If you sit outside the Southampton Arms pub on London’s Highgate Road and look across the street, you might think a historic bridge just had a makeover. There, peeking out from a grassy slope, a row of tall brick arches gives the impression of a Victorian viaduct. But get closer, and the building reveals itself as something more contemporary.

This is The Arches, a series of six houses designed by UK-based practice DHaus Company and completed last year. It is the result of a nearly five-year process to meet the strict historic preservation standards of its London neighbourhood. The result is a modern building that nods to the city’s railroad heyday, the neoclassical forms of nearby 18th- and 19th-century row houses, and the catacombs of local churches.

Bloomberg Citylab