Sanya Polescuk Architects

If you’ve ever toured a historic home and thought, “This place has charm… and also the insulation value of a lace curtain,”
you already understand the core problem Sanya Polescuk Architects (often shortened to SPA) likes to solve.
Their specialty is giving older, protected, or heritage-sensitive buildings a confident contemporary upgradewithout turning them into
shiny, soulless “before-and-after” content farms.

In plain English: SPA takes buildings with a past and makes them work for the presentlighter, smarter, more comfortable,
and typically more energy-efficientwhile keeping the parts that make them worth saving in the first place. Think of it as
architectural time travel, but with better daylighting and fewer regrets.

Who (and what) is Sanya Polescuk Architects?

Sanya Polescuk Architects is an award-winning, RIBA Chartered architecture practice founded in 1998 by Sanya Polescuk.
The practice is known for reimagining existing buildingsespecially those in conservation areas or with heritage constraintsthrough
modern, highly detailed interventions that prioritize longevity, comfort, and sustainability.

The firm’s work sits in a sweet spot: respectful but not timid, contemporary but not allergic to texture, and pragmatic without losing
the joy of design. They tend to thrive where projects come with “fun” constraints like protected façades, tricky planning approvals,
structural oddities, or a client who wants the building to flex with life stages (kids, grandparents, work-from-home, the occasional
existential crisis… you know, normal stuff).

SPA’s signature territory: old bones, new life

If you had to summarize SPA’s vibe in one sentence, it would be: keep the soul, upgrade the performance.
That means designing around the reality that existing buildings are complicatedfull of surprises behind walls, awkward level changes,
and “historic features” that are charming until you try to run ductwork through them.

The SPA design philosophy: “Nothing is only what it appears.”

SPA talks about space like a stage setcapable of hosting multiple scenes. That mindset shows up in how they shape circulation,
borrow light, and create rooms that can change identity depending on how you live. In other words, they design for real humans,
not just for architectural photography (though the photos do tend to behave nicely).

Three ideas that pop up again and again

• Spatial continuity: Instead of treating rooms as sealed boxes, SPA often creates long sightlines, layered thresholds,
  and transitions that make compact footprints feel generous.
• Light as a building material: Daylight is not a bonus featureit’s a structural ingredient. Light wells, roof glazing,
  and strategic openings often do the heavy lifting.
• Old + new as a deliberate contrast: SPA frequently uses reclaimed or honest, workmanlike materialsthen pairs them
  with precise contemporary elements to make the “new layer” legible rather than fake-historic.

Color and material: not decoration, but logic

One of SPA’s more charming (and genuinely useful) ideas is treating color the way engineers treat structure: as something that
should be coherent, durable, and intentional. Natural or inherently colored materials do the “long-term” work, while applied color
is used to mark the difference between permanent building fabric and more changeable fit-out.

Sustainability, retrofit, and the “don’t waste a good building” mindset

SPA’s work lands squarely in a global design shift that U.S. institutions and standards have been shouting from rooftops (often
renovated rooftops): the greenest building is frequently the one you don’t demolish.
Building reuse protects embodied carbonthe emissions already “spent” making the structure and materialswhile retrofits
target operational energy and comfort.

How SPA’s approach maps to U.S. best practices

Even though SPA is London-based, their core strategies translate cleanly to American frameworks:

• Adaptive reuse as climate action: U.S. guidance increasingly frames building reuse as a practical, cost-aware path to
  emissions reductionespecially when compared with teardown-and-rebuild approaches.
• Whole-building energy upgrades: Deep energy retrofit concepts emphasize integrated designenclosure, systems,
  ventilation, and user behaviorrather than isolated “one-and-done” fixes.
• Operational performance and benchmarking: Programs like ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager normalize measuring what you
  actually use, not what you hope you use after a glossy renovation.
• Existing-building standards: Codes and guidance for existing buildings recognize that upgrades should improve safety
  and performance without demanding impossible “new-build purity.”

