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by Sean Hill on Nov 21, 2025
There’s something quietly surreal about walking through Hyde Park before sunrise. The city hasn’t committed to the day yet. The air is cool, the light is grey-blue, and you get that first whisper of what am I doing? as you approach the Serpentine.
I was meeting Zoe Birch - physio, founder of Physio Motion, and fellow seeker of what-the-hell-this-is-alive-feels-like - for an early-morning cold-water swim. And somewhere between the sting of the water on my skin and the slow, steady breath that followed, I realised:
→ This feels like designing to Passivhaus standards.
And the more you sit with that comparison, the more it holds.
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Early-morning winter swim at the Serpentine with our client Zoe Birch - a moment of clarity, discipline and reset that mirrors the mindset behind Passivhaus design.
The First Shock → Clarity Arrives Abruptly
Cold water does not negotiate with you. It doesn’t ease you in.
The book describes this perfectly: the “cold-shock response” hits with a spike in breathing, heart rate, and focus so sharp it forces you to be completely present
Book 21 Nov 2025
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Passivhaus design has its own kind of cold-shock.
The first time a client sees airtightness values, psi-details, MVHR duct routes, thermal bridge elimination…
There’s that same moment of → wow… this is serious.
But it’s productive seriousness.
You wake up.
You stop designing by habit and start designing with intention.
Cold water strips away the noise.
Passivhaus strips away the waste.
Both sharpen the senses.
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A calm, pre-dawn view over the Serpentine - the stillness, the cold air, and the first light rising over Hyde Park, moments before stepping into the water.
The Discipline → You Become What You Repeat
Winter swimming isn’t a stunt — it’s a practice.
The book calls it a “journey of self-control,” something you become through repetition, not bravery.
Airtightness testing is the same.
So is PHPP modelling.
So is getting the envelope right, detail by detail, until the building performs with effortless efficiency.
You don’t try Passivhaus.
You train for it.
You build the habits.
You become a designer who sees drafts before they exist.
You sense thermal bridges like a sixth sense.
You think in temperature, pressure, flow.
Just like winter swimmers start thinking in seasons, water temperature, wind, daylight - all the tiny cues the body learns to read.
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The Moment the Body Softens → Comfort, But Earned
One thing the book describes beautifully is that weirdly magical moment after you get out of the water - that surge of warmth, joy and calm that winter swimmers consistently report.
That’s exactly what living in a Passivhaus feels like.
Once inside:
→ the temperature is soft
→ the air is clean
→ the drafts are gone
→ the noise drops
→ the building just… holds you
People are always struck by how immediately different it feels, but how impossible it is to describe.
Exactly like the post-swim glow - an unmistakable shift, but hard to put into words unless you’ve lived it.
Comfort isn’t a luxury.
It’s a physiological response.
Cold water resets the nervous system.
Passivhaus resets your baseline for what a home should feel like.
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Presence → The Mind Finally Stops Running
The book talks about nature pulling you “into the moment,” forcing your brain to pause while your body takes over
Swimming in the Serpentine with air temperature at -1ºC, I felt exactly that.
For a few minutes, you’re nowhere else - not in meetings, not in deadlines, not in the constant churn of creative problem-solving.
Designing to Passivhaus standards has the same centring effect on architecture.
Because there’s no shortcut:
→ You focus
→ You simplify
→ You let the unnecessary fall away
You return to the very heart of design - purpose, performance, and human wellbeing.
It’s slow architecture in a fast world.
☉
Community → You Don’t Do This Alone
Winter swimming, the book insists, works best in groups - for safety, motivation, and joy. There’s even a name for the cultural archetype: the “Viking,” someone who becomes resilient through repetition and community support.
Passivhaus is the same.
It takes a team:
Architect
Contractor
Client
Consultants
Airtightness testers
MVHR specialists
Detail-obsessed designers
Everyone has to be aligned.
Everyone has to show up.
Swimming with Zoe had that same unspoken solidarity - two people stepping into something uncomfortable, purposeful, and ultimately energising.
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A Reset → And Then a Re-Entry
The book describes the post-swim mood as a “positive shock” - increased dopamine, serotonin, patience, calmness, focus, and sleep.
Cycling back through Hyde Park afterwards, close to frostbite in my fingers as forgot my gloves, the city felt lighter.
Usable.
Almost redesigned.
And it struck me:
→ This is exactly how clients feel at the end of a Passivhaus project.
The stress of decisions lifts.
The building supports them.
Life becomes smoother, easier, and more balanced.
Good design changes how people live.
Cold water changes how people feel.
Both shift you from a state of survival into something more intentional.
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Why a Swim with Zoe Feels Like Good Architecture
Zoe works every day with bodies - movement, pain, balance, recovery.
Passivhaus works with buildings - heat, air, moisture, comfort.
But really, they're both doing the same thing:
→ Creating environments where humans can thrive.
And on that morning, in the cold, we both remembered something important:
Simplicity is powerful.
Nature is honest.
The body responds to care.
And the best design - like cold water - wakes you up to the life you actually want to live.
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If you fancy a dawn dip yourself one day, you’re welcome to join us.
We’ll talk architecture once the feeling in our fingers comes back.
Designing for the Long Run
At RISE, we believe that low-energy architecture isn’t just about performance metrics or certifications. It’s about crafting spaces that recalibrate how we live - buildings that feel as alive and honest as cold water on the skin. Homes that strip back the unnecessary, hold warmth with integrity, breathe clean air, and stand quietly resilient for decades to come.
A Passivhaus or AECB-standard home isn’t just a technical achievement.
→ It’s a reset.
→ A commitment to comfort, clarity and longevity.
→ A design philosophy that asks us to do better - for people, for buildings, for the future.
Thinking about designing a home that feels as invigorating and grounding as a winter swim?
Let’s talk about how your project can set a new benchmark - calm, clear, low-energy and built to last.
→ Email us at architects@risedesignstudio.co.uk
→ Or call the studio on 020 3947 5886
RISE Design Studio, Architects, Interior Designers + Sustainability Experts
☉ Architecture for people and planet
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