Syresham is a village in two parts, divided by a small valley. The main settlement, based on an oval street pattern, sits on the south slope. Church End, a smaller cluster with the parish church at its eastern edge, occupies the north side. The Domesday survey of 1086 recorded three manors here, and the physical separation of the village may reflect that early division — two communities, each on its own high ground, united by a parish rather than a street. What interests me as an architect is how the topography shaped the settlement. The valley determined where people built, and the oval street on the south side — a plan that turns in on itself rather than running along a through-route — suggests a community that grew around its own centre. Syresham was originally Sighere's Ham, a forest clearing, and the remnants of ancient woodland still surround the village. The Church of St James, Grade II* listed, dates from the thirteenth century, its nave lit by a four-bay arcade carried on octagonal piers, its walls preserving traces of medieval wall paintings.
Award-winning Architects in Syresham
Certified Passivhaus, Sensitive Adaptation
The Deerings, our certified Passivhaus home in Hertfordshire, won the RIBA East Award in 2018 — a project where the site determined the architecture, just as the valley at Syresham determined the village. I founded Gresford Architects in London in 2006, and we now work from Oxford with clients across the country. I am an ARB-registered and RIBA Chartered architect, a member of SPAB — the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings — the Passivhaus Trust and The Green Register. I was a finalist for Sustainability Architect of the Year at the Building Design Awards, and in 2025 I was invited to judge the British Homes Awards. Our projects have been published in Dezeen, Grand Designs Magazine and The Modern House Journal.
Architectural Services Near Brackley
EnerPHit, the Passivhaus Institute's certified retrofit standard, addresses the thermal performance of older homes without compromising their character. The stone cottages in Syresham present the familiar challenge of solid-walled construction: thick walls with no insulation, draughty junctions, and a building envelope that predates any concept of thermal efficiency. Vapour-open insulation, careful airtightness detailing, and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery can transform them — warmer, quieter, dramatically cheaper to run — while the stone facades continue to weather as they always have.
Renovations in Syresham engage with a building stock shaped by the village's divided plan. Properties on the south side occupy the oval street pattern; those at Church End sit in a different relationship to the landscape. The church itself, restored by E.F. Law in 1874, retains its medieval arcade and traces of wall paintings including representations of the Beatitudes and a quotation from the prophet Micah. West Northamptonshire Council handles planning for the parish. Through my membership of SPAB, I approach these buildings with the understanding that solid stone walls manage moisture through their mass and their lime mortar — and that any renovation must work with that behaviour.
Sustainable Design connects every project we take on, and in Syresham the forest setting offers a reminder that buildings and landscape are inseparable. The village was carved from woodland and the remnants of that woodland still define its edges. PassivHaus Design sets our benchmark for new construction, delivering certified comfort with minimal energy demand. New Build Design in Syresham should respond to the stone character of the village and the wooded landscape that frames it. For sites in the countryside around the parish, Paragraph 84 of the National Planning Policy Framework provides a route to architecturally outstanding homes — but the design must work with the landscape that gives this forest village its character.
Extension Design in Syresham should respond to whichever part of the village it sits within. An extension on the oval street faces different orientations and neighbour relationships from one at Church End. The stone, the proportions, the relationship between the house and the ground all vary across the village's two halves. Whether the brief is a ground-floor extension connecting the house to the garden, a garden room, or additional space above, the design should make the whole building feel more resolved while sitting comfortably within its particular setting.
Syresham sits on two slopes either side of a valley — a village shaped by the ground it stands on. If you are considering a project here, we would welcome the conversation.