How to Reimagine a Victorian Home: A Modern Architect's Tale
by Sean Hill on May 9, 2025
In London, history is never far from home. You see it in the patterned brickwork, the generous bay windows, and the steep slate roofs that line the city's streets. Victorian homes, built during a century of enormous social and technological change, are now the canvas for another kind …
The 1930s Semi: A Quiet Powerhouse of British Architecture
by Sean Hill on Apr 15, 2025
You’ve seen them. Lining the quiet streets of London’s outer zones, with their pitched roofs, proud bays, and an air of quiet endurance. The 1930s semi-detached home isn’t flashy. It doesn’t shout. But give it a little attention, and it speaks volumes.
- Architecture (151)
- Sustainable architecture (138)
- Design (67)
- Passivhaus (67)
- Sustainable Design (65)
- Retrofit (57)
- London (51)
- New build (51)
- Renovation (43)
- energy (39)
- interior design (37)
- Building materials (34)
- Planning (33)
- Environment (31)
- climate-change (30)
- Inspirational architects (27)
- Refurbishment (27)
- enerphit (27)
- extensions (27)
- Building elements (22)
- Inspiration (21)
- Rise Projects (16)
- Extension (15)
- Innovative Architecture (14)
- London Architecture (13)
- net zero (13)
- Carbon Zero Homes (12)
- General (12)
- Philosophy (12)
- RIBA (11)
- Working with an architect (11)
- sustainable materials (11)
- architects (10)
- low energy home (10)
- Awards (9)
- Sustainable (9)
- Residential architecture (8)
- architect (8)
- Planning permission (7)
- Airtightness (6)
- Eenergy efficiency (6)
- Passive house (6)
- Uncategorized (6)
- Virtual Reality (6)
- low carbon (6)
- BIM (5)
- Basement Extensions (5)
- Costs (5)
- RISE Sketchbook Chronicles (5)
- Sustainable Architect (5)
- cinema design (5)
- construction (5)
- local materials (5)
- sustainable building (5)
- ARB (4)
- BIMx (4)
- Carbon Positive Buildings (4)
- Feasibility Study (4)
- Home extensions (4)
- House cost (4)
- concrete (4)
- constructioncosts (4)
- insulation (4)
- modular architecture (4)
- mvhr (4)
- natural materials (4)
- structural (4)
- structuralengineer (4)
- working from home (4)
- Backland Development (3)
- Building in the Green Belt (3)
- Chartered architect (3)
- Home improvement (3)
- Overheating (3)
- Paragraph 84 (3)
- Permitted development (3)
- Property (3)
- Spain (3)
- Sustainable Interiors (3)
- Sustainable Tennis Pavilion (3)
- Timber Structures (3)
- backland (3)
- circular economy (3)
- country house (3)
- countryside (3)
- furniture (3)
- listed buildings (3)
- plywood (3)
- sustainability (3)
- sustainable structure (3)
- zero waste (3)
- 3D models (2)
- AECB (2)
- Architects in Spain (2)
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) (2)
- BREEAM (2)
- Bespoke lighting (2)
- Bricks (2)
- Building energy (2)
- Chartered Practice (2)
- Commercial Architecture (2)
- Contractor (2)
- Covid-19 (2)
- Ecohouse (2)
- Furniture design (2)
- Garden studio (2)
- Heat Pumps (2)
- Heritage (2)
- Japanese Archiecture (2)
- Loft conversion (2)
- Mews House Retrofit (2)
- Modern Methods of Construction (2)
- Paragraph 79 (2)
- Paragraph 80 (2)
- Period Homes (2)
- Permitted development rights (2)
- Recycling (2)
