Rich Londoners Balk When Told ‘No’ in Efforts to Install ACs (1)

As Londoners struggle to adapt to rising temperatures, some of the city’s wealthier denizens are finding that money can’t always deliver the relief they seek.

With temperatures in some parts of the London Underground recently exceeding levels deemed fit for cattle, climate change is well and truly transforming the experience of living in Britain’s capital. The response has been a surge in demand for air-conditioning units in high-end homes.

AC units used to be an infrequent request, says Richard Gill, director at the London-based architecture firm Paul Archer Design. But nowadays roughly 30% of his clients — mostly ...