside "room" on the rooftop.

"The house was designed with stairs which led to the roof, but once you arrived, there was nothing there," recalls Charles. "And, most important, there was nowhere to sit and enjoy the views or garden, so we made this little glass box."

The sun room has two huge sliding, metal-frame doors and the same rich red jarrah wood flooring as the deck outside. This Australian sustainable hardwood continues the theme of the original dark mahogany floors and stairs in the rest of the house. Walls are plain white. The simplicity makes the space an area a very calming one that's ideal for quiet contemplation.

One nice touch are the speakers hidden in the ceiling - the house is wired with a high-tech sound system: a remote-control handset makes it possible to lie back and float away to favourite music.

"Already I can see the whole roof as a green room," says client Marion Beer.

"There will be an evergreen hedge of ivy or ceonothus all the way round, so I'm in an enclosed space, but I still want to be able to see chimneypots and the local church spire.

"And even on winter days I can sit at my table with a cup of coffee and just look."

Charles Barclay Architects (020 8674 0037).

Bubbler on the roof

This summer's hot tip is a hot tub. "They seem to have caught people's imaginations," says landscape designer Michele Osborne (020 8960 3828), who has plumbed in hot Jacuzzis like across the skyline. "They are being installed in luxury developments, but plenty of private owners want them, too. Because adding any weight to a roof can be tricky, a structural engineer is absolutely essential," she adds. Prices start at £5,000.

Raising the roof

"With the family growing, it was becoming increasingly obvious that our house was one room short of being spacious," says James Fox. "And so, to find some extra space, the only way was up."

The Fox family's south London home is an intriguing converted coach house, once part of a large estate - it is long and narrow and a garden extension would have exaggerated the shape yet further, perhaps even making some ground-floor rooms darker.

After seeing another local project by Form Design Architecture, the family enlisted the architect's help in finding a solution. The answer was to raise the roof.