A contemporary, low-energy new-build home with basement on a tight urban infill site in central London. Completed September 2016, 25 King’s Mews is a new-build, low-energy house in a run-down London mews, that until now has been blighted by neglect. Plain, London stock brickwork facades appear to date mostly from the latter half of the 20th century, and any qualities that they had, have been ruined by alterations carried out with hard cement mortar repairs. Most of the mews is likely to be renovated or re-built beyond recognition over the next few years, and 25 King’s Mews was the first building in the mews to be renewed. Our aim was to set a high-quality benchmark, but a reserved and unostentatious tone for the mews; matching the height of the existing streetscape with a plain, light-cream stock brickwork elevation containing rubbed lime mortar with an attractive, gritty texture. Two discreet interventions bring a quietly creative character to the mews: a delicately woven screen in front of the recessed ground floor entrance, and a planted roof garden which will eventually benefit the streetscape. The section of the new house is an object lesson in how to overcome the problems of a site that was heavily overshadowed by a tall new residential development that abuts the rear of the house. In addition to the front façade with its full-width screen, suggestive of a mews gateway, the new house achieves a second elevation with opening windows set back at ground and basement levels, and a third elevation at first and second floor levels, half way across the plan; where roof lights bring light flooding into the middle and rear of the ground floor. Super-insulation, airtightness, heat recovery ventilation, and triple glazing, are features that we have brought from our Passive House work, to create a comfortable and healthy interior, whilst requiring very little energy to run.