The dramatic Albion Riverside, which stands majestically on the south bank of the Thames in London, England, is fitted with one of the most complex Kalzip metal roofs ever designed.

The main residential building is an impressive 11-story curvilinear structure faced in glass and aluminum. It contains 183 apartments and 13 duplex penthouses, as well as a leisure facility and a 65’-long swimming pool. The ground floor of the complex offers retail and business accommodations, a café and restaurants.

Designed by internationally acclaimed architect Foster and Partners, with construction management by Exterior International, the development boasts a sweeping roof made from a total of 32,300 sq. ft. of smooth, curved and tapered aluminum Kalzip panels. Virtually every one of the roof’s panels had to be custom made, with less than 10% being identical. Creating each panel with its own distinctive minimum and maximum width was the only way to accommodate the building’s curvilinear shape, which goes from a 79’ radii to a 59’ radii and then back to 79’ again.

To achieve total consistency in material, appearance and performance across the entire roof, Kalzip’s bespoke fabrication service provided a series of products, including curved and welded fabricated tapers, stucco-embossed aluminum soaker flashings, curved and straight closure flashings and a polyester-finished, post-coated coping system.