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Journal

Biophilic design has become a buzzword. Here is what it actually means to do it well.

Biophilic kitchen extension in Notting Hill with full-height black-framed sliding glazing, timber-clad ceiling, rooflight, and lush fern garden planting. Indoor-outdoor living by RISE Design Studio, London architects specialising in sustainable residential design.

Somewhere between Instagram and the interiors press, biophilic design stopped meaning something. It became shorthand for a fiddle-leaf fig and a linen sofa. We want to unpick that, because the real thing, done properly, is one of the most transformative things you can do to a home.

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Why We Give Our Time to Architecture That Matters: RISE Design Studio & the Paddington Old Cemetery Chapels

Architectural concept visualisation of a glazed contemporary pavilion designed by RISE Design Studio within the courtyard of the Grade II listed Victorian Gothic chapels at Paddington Old Cemetery, Queen's Park, London

Every year, RISE Design Studio commits a set number of hours to charitable and community projects - work we believe in, offered pro bono. Right now, that commitment is focused on one of London's most compelling heritage and community stories: the restoration of the Victorian Gothic ch …

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Hampstead Architects: What to Look for Before You Appoint

Contemporary Hampstead house extension and retrofit by RISE Design Studio featuring retained Victorian brick architecture, large glazed rear extension, deep cantilevered roof, timber screening, low-energy design, and naturalistic garden planting in North London

Hampstead changes street by street.

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What a Sketch Taught Me About Leadership, Sustainability and the Non-Linear Path

A Career Path As It Actually Looks - diagram presented at an IWD lecture showing a winding route with dead ends, a reminder that progress is never linear

Published for International Women's Day 2026

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Scallop House: A Rear Extension in Stoke Newington

Close-up of curved pink lime render columns flanking a tall arched window, Scallop House Stoke Newington. Kitchen visible beyond. Victorian terrace extension by RISE Design Studio London.

Stoke Newington is a neighbourhood that wears its layers lightly. Victorian terraces line streets that have absorbed wave after wave of change - yet the area retains a quiet coherence. Gardens are generous. Brickwork is warm. The pace of life is slower than the city that surrounds it.

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The Rules Have Changed. Is Your Application Ready?

Architectural site plan with approved stamp showing contemporary sustainable home design with planning permission documentation

What the April 2026 planning appeals reforms mean for homeowners and developers

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Arches House: what happens when you start with the right question

Two-storey brick side and rear extension in West Hampstead with arched steel-framed windows opening onto a landscaped garden terrace, designed by RISE Design Studio for contemporary family living.

Project completed 2023. Two-storey side and rear extension with full internal reconfiguration of a Victorian semi-detached house.

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Notting Hill EnerPHit Retrofit - Reimagining Victorian Homes for a Low-Carbon Future

The full rear composition - a social firepit terrace anchors the outdoor space, with the glazed extension drawing the interior and garden into a single continuous environment in Notting Hill

London's Victorian housing stock is extraordinary. Generous proportions. Handmade brick. A civic confidence baked into every facade.

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A Padel Court in a Notting Hill Garden Square

Padel court concept by RISE Design Studio in a Notting Hill garden square, with a green court and net, pale mesh walls in a timber frame, a pitched roof of exposed glulam trusses, and a glazed gable wall framing a pink cherry tree, lawn, and white stucco terraces beyond.

Notting Hill keeps its best spaces out of sight. Behind the long terraces of white stucco, screened by railings and a locked gate, sit the communal gardens of the Ladbroke Estate. They were laid out in the middle of the nineteenth century as shared private greens, lawns and mature tre …

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AI and the Planning System: What Does It Mean for Your Home?

Exterior view of a London home extension with sliding glazed doors, exposed concrete and timber, warm evening light, architectural drawings in the foreground on a garden table.

The government is introducing AI into the UK planning system. If you're thinking about an extension, renovation, or retrofit, it's a reasonable thing to wonder about. Here's an honest view of what's changing, what isn't, and what it actually means for your project.

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