ARB Registered · Negreira, Galicia
UK-trained architect based in Negreira, providing design, project management and pre-purchase consultancy for international buyers of rural Galician properties.
Get in touch →What I offer
International buyers face a double challenge: a language barrier and an unfamiliar building culture. Most English-speaking architects are based in cities. I live rurally, close to my clients' projects.
I work with a network of local partner arquitectos for projects requiring Spanish statutory sign-off — giving you British professional standards and genuine local knowledge.
My own renovation of a rural stone house in Negreira gives me first-hand knowledge of local contractors, materials, and the Galician planning system.
London practice
Projects completed at Emrys Architects and Robert Barnes Architects — commercial and residential refurbishment across London.
Drawing & making
From site investigation to physical modelling — architecture as a thinking practice.
Site investigation
Urban analysis
Design proposal
Current project
A full rehabilitation of a derelict rural stone house in Negreira, Galicia. The project is both my own home and a live demonstration of the approach I bring to client projects — understanding Galician construction methods, local materials, and the planning system from the inside.
The structure is a two-storey granite rubble masonry building, partially collapsed internally, with a later corrugated fibre cement roof. The design retains the original stone fabric and introduces new interventions that read as clearly contemporary within the historic shell.
Interior concept — terracotta tiles, retained beam, double-height with skylight
Handmade terracotta floor tiles throughout ground floor — connecting to Galician vernacular while providing thermal mass on the heated slab.
New roof aperture over the principal living space, drawing light into the deep-plan masonry structure without altering the external profile.
Original timber ridge beam preserved as a structural and spatial marker — the datum between old fabric and new intervention.
Internal stone faces cleaned and repointed with lime mortar. No render, no insulation board. The walls breathe.
Warm wall-mounted lighting against bare stone — avoiding downlights in favour of a more atmospheric, domestic quality of light.
Background
I'm a UK-trained and ARB-registered architect, now based in Negreira, Galicia. I spent a decade working in London — at Emrys Architects on commercial and mixed-use projects, and at Robert Barnes Architects on residential refurbishment — before relocating to rural Spain to renovate a stone house and establish an independent practice.
My focus is the intersection that most architects in this region don't occupy: the needs of international buyers navigating a property purchase or renovation in rural Galicia without speaking Spanish, without knowledge of local construction practices, and without anyone on the ground they can trust.
I provide that presence — a British-trained architect who understands what clients from the UK, Ireland, and Northern Europe expect, and who knows how projects actually work here.
Get in touch
Whether you're assessing a property before purchase, planning a full renovation, or simply need independent architectural advice — get in touch to discuss your project.
luka@lukamorrisarchitects.com →