This series of essays includes pieces by the late urbanist Hank Dittmar, Soane Museum curator Owen Hopkins, architectural historian Alan Powers, Simon Allford and Roger Zogolovitch. It explores the possibilities of mid-rise residential development on urban infill sites and celebrates the joy of slow architecture.

‘The marriage of plan and section is key to creating a sense of space.’

Roger Zogolovitch of Solidspace, developer of 81-87 Weston Street in Southwark, London, has long argued that by placing volume at the centre of the design, living spaces which are modest in plan can become extraordinary in experience. At Weston Street, the product of a decade-long design dialogue with AHMM, split-section living is applied to a contemporary mansion block on a small brownfield plot. This slow architecture has resulted in a building which is crafted rather than constructed.