At Arboreal Architecture, our commitment to ecological design extends beyond the built environment. As Brazil approaches a pivotal presidential election, we stand in solidarity with those working to protect the Amazon rainforest and support President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s continued commitment to environmental protection.
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The Woodland House proposal by Arboreal Architecture explores how low-carbon residential design can unlock complex, heavily treed urban plots while actively restoring the local ecosystem. Located on a steeply sloping backland site in Bromley, the two-storey, three-bedroom home is meticulously woven around a protected canopy of mature oak and sycamore trees.
Root-Sensitive Engineering: The house is elevated on discrete screw-piles, hand-excavated to avoid root systems, eliminating invasive concrete foundations and heavy, soil-compacting machinery.
Passive L-Shaped Layout: Bending around the existing trees, the footprint forms a sheltered, south-facing deck that maximises winter solar gains while limiting northern glazing to reduce heat loss.
Wildlife Undercroft: Elevating the structure leaves the ground plane intact, carefully distributing light and rainwater to maintain a continuous habitat corridor for small wildlife and native flora.
Restrained Palette: A tactile exterior of charred timber cladding and warm-grey lime render allows the dwelling to recede quietly into the woodland canopy.
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Historic buildings are an important part of Britain’s cultural identity, but they are also a significant part of the country’s existing building stock. Retaining and thoughtfully retrofitting them can reduce operational energy demand while avoiding the embodied carbon associated with demolition and replacement.
This article revisits the relationship between heritage conservation and climate action through the experience of Clapham Retrofit, a 170-year-old Grade II listed Victorian townhouse in London, and one of Arboreal Architecture’s early deep-retrofit projects.
Rather than treating heritage protection and energy efficiency as competing priorities, Arboreal’s approach considers the building as a whole - its historic fabric, construction, materials, moisture behaviour, thermal performance, occupants and future use. At Clapham, this led to a bespoke combination of internal insulation, secondary glazing, airtightness improvements and renewable energy measures, carefully integrated around the existing architecture.
The project demonstrated that a listed historic building could retain its character while achieving a substantial improvement in environmental performance. Space-heating demand was reduced by more than 75%, while air leakage was reduced from 9.6 to 1.8 air changes per hour. The project became the first listed building in England to achieve the AECB Silver Performance Standard.
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