For many architects, building their own home offers the chance to pursue architectural ideas without compromise, or to experiment with new technologies or ways of living. Renovating those homes, then, gives an opportunity to reflect on the consequences of those decisions, and of architectural decision-making generally: how do one’s tastes or priorities change over time?; what is the best approach to specification as materials and building knowledge continually improve?

In an online discussion hosted by Architecture Today and Schueco, two distinguished architects discuss the houses that they self-built, and have recently remodelled:

- At 9-10 Stock Orchard Street in London, Sarah Wigglesworth pioneered new construction techniques to create a radically sustainable urban live-work space. Twenty years on, a retrofit project improves energy performance and adapts the house for later living

- Piers Taylor’s house, Moonshine, was built in woodland with limited access, to a tight budget. “My thinking has moved on a good deal”, says the architect, and a recent renovation sees upgrades to the fabric and thermal performance.

Watch the replay as we discuss self-build, changing contexts for practice and construction, and living with your decisions.

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