Vertiport: Architects Incorporating Drones into Building Design

With a growing number of global companies looking to aerial drones to provide faster, more efficient, and in some cases life-saving services, how is it shaping architecture? Andrew Tunnicliffe talks to Farrells’ Shevaughn Rieck about its Lyons Place project and looks at what else is being done to accommodate the growing need to look up

Image credit: Prof. Volker Staab/ © Staab Architekten

Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, have received something of a bad press recently, rightly so. The chaotic scenes at London’s Gatwick Airport in the run up to Christmas 2018 did nothing to improve their image – often seen as a menace at best, and danger to life in the most extreme circumstances. However, used properly they can enhance daily life, and even help save lives.


It is because of that some of the world’s most renowned architects are incorporating drones into their building designs. One such project in London’s Maida Vale is set the be the first residential building in the UK to receive commercial deliveries. The 76 home development, comprising apartments and town houses, is the brainchild of property developer Almacantar. 


Working with Skyports, a UK-based startup specialising in drone infrastructure, and Farrells design studio, the project falls within the Westminster Council Church Street Masterplan, an initiative which will see 1,750 new homes built and a 40% increase in open public space in the area.


“Lyons Place has been resourcefully  built on the site of a petrol station,” says Shevaughn Rieck, project partner at Farrells. “It comprises five townhouses with patio gardens and terraces plus a sleek block of 24 private flats and 47 affordable homes.”


As appealing as the development is, the inclusion of a rooftop vertiport is the real headline grabber.

Vertiports – coming to a rooftop near you?

Vertiports allow drones to land and make deliveries – from medication to meals, groceries to post – and have been growing in popularity in recent years. Skyports has been looking to break into the UK’s fledgling drone delivery market by acquiring 15 rooftop spaces for its vertiports, with more currently under negotiation. 


Unlike Lyons Place, these vertiports will be added to existing buildings across London. For Almacantar, however, incorporating a vertiport was a crucial part of the project, future proofing its development. 

“ The drone facility is an integral part of the scheme, designed as an extension of the concierge service, similar to the postman. 

“The drone facility is an integral part of the scheme, designed as an extension of the concierge service, similar to the postman,” explains Rieck.


“Drones will deliver parcels to the site which will then be collected and distributed to the residents by the concierge. It is using the existing building and roof space that would otherwise have been given over for plant purposes only.”


The use of drones for deliveries has been somewhat stifled in the UK because of aviation laws. However, Almacantar believes this will change in the not too distant future and has pledged to consider incorporating vertiports on all of its future developments, including Marble Arch Place. That development includes an 18-storey residential block and seven-storey commercial space, as well as retail properties, overlooking London’s Hyde Park.

World leaders in drone infrastructure

Many countries are well ahead of the UK in drone deliveries. China, Dubai, Finland, and Switzerland are said to be by far the most advanced according to the industry. In 2018 Alibaba-owned food delivery service, Ele.me, was authorised to carry out food delivery by drone. 


The service, which will run across 17 routes at Shanghai’s Jinshan Industrial Park, is just the latest in a string of developments to introduce drone deliveries across the vast country. 

“ The beauty of this technology has been that it hasn’t changed the design of the scheme. 

Around the same time, Swiss authorities announced a nationwide drone delivery programme and the introduction of an Unmanned Traffic Management system (UTM), known as U-space. In 2017 US-based Matternet said Swiss authorities had approved it to carry medical supply deliveries between facilities, working with Swiss Post.


In the UK, more crowded skies have hindered the take-off of such delivery services. Legislation requires operators to only fly in line of sight, meaning if you can’t see it then you will fall foul of the law.


“At present drones are unable to fly in London due to its complicated airspace – we believe there should be a framework supported by bodies such as the Civil Aviation Authority to allow for drone flights in the Capital,” says Rieck.


However, that could soon change with the National Air Traffic Control Service (NATS) currently working to utilise new technologies which will, it says, make airspace safer. Following a demonstration of drones operating alongside manned aircraft at Manchester Airport, Alastair Muir, NATS safety director, said: “From distributing medicines to delivering parcels, investigating crash sites to inspecting industrial installations, drones have a great deal to offer.”


The news means the UK is inching towards a coherent and safe framework, making the work undertaken by Farrells and commitment of Almacantar to consider vertiports as standard essential if the UK is to benefit from this technology. However, it won’t require significant change in the way buildings of the future are designed, says Rieck.


“The beauty of this technology has been that it hasn’t changed the design of the scheme [Lyons Place], but instead is a welcome addition, with integration being relatively simple.”

Image credit: Prof. Volker Staab/ © Staab Architekten

Planning the roof space

“Every building has a roof space; it’s a waste to only use it for plant to operate the building. Soon we envisage vertiports will be as common as bike racks, which in turn will take the pressure off congested London roads and speed up the delivery time for purchases, playing to the consumer market.”

“ Soon we envisage vertiports will be as common as bike racks, which in turn will take the pressure off congested London roads and speed up the delivery time for purchases. 

There does need to be some consideration when designing the rooftop with a vertiport, Rieck says. Plant screen space, a clearly defined landing pad with safe pedestrian routes to and from it, secure access, and a good notification systems are a critical part.


Although adding such infrastructure is not a major challenge at the design stage, retrofitting them – as is happening across London – is a different matter, as architects Barr Gazetas explained.


“The challenge is to seamlessly incorporate vertiports in to a variety of buildings, from West End historic blocks to suburban shopping centres, to create discreet, efficient, secure and environmentally friendly places,” the architects said.

Image credit: Prof. Volker Staab/ © Staab Architekten

Life in the sky

“As we see more rooftop amenity space, there is opportunity for this vertiports to be offered with direct resident access, such as your Deliveroo landing on the roof,” says Rieck. 


Speaking of the facility at Lyons Park, he adds: “It is an integrated part of the residents experience, allowing instant and immediate deliveries expected in modern day life whilst not impacting on the roads.”


Although vertiports atop buildings, in the UK at least, are still in their infancy, architects are already working on the next major challenge, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) skyports. 

“ The greatest operational barrier to deploying a VTOL fleet in cities is a lack of sufficient locations to place landing pads. 

Uber called on the global architect community to design workable ports as part of its Elevate project. “The greatest operational barrier to deploying a VTOL fleet in cities is a lack of sufficient locations to place landing pads,” the company said in a whitepaper.


The ports will allow air taxis to ferry members of the public across cities in UAVs; Dallas and Los Angeles have been earmarked for the first commercial flights in 2023.


It’s clear the world around us is changing, with it is the design of buildings and even the functionality of those already with us today mutating to accommodate it. The question is, will such big ambitions ever be met?


Whatever the outcome, the work by the of Farrells and Barr Gazetas of this world are taking a step towards those ambitions. Will they be advanced by technology and more progressive regulation? Time will tell.