A comprehensive heritage-led facelift and retrofit of 19th century blighted terraced houses in ‘The Potteries’. The original external architectural character of the houses was reinstated to reinforce the areas distinctive historic identity, whilst internally the houses were all totally refitted and modernised to create highly energy efficient new family homes achieving a BREEAM EcoHomes Assessment rating of ‘Excellent’. The key to the project’s success was achieving the right balance between a retrofit, that thermally up-graded the fabric whilst respecting the external heritage features, but also offering a synergy with the wider regeneration of the area providing a eco-friendly, secure and potentially long-lasting housing solution based on ‘long life – loose fit – low energy’ principals, and an innovative model that could easily be applied to other areas of the city.