architects Henley Halebrown

Beautiful Backdrops – Building for Society on Archidose

May 2026

Henley Halebrown: Building for Society 2010–2022, by Tom Neville, Simon Henley and Gavin Hale-Brown

As someone who edits two weekly newsletters—one for World-Architects and this one devoted to architecture books—most of the monographs I come across are about architects I’m familiar with, architects whose reputations precede their publications. It is rare that a monograph catches me by surprise, but such is the case with Building for Society 2010–2022, the new monograph on Henley Halebrown, the London practice of Simon Henley and Gavin Hale-Brown, whom I had no familiarity with before being sent the book. I write that reluctantly and with a tinge of embarassment, since the twelve buildings spanning the book’s 336 pages are impressive and my job precludes me not knowing about a firm doing such good work. The lengthy selected bibliography at the back of the book reveals my ignorance was not from the firm’s lack of exposure. Although I’m at a loss as to why Henley Halebrown is new to me, it made flipping through Building for Society that much more enjoyable, with each page revealing more qualities about their projects.

Before reaching the projects, readers see the dozen projects on a two-page spread as floor plans and a couple spreads with white-on-black planometric drawings (à la San Rocco covers), both exhibiting the size of the projects relative to each other and revealing the architects’ formal consistencies. There is not a huge range between the smallest and largest projects, with buildings tending to be in the range of medium, in Koolhaas parlance. Also coming across is a clear focus on the wall—i.e., not curtain walls—as means of constructing and containing buildings. These are just two qualities that make their buildings appealing to me.

Readers also encounter a few text contributions before the first project: a conversation between Henley, Hale-Brown, and book editor Tom Neville; a 2023 conference paper by Henley that touches on some of the buildings in the book; and an essay by Rosamund Diamond that deeply examines various aspects of Henley Halebrown’s work. Diamond has two other pieces in the book, one previously published in an architecture magazine, the other consisting of walking tours of Henley Halebrown’s projects in Hackney—this text explicitly echoes Peter Smithson’s Bath: Walks within the Walls, which was first published in 1969 but, like Henley Halebrown, is completely new to me. The inclusion of texts—previously published and newly released—by Henley, Diamond, and a slew of other architects and critics (Tony Fretton, Hugh Strange, Adam Khan, Jay Merrick, Edwin Heathcote, and others) interspersed with the projects reminds me of Caruso St. John’s series of monographs, which also balance thorough project documentation and critical essays from various sources.

The first of the twelve projects in the book is Copper Lane, a grouping of seven houses around a central communal court. Completed in 2014, it is billed as “London’s first co-housing project.” Sitting in the middle of a large block that has terraced houses at its perimeter, the project is like an introverted oasis, with houses labeled accordingly: “A house for two academics and their two boys,” “A house and studio for a designer,” “A house and studio for an artist,” and so forth. The interior/outdoor, private/semi-private spaces are complex, and the photos and drawings are presented in a way that slowly reveals, page by page, how the houses fit together. The book’s back-cover contends that Henley Halebrown “produces buildings that take account of the way people actually use them and how they affect our sense of well-being.” They make buildings that “promote social interaction.” Validation of these statements is clearly visible at Copper Lane.

Curiously, given the emphasis on people using buildings, a sense of well-being, and social interaction, there are very few photos in the book that include people. There is one photo showing a party at Copper Hall, plus some photos of furnished houses that show signs of life there. Hackney New School (2015) has a couple photographs with students, as does the later Thames Christian School and Battersea Chapel (2022) and Hackney New Primary School & 333 Kingsland Road London (2020). (A great addition to the last is Suzanne Deakin’s elaborate drawing of “life” at the school, complete with an octopus, pterodactyl, and other creatures in addition to children.) But that is about it in terms of photographic displays of Henley Halebrown’s buildings for people. Instead, we primarily see their buildings as muted backdrops for living, learning, working, and playing—but what beautiful backdrops they are.

You can find it on Substack here: