Loft conversions are one of the most popular types of home alteration and, as this book shows, they can be an enormously useful and stylish addition to a house. If you have not been involved in a building project before, The Complete Loft Conversion Book guides you through the entire process with chapters arranged so that they follow the sequence of events in a real project.Shows how to identify whether your roof space is suitable for conversion and how designers work out ways to make the best use of available space.Using three-dimensional sketches and colour photographs of actual projects, the author illustrates the options for fitting in a staircase and indicates how to estimate the headroom that will be available. Considers the requirements of the local authority planners and building control officers, and provides tips on how to make applications and approvals run smoothly. Presents highly detailed drawings and photographs showing the conversion process. Provides advice on how to avoid cowboy builders and track down the ideal company, how to draw up a fair contract and how to deal with the legal issues that may arise. Supplies checklists and specifications to help monitor progress and ensure that the work is completed to a good standard. A practical, informative book which guides the reader through the entire building project following the sequence of events for a real project. Brimming with useful advice, it contains information not found in other publications. Aimed at all those considering having a loft conversion, those who have made the decision to convert but are still carrying out research and those just about to have work started. Superbly illustrated with 303 colour photographs and highly detailed drawings. Julian Owen MBE is a chartered architect with over twenty years' experience.

The New York loft jazz scene of the 1970s was a pivotal period for uncompromising, artist-produced work. Faced with a flagging jazz economy, a group of young avant-garde improvisers chose to eschew the commercial sphere and develop alternative venues in the abandoned factories and warehouses of Lower Manhattan. Loft Jazz provides the first book-length study of this period, tracing its history amid a series of overlapping discourses surrounding collectivism, urban renewal, experimentalist aesthetics, underground archives, and the radical politics of self-determination.