Notes on brick: Kiln House one year on

A building is not finished when the photographs are taken. We try to return to every project after a year, and in January we went back to Kiln House with a notebook and a ladder.

The reclaimed brick has done what we hoped: it has darkened slightly on the north face and lightened on the south, so that the courtyard now reads the sun. The lime mortar has self-healed a hairline crack above the kitchen window, which is exactly what lime is for.

The lime tree is taller. The family has moved the dining table under it, which was never on the drawings and is clearly correct.

Two things we would change. The rooflight over the stair needs a blind we did not specify, and the courtyard drain should have been 50 mm larger for the autumn leaf fall. Both are on the list for the next courtyard house.

We publish these notes because post-occupancy is the least glamorous and most useful part of the job. If you live in one of our buildings and have notes of your own, we want to hear them.