- Roof extension (2)
- Social Distancing (2)
- Social housing (2)
- Store Design (2)
- Sustainable Affordable Homes (2)
- Sustainable Extensions (2)
- Tennis Pavilion (2)
- Timber Construction (2)
- Welbeing (2)
- ashp (2)
- barcelona (2)
- building information modelling (2)
- building regulations (2)
- co-working (2)
- design&build (2)
- epc (2)
- glazed-extensions (2)
- green architecture (2)
- greenbelt (2)
- health and wellbeing (2)
- historic architecture (2)
- house extension (2)
- interiorfinishes (2)
- light (2)
- living space (2)
- london landmarks (2)
- londoncinemas (2)
- openingupworks (2)
- peter zumthor (2)
- project management (2)
- rammed earth (2)
- renewable energy (2)
- self build (2)
- traditional (2)
- trialpits (2)
- waste (2)
- wooden furniture (2)
- #NLANetZero (1)
- 3D Printing (1)
- 3D Walkthroughs (1)
- Adobe (1)
- Alvar (1)
- Architect Barcelona (1)
- Architecture Interior Design (1)
- Architraves (1)
- Area (1)
- Art (1)
- Audio Visual (1)
- Balconies (1)
- Biodiversity (1)
- Biophilic Design (1)
- Birmingham Selfridges (1)
- Boat building (1)
- Boats (1)
- Brass (1)
- Brexit (1)
- Brownfield Development (1)
- Brutalist Architecture (1)
- Carpentry (1)
- Casting (1)
- Chailey Brick (1)
- Community Architecture (1)
- Concrete Architecture (1)
- Copper (1)
- Cornices (1)
- Cowboy Builders (1)
- Czech Republic, (1)
- Data Centers (1)
- David Lea (1)
- Designing with Stone (1)
- Dormer extension (1)
- EnvironmentalArchitecture (1)
- Fees (1)
- Flooding (1)
- Future of Housing (1)
- Gandhi memorial museum (1)
- Georgian Extension (1)
- Green Register (1)
- Green infrastructure (1)
- GreenDesign (1)
- History (1)
- India (1)
- Jan Kaplický (1)
- Japandi (1)
- Joinery (1)
- Kitchen Design (1)
- L-shaped dormer (1)
- Land value (1)
- Lord's Media Centre (1)
- Mapping (1)
- Marseilles (1)
- Mary Portas (1)
- Metal (1)
- Micro Generation (1)
- Mid Century Retrofit (1)
- Monuments (1)
- Mouldings (1)
- Mycelium Architecture (1)
- NPPF (1)
- Nature (1)
- New Build House (1)
- Office to Homes (1)
- Office to Hotel Conversion (1)
- Offsite manufacturing (1)
- Padel Court (1)
- Party Wall Surveyor (1)
- PeopleFirstDesign (1)
- Place (1)
- Podcast (1)
- Porch (1)
- Prefab (1)
- Procurement (1)
- RISE Team (1)
- Rebuild (1)
- Replacement Dwelling (1)
- ResilientFuture (1)
- Richard Rogers (1)
- Rural New Build (1)
- Sand (1)
- Scandinavian architecture (1)
- Selfbuild (1)
- Skirting (1)
- Small Sites Development (1)
- Solar Shading (1)
- Steel (1)
- Stone Architecture (1)
- Surveying (1)
- Sustainable Basement Extension (1)
- Sustainable Lighting (1)
- Sustainable Mews House (1)
- Sustainable Padel Court (1)
- Sverre fehn (1)
- VR (1)
- West london (1)
- Wildlife (1)
- Wood (1)
- architect fees (1)
- architectural details (1)
- arne jacobsen (1)
- avant garde (1)
- basements (1)
- brentdesignawards (1)
- building design (1)
- built environment (1)
- carbonpositive (1)
- cement (1)
- charles correa (1)
- charles eames (1)
- charlie warde (1)
- charteredarchitect (1)
- climate (1)
- climate action (1)
- codes of practice (1)
- collaboration (1)
- covid (1)
- dezeenawards (1)
- drone (1)
- eco-living (1)
- emissions (1)
- finnish architecture (1)
- foundations (1)
