\u201cThe heat creeps in through south-facing glass, across bare concrete pavements, into bedrooms that don\u2019t cool at night,\u201d says Stefan Pitman, founder of the architects and chartered surveyors SPASE Design. \u201cOur homes, designed for damp and draughts, are becoming glasshouses. Cities and homes trap heat they can\u2019t release. We are far too reliant on mechanical cooling that isn\u2019t sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Learning from places that have long lived with heat and embracing the modern principles of Passivhaus is the way forward, say experts. This means buildings thick walls, shaded courtyards and cross-breezes, and also controlling solar gain, insulating well and aiming for airtightness balanced with mechanical ventilation. The UK\u2019s urban planners look overseas for solutions, from the cool roofs now mandatory in Los Angeles, to the green urban walls of Colombia and the fountains of Paris.<\/p>\n
Go for good glazing![\"Modern](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/\/a35cfe88-74c4-46fe-929e-ddbc27ed5bd4.jpg\")
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This extension in Cobham, Surrey, breaks up expanses of glazing to prevent the \u201cgreenhouse\u201d effect<\/p>\n
PLUS ROOMS<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need insulated windows for both winter and summer, so indoors keeps both warm and cool,\u201d says the architect Marion Baeli, principal of sustainability and transformation at 10 Design. \u201cArchitects think of a home like a Thermos flask, in winter retaining heat, in summer keeping heat out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baeli and her husband, Robert Prewett, a fellow architect, have transformed their 1960s home in Sydenham, southeast London, on Passivhaus principles to maintain a steady indoor temperature, even during heatwaves. They have fitted triple glazing to help achieve this. Solar control coatings can help to mitigate heat as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cPassive solar design plays a key role [in keeping homes cool], but historic recommendations, such as large south-facing glazing, are being re-evaluated in light of current overheating risks,\u201d says the architect Richard Dudzicki, director of RDA Architects. <\/p>\n
Sort out shading![\"Garden](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/\/482c2c6a-fed8-4d01-809a-3669219f752a.jpg\")
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An extension in East Dulwich, southeast London, incorporates shading from an overhanging canopy and carefully positioned trees<\/p>\n
RDA ARCHITECTS<\/p>\n
External shading is gradually becoming a feature of new-builds. The building services engineering specialist Dan Watt, director of sustainability at the civil engineers Civic, highlights a Birmingham apartment development where horizontal brise soleil fins were incorporated for shading and heat reduction in summer, but allowing lower winter sunlight through.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Heatwaves are hell in my new-build flat<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Deeper window reveals also help to reduce direct solar gain. Quick fixes include awnings and shutters. Internal blinds are another easy add. Baeli uses cloth dust sheets, strong hooks and bungee cord to fashion a makeshift blind for the hottest days: \u201cIt works tremendously. I\u2019m not ready to invest thousands on motorised blinds.\u201d<\/p>\n Improving ventilation<\/p>\n Ventilation is key to keeping homes cool, says Ian Pritchett, a physicist and the co-founder of the sustainable developer Greencore Homes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best way to let heat out is by opening doors and windows, if safe to do so, early in the morning and\/or late at night to let hot air out and cool air in. Maximise impact by creating natural cross-ventilation, opening opposite windows to create a good flow of air.\u201d<\/p>\n If you can, practise \u201cstack ventilation\u201d: \u201cThis is where high-level windows or roof lights are opened as well as low-level windows. The hot air goes out of the upper windows while cooler air is drawn in through the lower windows.\u201d<\/p>\n Better-equipped bedrooms A bedroom on the cooler side of the house helps with sleeping<\/p>\n DAVID GILES<\/p>\n Struggling to sleep in a heatwave? You\u2019re not alone. A study by Loughborough University in partnership with the BRE (Building Research Establishment) found that 4.6 million English bedrooms \u2014 some 19 per cent of housing stock \u2014 overheat in summer.<\/p>\n \u201cThoughtful layout plays a big part. Where possible we\u2019ll sometimes place bedrooms on the cooler, shaded side of the house, or even downstairs where it naturally stays cooler,\u201d says Venetia Rudebeck, co-founder at the interior design company Studio Vero.