Articles by Valeria Silva

Goldstein Heather has completed West London House, an ambitious four-storey lateral extension that extends a narrow end-of-terrace Victorian home in Stamford Brook over the site of a former, now demolished, Territorial Army building. Known for their preference for enduring forms, natural materials, and a resistance to short-lived architectural trends, Goldstein Heather was a natural fit for a project that demanded both contextual sensitivity and the creation of spaces that feel perennial.

Amidst the rolling vineyards and ancient olive groves of Zakynthos, the Root Cabin by London-based architecture practice Kasawoo presents a bold and quietly radical response to the pressures of tourism-driven development in rural Greece. Compact yet deeply intentional, the 2.5m x 8m prefabricated timber retreat champions minimalism, off-grid living, and cultural rootedness – a sharp contrast to the sprawling concrete villas increasingly dominating the island’s landscape.

The house is located in Vinh Ngoc commune (Dong Anh), which has a close connection with the water surface of Phuong Trach lake, Hai Boi lake, and the Red River. This location generates the idea of ​​creating a House from the Flow – an expression of commonly found residential agglomerations along rivers (horizontally) or along waterfalls (vertically).

This renovation project is an exemplary alternative to the all-too-common practice of demolition and reconstruction, which tends to replace complexity with standardized solutions. Here, the approach was to recover and transform, minimizing waste and giving new value to materials via preservation rather than replacement.

At the quiet end of a street, integrated in a cluster of buildings that belong to the same extended family, there was a ruin. A young and growing family decided to rebuild it, due to a deep emotional connection, as it once belonged to the client’s grandparents.  Right next to it stands her parents’ house, where she lived for many years. The desire to reinhabit this ruin stems from a longing return to a place of memories and to live close to family core, where the client’s parents, now grandparents, will closely witness the growth of their grandchildren.

House Duas Marias I is located in Jaguariúna, in the countryside of São Paulo state. It was built on a plot of approximately 6,000 m², which already featured large mature trees, especially in its lower section.