Translation: SPA’s design instincts are aligned with the direction American architecture and building policy are movingreuse more,
waste less, measure performance, and stop pretending every project begins on a blank sheet of paper.

Project highlights: what SPA actually does (with specific examples)

More Mews: flexible living + serious energy upgrades

One of SPA’s widely published projects begins as a drafty two-bedroom mews house with a ramshackle garagebasically the kind of
building that makes you wear socks indoors as a survival strategy. SPA transforms it into two flexible, light, airy, thermally
efficient flats, each with its own outdoor space. The layout supports future permutations: two independent units, a connected
intergenerational setup, or a single larger home.

The design hinges on a light well punched down to the ground floor, supplying daylight, air, and separation between units.
Space is pushed hardsome floor area is sacrificed to create generous double-height volume. Materially, the project leans into
a raw, honest palette: refurbished timber boarding and garage doors, exposed steelwork, original internal brickwork, and finishes
like zinc, oak, birch, and matte tiles.

The sustainability move that stands out: SPA retains every usable piece of building fabricprotecting embodied energy while
improving performance. The reported energy rating improvement (boosted dramatically) and the addition of solar PV underscore
the practice’s “upgrade without erasing” retrofit stance.

Grade II Modern: rescuing the “Orangery” from being… not very orangery

In Grade II to Modern, SPA tackles an early 19th-century listed house with a side extension described as an “Orangery”though
in practice it had become a dark, damp tangle of incongruous rooms. The fix is both bold and legible: the orangery is stripped back
and opened to the sky, then rebuilt with a new glass roof and a combination of fixed and sliding plywood-and-glass partitions.

A key contemporary layer is birch ply joinery throughoutvarnished or color-stainedchosen as modern, economical, and sustainable,
intentionally contrasting with existing Georgian features. The result is a house that reads clearly as historic fabric plus a new,
purposeful intervention (instead of a confused mash-up of “sort-of old” everywhere).

Christchurch Hill: turning flats back into a real terraced home

Christchurch Hill is a Victorian terraced house that had been split into flatsan all-too-common fate for older urban housing stock.
SPA’s work focuses on “re-stitching” the building into a single dwelling, with three key challenges: restoring the continuity of the
staircase, reinventing the lower ground floor, and making the top floor properly livable again.

Here, the staircase isn’t just circulationit’s the psychological spine of the home. SPA describes the tension between keeping a
protected stair enclosure (for fire/smoke behavior) while still creating connection between levels. Their solution includes a new,
efficient stair configuration at lower ground and a strategy that turns landings and adjacent space into usable areasso “code
compliance” doesn’t automatically mean “dead space.”

Old Hampstead Police Station: heritage + community-led housing ambitions

SPA has also proposed mixed-use, community-forward development strategies for historic public buildings. For the Grade II listed
Old Hampstead Police Station, the proposal frames heritage features as assets for community benefitfor example, repurposing the
Magistrates Court as a community spacewhile combining housing, workspace, and broader neighborhood value.

The concept includes refurbishing the main listed building and a coach house to deliver market-sale flats, enabling affordable
(key-worker) housing and additional affordable rental units in new buildings within the rear yard. It’s a planning-and-typology
puzzle: preserve what matters, densify where appropriate, and treat “existing fabric” as a platform for social outcomes rather than
a museum exhibit.

What U.S. homeowners, developers, and designers can learn from SPA

1) Start with curiosity, not demolition fever

In the U.S., preservation guidance often emphasizes understanding what you actually have before you “fix” itdocumenting materials,
conditions, and hidden risks. SPA’s work echoes that logic: diagnose first, design second, and only then commit to the surgical moves.
Especially in older masonry buildings, the wrong insulation strategy can create moisture problems that turn a “green upgrade” into a
slow-motion building science tragedy.