<\/p>\n Cooler workspaces<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got to be flexible if you\u2019re working from hom, says Baeli. \u201cIn a heatwave you\u2019re not working where your desk is, you\u2019re working where it\u2019s coolest,\u201d she says. \u201cIn our house the ground floor has a lot of thermal mass, thanks to the party walls and tiles on the floor [it absorbs heat during the day, releasing it slowly at night]. I usually work at the top of the house, but when it\u2019s hot I migrate down to the kitchen table.\u201d<\/p>\n Shady trees The Glasshouse Garden, designed by Jo Thompson, at the Chelsea Flower Show<\/p>\n RHS<\/p>\n Even the smallest balcony or garden can be effectively cooled if you choose container-friendly specimens \u2014 such as dwarf field maple or the compact Juneberry (Amelanchier \u00d7 grandiflora \u2018Ballerina\u2019), says Dean Meadows, principal arboriculturist and tree risk lead at the ecology consultancy Arbtech.<\/p>\n \u201cStart by noting where the sun strikes your home and garden at different times. Once you know which areas need protection from intense sunlight, choose a deciduous tree whose mature canopy will intercept those rays and whose roots can spread without causing damage.\u201d<\/p>\n Meadows recommends field maple or silver birch: \u201cThese give dappled spring light and full shade through the summer, yet let winter sun through their bare branches.\u201d<\/p>\n Clever design This extension in Dulwich has steps to create airflow underneath, with a sliding glass door that opens fully to allow in cooler evening air<\/p>\n SIMON BROWN FOR DE ROSEE SA<\/p>\n Thinking about overheating when planning home design should become second nature, says senior project architect George Yallop at the design studio De Rosee Sa, who introduced multiple cooling techniques in a recent project in Dulwich, southeast London.<\/p>\n \u201cThe extension in our Garden House project was designed with passive cooling in mind,\u201d Yallop explains. \u201cThe extension itself is slightly elevated from the garden, enhancing airflow beneath and through the room, while full-width sliding doors allow the home to be completely opened once the sun has set.\u201d<\/p>\n Yallop added a narrow, solar-coated rooflight to bring in light without overheating, while mature garden trees were retained for natural shade and cooling.<\/p>\n Natural materials<\/p>\n Being smarter about choice of building materials, is a straightforward way to address overheating, says Simon McWhirter, CEO of the UK Green Building Council: \u201cEach type of material is better or worse at controlling the speed at which heat passes through it. Lots of natural materials such as hemp or clay plasters are much better at slowing down the heat, so whether it\u2019s winter or summer, they are much better at keeping the heat in and keeping the heat out.\u201d<\/p>\n The only way is air con?<\/p>\n For some homes, from flats with single-aspect windows to period properties that can\u2019t be significantly altered, it\u2019s air conditioning. \u201cIn a new-build tower, with apartments, you have to accept that even with all the improvements you can think of, fitting air conditioning will be the only answer [to overheating],\u201d says Baeli. \u201cHowever, I do know someone who lives in such an apartment and made an agreement with their opposite neighbour that they would leave their front doors and windows open to encourage a cool flow of air.\u201d<\/p>\n Our cities and urban environments<\/b>Green corridors The Green Corridors project in Medell\u00edn, Colombia<\/p>\n JOAQUIN SARMIENTO\/AFP\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n Colombia\u2019s second-largest city, Medell\u00edn, has created an entire metropolis of shade with its Green Corridors project. This transformed roads and waterways into green cycling lanes<\/a> and walkways connecting the city\u2019s parks, reducing temperatures in these areas by 3C.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in central Manchester, McWhirter cites Mayfield, a 24-acre brownfield site transformed into a \u201cpocket park\u201d as a stand-out UK example of how green spaces can help to keep urban temperatures cool and improve general wellbeing. \u201cNature is good at doing the heavy lifting,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Also in Greater Manchester, at Stretford Kingsway, Trafford, part of a dual carriageway has been reclaimed into a green walkway and cycleway, with a shade-giving weeping willow tree and sustainable urban drainage.<\/p>\n Blue corridors<\/p>\n Blue corridors are urban bodies of water \u2014 rivers, canals, docks \u2014 which provide respite from scorching heat. Helping to reduce the temperature of the air around them, they also provide a chance to cool off (subject to pollution levels of course) with wild swimming, paddleboarding and other water sports.<\/p>\n![\"Bedroom](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/\/f66566e1-a2eb-4c35-9ab8-c4054f126e0c.jpg\")
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