Thoughts for the Weekend & this Week’s Links
The House That Needed Turning Upside Down. Some houses tell you exactly what’s wrong the moment you step through the door; others take a little time to reveal their story. The terrace house I looked at this week — a tiny two-up two-down in Southsea — definitely belonged to the second group. A small two-up […]
Thoughts for the Weekend & this Week’s Links
A hundred weeks of curiosity. This is the 100th edition of Thoughts for the Weekend. When I started in June 2023, there wasn’t a grand plan — more a marketing push after launching a new website, an effort to explain what I do a bit more clearly. The idea was to shed some light on […]
Thoughts for the Weekend & this Week’s Links
A Ride to Liverpool. I was watching the football on Sunday with my son. Everton were playing, and we got talking about their new stadium, which is in Liverpool’s docklands, just north of the city centre. An aside: Why I need to pay the government nearly fifteen quid a month to watch football via a […]
Thoughts for the Weekend & this Week’s Links
The Hippy and the Physicist. I was sitting in a 6500-year-old burial chamber, listening to a hippy chant. It was the first day of a new moon. Fifty-million-year-old sarsen stones stacked to form the Long Barrow around me. Heavy. It was a spontaneous day trip to visit megalithic architecture. There is something deeply satisfying about […]
Remodelling a 1930s Detached House for Modern Family Living
Remodelling a 1930s Detached House for Modern Family Living Many post-war detached houses across the UK share a similar story: practical layouts, generous gardens, but dated proportions and dark, disconnected interiors. In my latest video, I explore how a typical 1950s house in Southampton could be transformed into a bright, contemporary family home — […]
Thoughts for the Weekend & this Week’s Links
How to Design a Winery Before Bed. After finishing my day’s work yesterday, I set myself a challenge: design a winery before bed. I’d spent the morning in a medieval vault and a rooftop bar discussing the project with my group of students, whose final-year project it is – see the TFTW from a couple […]
Thoughts for the Weekend & this Week’s Links
The Enhancification Department. I had a wander around historic Southampton yesterday with a group of students. First day back and they are tasked with designing a winery on a car park right next to the medieval city walls. At first glance, it sounds mad. But Southampton has the longest surviving stretch of medieval walls in […]
Thoughts for the Weekend & this Week’s Links
Designing Homes, Not Houses. A house is just a structure—a collection of walls, a roof, and rooms. A home, however, is something entirely different. It’s a place that feels uniquely yours, somewhere you feel at ease and where your life unfolds. Designing a home means looking beyond bricks and mortar to create spaces that resonate […]
Thoughts for the Weekend & this Week’s Links
The Short One. Not much to say this week—I’ve hit the wall. It’s been a busy one. Three new interesting projects have kept me occupied, along with a planning department that refuses to accept it’s a public service funded by, well, us—the public. There seems to be a clear misunderstanding of “servant” as in civil. […]
Thoughts for the Weekend & this Week’s Links
Architecture Shapes Lives. When a client first approaches me about their home, we often start with the practical details. They may need extra space for a growing family, a kitchen suited to hosting friends, or a dedicated home office instead of sharing workspace with the dining table. All valid and important—but as we talk further, […]