2) Treat energy retrofit like a whole-body plan

American deep energy retrofit frameworks push integrated thinking: enclosure + ventilation + efficient systems + occupant behavior.
SPA projects tend to show this mindset through coordinated upgradesdaylight strategies paired with insulation, careful material reuse,
and modern systems layered into old structures without wrecking character.

3) Measure what matters (and keep measuring)

Benchmarking tools and performance standards in the U.S. exist because “we upgraded it” is not a metric. The SPA vibe is similar:
the goal is comfort and performance that holds up over time, not just a pretty reveal. If you’re doing a major renovation, consider
building in a habit of tracking energy use, indoor comfort, and maintenance needsbecause the building will absolutely keep receipts.

4) Make the new layer honest

SPA’s modern insertions don’t cosplay as “original.” That’s a lesson American projects can benefit from, too: when you contrast old and
new clearly, you reduce confusion, celebrate craft, and avoid the awkward “historic-ish” detailing that ages like milk.

Real-World Experiences: What It’s Like to Retrofit the SPA Way (About )

If you’ve never lived through a serious renovation of an older building, let me paint you a realistic picture (with love): it’s part
adventure film, part relationship test, and part archaeological digexcept instead of dinosaurs you uncover 1970s wiring choices that
feel personally disrespectful.

The “SPA-style” experiencebased on how projects like theirs are typically deliveredstarts with a shift in mindset. You don’t treat the
building as broken; you treat it as verbose. Older structures communicate through odd level changes, mysteriously cold corners,
and walls that are never quite straight. The first phase feels less like shopping for finishes and more like learning the building’s
language: where it leaks heat, how daylight moves, what’s structural, what’s cosmetic, and what’s secretly both.

Then comes the part homeowners remember forever: the moment your architect proposes removing something you assumed was untouchable.
A gloomy rear extension? Open it to the sky. A cramped stair? Rebuild it efficiently and make the landings useful. A “special historic
feature” that is actually just a badly planned partition from a past conversion? Give it a respectful goodbye. When this is done well,
it feels like the house exhalessuddenly the plan makes sense, and the place stops fighting you every time you carry laundry upstairs.

On site, the experience is often defined by sequencingthe underrated superpower of retrofit projects. You can’t just
“install the new stuff” because the existing building keeps adding plot twists. The best teams treat surprises as data: uncover, assess,
adjust, proceed. That’s where the collaboration ethos matters. When architects and contractors operate like allies (not rivals), the
project stays resilient. Decisions happen faster, compromises are smarter, and nobody pretends the discovery of an unexpected beam is
“no big deal” while quietly panicking into a spreadsheet.

Material choices in this kind of renovation often feel more personal than in new construction. Reclaimed timber or original brick isn’t
just “sustainable”; it’s memory made physical. Clients often describe a strange satisfaction in keeping pieces of the old buildingnot
because they’re sentimental, but because the retained fabric gives the new work credibility. It’s the difference between a home that
feels like it’s been “styled” and one that feels like it has a real timeline.

Finally, there’s comfortthe quiet payoff nobody posts on social media. A retrofit that improves insulation, drafts, ventilation, and
daylight changes how you live day-to-day. Rooms become usable year-round. The building becomes calmer. And you get to enjoy the rarest
luxury in old-house ownership: not having to wear a sweater indoors in July “just in case.”

In the end, the best experience is when the renovation doesn’t erase historyit edits it. The building still feels like itself, just
smarter, brighter, and less interested in running up your energy bill for sport.

Conclusion

Sanya Polescuk Architects is a strong example of where high-design heritage work is heading: reuse-forward, performance-minded, and
unafraid of bold modern layersespecially when those layers make the building healthier, more flexible, and more future-proof.
Whether you’re restoring a protected home, reworking a beloved old building, or trying to make adaptive reuse pencil out, SPA’s body of
work argues for a simple principle: treat the past as an asset, not an obstacle.