The Return of the Ceiling Fan: Heritage for a Warming Future

With increasing temperatures and more frequent periods of extreme summer heat, our homes can become uncomfortably warm. Many buildings have traditionally been designed to retain heat for the colder temperatures we are more accustomed to in the UK. As our climate changes, architects are increasingly considering how buildings can remain comfortable during periods of extreme heat. Air conditioning is a common response, but one of the simplest solutions is the ceiling fan.

Our Senior Associate and Sustainability Lead, Dr Martina Pacifici, together with Associate Senior Architect Rupert Powell, draws on the history of the traditional ceiling fan and why this longstanding technology is once again relevant to the way we design for a warmer future.

A solution from the past

More than a century ago, an electrical engineering company saw the ceiling fan not as a piece of mechanical equipment, but as an object of aspiration.

Reading the 1914 General Electric fan catalogue today, one is struck by how contemporary its message feels. The catalogue presents ceiling fans not as compromises, but as carefully designed products that enhance comfort, elegance and everyday life.

Many of the fans illustrated possess qualities that resonate with contemporary architectural practice, such as elegant proportions, expressed engineering, crafted metallic finishes, integration with decorative ceilings and a clear visual identity within a room.

More than a hundred years later, as architects confront overheating and climate adaptation, the ceiling fan once again deserves a place in the design conversation.

Designing for a warmer future

The UK is experiencing increasingly frequent and intense periods of hot weather. In response, the recently updated CIBSE TM59: Overheating Risk in Dwellings (2026) places greater emphasis on future climate resilience and passive cooling strategies, continuing the direction already established by Part O of the Building Regulations.

All homes are now assessed against future weather files representing 2050s climate conditions, reinforcing the importance of designing buildings that remain comfortable without energy-intensive air conditioning. The updated guidance explicitly recognises ceiling fans as an effective means of improving thermal comfort. For example, a living room that narrowly fails a TM59 overheating assessment may pass when a ceiling fan is incorporated into the design and modelled appropriately. It also recognises the cooling effect of increased air movement, allowing comfort threshold uplifts of up to 1.2°C under Criterion A and 2.1°C under Criterion C.

Bringing fans back into buildings

Depending on where in the world you have spent time, you may have lived with ceiling fans or never have encountered them at all. They really come into their own in bedrooms but can also be useful in sitting rooms, kitchens, and covered outdoor rooms such as verandahs, loggias, pool pavilions and conservatories.

When designing with fans, their position and proportions need to be carefully considered to achieve the best airflow. In lower-ceilinged rooms, smaller fans can be mounted flush to the ceiling. For taller-ceilinged rooms, the correct position can be achieved with drop-rods of varying heights. For a secure fixing for the fan, you will need to introduce a solid timber noggin between the ceiling joists. These can all be selected and integrated to complement the character of historic, classical and traditional interiors.

The return of the ceiling fan is therefore about reconsidering how we design for comfort in a changing climate, and how environmental solutions can be integrated into architecture without compromising beauty or character.

The 1914 General Electric fan catalogue reminds us that comfort, engineering and elegance have not always been considered separate concerns. As we look towards a warmer future, perhaps there is something to be learned from a technology that has remained relevant for more than a century.