This was our entry into a competition for a room sitting on top of the Hayward Gallery on London’s South Bank that was to last a year.

Our room is a place which deftly heightens the surreal qualities of its situation. Its focus is a very large bed overhanging the Thames, with views all the way round from Westminster to St Paul’s. The room is raised two metres above the existing roof and is approached through a garden in the form of a saucer, whose upturned edges align with the horizon, so that the view is gradually revealed as you ascend to the room.Inside and out, the room and its garden delight in their own materiality; and enjoy the play of light across their surfaces, whether rough or smooth.The room allows for multiple scenarios depending on mood, on the weather, on the season. Guests are players in their own theatre.

The garden is in the form of a large tilting bowl or saucer rising gradually from roof level up to the level of the room, two metres above the roof.The surface of the garden is formed from triangular panels of standard timber scaffolding boards supported on a simple scaffold frame which sits on the roof. This saucer shape defines a route up to the room while masking the flat roof foreground. As one climbs, the skyline of London gradually appears above the saucer’s rim. In three areas, the panels are omitted and these voids house a small plantation of potted fig trees, a garden for wayward plants, and a reflecting pool.

The room is set between a wall size mirror on the back wall and by a large bed, four metres long and one and a half wide, which commands the incomparable view.It is both a day bed and a night bed. In fine weather, the four sash windows descend at the push of a button to turn the oriel window into a balcony. At night, curtains pull round for complete privacy.The bed is where most of the living is done in this room, and the rest of the room is an adjunct to it. There is a table with two chairs, and a fridge sideboard. Outside, a terrace provides an alternative sitting area.The bathroom’s zig zag ceiling is enlivened by watery reflections. The outdoor shower is luxurious and invigorating, and its indoor controls mean its gets hot before you step outside, whatever the weather