Journal
Why I started RISE, and what I got wrong in the first five years
by Sean Ronnie Hill on Jun 8, 2026
When I started RISE Design Studio in 2011, I thought architecture was the product. Like most architects, I believed the value sat in the design itself. If the drawings were thoughtful enough, the spaces beautiful enough, the craftsmanship good enough, then everything else would surely …
We won't design a room before we understand how light moves through it
by Sean Ronnie Hill on Jun 8, 2026
There are two windows on the rear wall of this kitchen, and they do not match.
A Padel Court Looking Onto Regent's Park
by Sean Ronnie Hill on Jun 5, 2026
Stand on the Broad Walk in Regent's Park on a summer evening and the thing that stays with you is not a building. It is the trees. The long avenues of London plane and horse chestnut, the canopy closing overhead, the green going soft as the light drops. John Nash laid the park out two …
What a Tennis Pavilion Should Feel Like: Designing the New Clubhouse at Sutton Churches
by Imran Jahn on Jun 1, 2026
I have been playing tennis for most of my life, and I have spent a good deal of it in clubhouses that did not quite work. The changing room you had to walk through to reach the bar. The single radiator losing its battle with January. The kettle everyone queued for and nobody owned. Yo …
What a lake teaches you about a building
by Sean Ronnie Hill on May 27, 2026
At 6am this morning I was waist-deep in the Serpentine with a client and friend, Zoe Birch of Physio Motion. The water was 23.7°C. London is in a heatwave. The air was already warm before we got in.
Earth as Image: Adam Weismann's Green Rammed Earth Skyspace at Matiz Gallery
by Sean Ronnie Hill on May 22, 2026
Earlier this week I visited Matiz Gallery in Barcelona and met with Ivonne Parra, the gallery's director. It was one of those gallery visits that stays with you. Not because of spectacle, but because of something quieter: the realisation that a material you work with in buildings can …
Do I Need Insurance for My Home Renovation? What Every Homeowner Should Know
by Sean Ronnie Hill on May 21, 2026
One homeowner's £250,000 loss shows exactly what is at stake when the right cover is not in place before works begin.
Herbert Paradise Featured in Samsung Campaign
by Sean Ronnie Hill on May 20, 2026
Why calm architecture is becoming the new luxury
Energy Is No Longer Cheap. Most Homes Were Never Built to Handle That
by Sean Ronnie Hill on May 3, 2026
A conflict overseas. A disrupted supply chain. An oil price spike. And within weeks, the cost of heating your home climbs again.
What Community Sports Clubs Need to Know Before Appointing an Architect
by Imran Jahn on Apr 23, 2026
Lessons from designing Sutton Churches Tennis Club's new low-carbon clubhouse - and what every club committee should ask before the process begins.
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