Grand Designs Book

Buying a house is often cited as one of the most traumatic experiences life can offer. But buying, as viewers of the TV series Grand Designs know, is a piece of cake compared with actually building the thing yourself. In the book accompanying the series, Kevin McCloud is a sure-footed guide to the whole process, providing a mass of detailed instruction to help the would-be builder from idea to reality, and following the fortunes of eight sets of self-builders as they attempt to build their dream homes. A barn- style house in Oxfordshire, an eco-house in Suffolk ("complete with composting toilets"), a concrete and glass structure in suburban Doncaster, construction of straw bales and sand- bags in Islington and a converted water-tower are among the very different projects featured. Their builders need great reserves of determination and ingenuity, for the tribulations are immense. From finding a plot to build on, through the bureaucracy of planning restrictions and legal considerations--even determining the ownership of land can be far from simple--to design, logistics and project management, the obstacles are hair- raising, but the satisfactions to be gained on completion are profound. All the builders share a sense of commitment and a belief that that they are embarking on a new phase in their lives, tantamount in some cases to a kind of religious conversion. --Robin DavidsonRead More