Roundup of the Year 2025
As 2025 comes to an end, it feels like a good time to pause and look back on the moments that have defined the year.
It’s been a busy and rewarding year for the First In Architecture team — filled with new releases, milestones, learning, and continued exploration of the topics that matter most to our community.
We’re incredibly thankful for everyone who has followed along, shared feedback, and engaged with our work throughout the year.
In this roundup, we’ll be revisiting some of the key updates and highlights from 2025, reflecting on wider industry developments, and sharing a glimpse of what we’re looking ahead to in the year to come. Let’s get started.
New Content and Resources
In 2025, we continued to expand our collection of articles, technical guides, and free resources.
Many of this year’s most-read pieces focused on construction detailing, sustainability, and understanding how buildings actually go together — reflecting the questions and challenges we hear most often from our community.
We also spent time refining existing content, ensuring guides remain clear, relevant, and genuinely useful for both study and practice.
Best-Loved Blog Posts
Here are the top 3 best-loved blog posts this year. We hope you find them useful.
Most Popular Freebies
Here are the top 3 most popular freebies this year. We hope you find them useful.
2025 Releases and Updates
This year saw several important new releases and updates across First In Architecture.
The biggest milestone was the release of our latest book House Extension Details – An Architectural Guide, which has been in the making for 3 years! We were beyond excited to finally be able to share it with our community.
A must-have resource for architects working on residential projects, the book offers an extensive collection of construction drawings and guidance designed to support your design and detailing process from planning to completion. There are over 200 details included in the book!
We also published the Building Safety Act Toolkit for Principal Designers, a resource created to help principal designers meet their legal duties under the Building Safety Act 2022 and CDM 2015 regulations. Designed for use on small-scale domestic projects such as extensions and conversions, this pack includes over 30 practical documents.
Lastly, we have launched our new Detail Clinic video series. Learn about how construction details go together by following along as we discuss a real student markup exploring common questions and detail theory. Each episode is accompanied by a guide which you can download for free!
Our Favourite Resources This Year
Here is a curated list of our favourite resources this year. Some are useful tools in supporting architects and designers at various stages of their projects, while others are interesting design or art-related projects we believe are great to explore for inspiration.
Architecture and Design
You can find our roundup of our favourite architecture and design resources below.
ACAN Materials Library
The ACAN Natural Materials group seeks to educate and inform students, professionals and the general public on the multiple benefits of natural materials in construction. A great resource and well worth a visit.
Retrofit Pattern Book
We have been working on some retrofit details over recent months so keeping a close eye on all things retrofit. We recently discovered this excellent Retrofit Pattern Book for Victorian Terraced Houses. Free to download as it’s extremely useful!
Miro
Miro is a browser-based collaborative whiteboard that allows architects and design teams to visualise ideas, workflows, and concepts together in real time, from early sketches and concept mapping to remote design workshops and client presentations. Its AI tools and integrations with platforms like Figma, Notion, and Revit help organise feedback, structure ideas, and connect early design thinking with wider project coordination.
Lifestyle and Learning
You can find our roundup of our favourite lifestyle and learning resources below.
The Happiness Lab
Modern Wisdom
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
MindMeister
Industry News and Highlights
The Rise of AI for Architects
Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly visible role across the architecture and construction sectors, with practices beginning to integrate AI tools into design, coordination, and delivery workflows. While uptake varies across the industry, the shift signals a growing change in how architects may work as digital processes continue to evolve.
The Rise of Prices for ARB Membership
Rising ARB membership fees have sparked growing frustration across the profession, following another increase announced this year. The issue has gained wider attention after the RIBA President publicly stepped away from ARB registration, highlighting ongoing concerns around cost, value, and regulation within the architectural profession.
Retrofit Takes Centre Stage
Adaptive reuse has continued to gain momentum this year, with retrofit projects increasingly recognised for their environmental and architectural value. Schemes such as the transformation of a 1970s office building at 8 Bleeding Heart Yard have drawn national attention, reinforcing retrofit as a central strategy in contemporary practice.
Intentions for 2025
We’re already looking ahead to what the coming year has in store. Continuing to learn, refine, and share knowledge will remain central to our work, and we’re excited to keep moving forward together with our community. Here are our top 3 intentions for next year:
- Celebrate progress over perfection.
- Be patient with yourself as you learn and grow.
- Foster a mindset that values questions more than answers.
Wishing you an inspiring and rewarding 2026 filled with new ideas and opportunities!
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