Building Forward: Your Home, Your Vision, Shaping London Homes with Care and Character

At Run Projects, we believe your home should do more than house your family. It should tell your story, reflect your values, and adapt as your life evolves. Our approach – which we call Building Forward – is about creating spaces that work beautifully today while anticipating tomorrow’s needs. But to design a home that truly resonates, you need to know where you’re coming from as well as where you’re going. That’s especially true in London, where our city’s architecture carries centuries of history in its bricks and mortar.

London’s residential landscape is a patchwork of eras: elegant Georgian terraces with their strict proportions; Victorian and Edwardian houses with ornate brickwork and generous bay windows; 1930s suburban semis with curved porches and Crittall windows; post-war estates built to answer housing shortages. Each period brought new ideas about how families should live – ideas that continue to shape our expectations of home.

Today, many Londoners live in Victorian or Edwardian properties. These homes were designed for a different way of life: multiple small reception rooms, separate sculleries, and coal storage where we now want open-plan kitchens, utility space, and garden access. Renovating such properties requires sensitivity. It’s about balancing respect for history with the realities of modern life.

That’s where Building Forward comes in. It’s a way of designing that embraces both heritage and change.

When we work with clients, we start by listening. Not just to what they want to add – a new kitchen, a loft bedroom, a rear extension – but to how they want to live. Do they need room for growing children? Space to work from home? Areas that invite friends to linger, or quiet corners to retreat?

Next, we look at the property itself. What architectural details should we preserve and highlight? Original fireplaces, cornices, brick façades – these aren’t obstacles but opportunities to anchor the design in a sense of place.

But Building Forward is also about thinking ahead. We encourage our clients to imagine not only next year but the next decade. How will the space need to change? Will children become teenagers needing privacy? Will they eventually move out, leaving room for new hobbies or visiting family? This mindset reduces the need for disruptive renovations in the future.

We also prioritise sustainability. In older homes, that can mean upgrading insulation while maintaining breathability, choosing durable natural materials, and reusing or restoring features rather than replacing them. It’s about making choices that respect both your budget and the environment.

At Run Projects, we see ourselves as partners in this journey. We’re not here to impose a signature style but to help you articulate and realise your vision, however personal that may be. Because Building Forward isn’t a design trend. It’s a commitment to thoughtful, client-led design that honours the past, serves the present, and anticipates the future.

If you’re considering reimagining your home, let’s talk. Together we can create a space that is truly yours – today and for years to come.