Architects: White Design
Structural Engineers: Buro Happold
Completed: 2001
Location: Kettering, Northamptonshire, UK
Structural timberwork: Lilleheden A/S

Designed for roof window manufacturer VELUX, this is an inventive green landmark building principally of timber. The three-storey facility, with its striking sloping facades, functions both as operational office and visitor centre for the public and construction professionals. The use of geometry and timber acts as a showcase for the company’s products. There are two complementary roof forms constructed from a Glulam framework. They have very different characters: south-facing, a concave sweep of natural slate tiles is visible from all approaches and contains a display of the VELUX range; the convex north-facing roof, clad in cedar shingles, acts as the primary means for daylight to enter the building through more VELUX windows and the clerestory windows that join the two roofs together.