FREE Green Open Homes house tour

Highgate: C1878-85, Victorian garden flat tour with architect - Highgate: C1878-85, Victorian garden flat tour with architectAs part of Muswell Hill Sustainability Group's Green Open Homes season: an annual opportunity to see sustainable domestic energy in situ, be inspired by emissions & energy reducing measures and pick brains for lived experiences and expert advice …Join us for the ‘big reveal’: a 50-minute tour and Q&A opportunity with the architect Meital Ben Dayan of HBD Architects, around a stunningly completed project that was toured in-progress at Green Open Homes 2025.OVERVIEW …This project reimagines a Victorian garden flat in the Highgate Conservation Area as a flowing, light filled, comfortable and energy-efficient home.

The architect’s brief was to improve thermal comfort, daylight and ventilation while respecting the historic fabric and introducing the additional living and working spaces needed, all within a modest budget.The new layout opens the flat towards the garden.

An extended kitchen and dining area flow onto a lowered patio to form a connection with the outside and an outdoor living space. Internal remodelling introduces a separate home office/ clinic, a reception and a new bathroom with improved connections and outlooks, while service spaces are reorganised to create a more efficient circulation.

An internal courtyard and carefully positioned openings bring light and fresh air into every room avoiding dark or enclosed spaces.Most of the original fabric is retained to reduce embodied carbon and maintain a tangible link to the original building.