- futuristic (1)
- georgian architecture (1)
- glazed envelope (1)
- good working relationships (1)
- green building (1)
- hampstead (1)
- happiness (1)
- home extension (1)
- homesurveys (1)
- imperfection (1)
- independentcinemas (1)
- innovation (1)
- inspirational (1)
- internal windows (1)
- jean prouve (1)
- kindness economy (1)
- kintsugi (1)
- landscape architecture (1)
- lime (1)
- local (1)
- lockdown (1)
- mansard (1)
- manufacturing (1)
- materiality (1)
- modern architecture (1)
- moderninst (1)
- modernism (1)
- moulded furniture (1)
- natural (1)
- natural cooling (1)
- natural light (1)
- nordic pavilion (1)
- northern ireland (1)
- palazzo (1)
- placemaking (1)
- planningpermission (1)
- plywood kitchen (1)
- post-Covid (1)
- poverty (1)
- powerhouse (1)
- preapp (1)
- preapplication (1)
- ray eames (1)
- reclaimed bricks (1)
- recycle (1)
- reuse (1)
- ricardo bofill (1)
- risedesignstudio (1)
- rooflights (1)
- room reconfiguration (1)
- rural (1)
- satellite imagery (1)
- selfbuildhouse (1)
- shared spaces (1)
- site-progress (1)
- solarpvs (1)
- space (1)
- stone (1)
- structuralsurvey (1)
- sun tunnel (1)
- terraces (1)
- thegreenregister (1)
- totality (1)
- wabi-sabi (1)
- August 2025 (8)
- July 2025 (23)
- June 2025 (9)
- May 2025 (22)
- April 2025 (16)
- March 2025 (8)
- February 2025 (12)
- January 2025 (6)
- December 2024 (6)
- November 2024 (8)
- October 2024 (5)
- September 2024 (3)
- August 2024 (2)
- July 2024 (2)
- June 2024 (2)
- May 2024 (1)
- April 2024 (1)
- March 2024 (1)
- February 2024 (1)
- January 2024 (3)
- November 2023 (1)
- October 2023 (5)
- September 2023 (7)
- August 2023 (7)
- July 2023 (6)
- June 2023 (8)
- May 2023 (14)
- April 2023 (11)
- March 2023 (8)
- February 2023 (6)
- January 2023 (5)
- December 2022 (3)
- November 2022 (3)
- October 2022 (3)
- September 2022 (3)
- July 2022 (2)
- June 2022 (1)
- May 2022 (1)
- April 2022 (1)
- March 2022 (1)
- February 2022 (2)
- January 2022 (1)
- November 2021 (1)
- October 2021 (2)
- July 2021 (1)
- June 2021 (1)
- May 2021 (1)
- April 2021 (1)
- March 2021 (1)
- February 2021 (1)
- January 2021 (2)
- December 2020 (1)
- November 2020 (1)
- October 2020 (1)
- September 2020 (2)
- August 2020 (1)
- June 2020 (3)
- April 2020 (3)
- March 2020 (2)
- February 2020 (3)
- January 2020 (1)
- December 2019 (1)
- November 2019 (2)
- September 2019 (1)
- June 2019 (1)
- April 2019 (2)
- January 2019 (2)
- October 2018 (1)
- September 2018 (1)
- August 2018 (2)
- July 2018 (1)
- March 2018 (1)
- February 2018 (2)
- December 2017 (1)
- September 2017 (1)
- May 2017 (1)
- January 2017 (1)
- December 2016 (1)
- November 2016 (1)
- September 2016 (1)
- August 2016 (2)
- June 2016 (2)
- May 2016 (1)
- April 2016 (1)
- December 2015 (1)
- October 2015 (1)
- September 2015 (1)
- August 2015 (1)
- June 2015 (1)
- January 2015 (1)
- September 2014 (2)
- August 2014 (1)
- July 2014 (4)
- June 2014 (9)
- May 2014 (2)
- April 2014 (1)
- March 2014 (1)
- February 2014 (1)
- December 2013 (1)
- November 2013 (5)
- October 2013 (5)
- September 2013 (5)
- August 2013 (5)
- July 2013 (5)
- June 2013 (2)
- May 2013 (2)
- April 2013 (4)
- March 2013 (5)
- February 2013 (2)
- January 2013 (3)
