DIV Packed with tools and tips, this essential guide provides the instructions any aspiring self-builder needs to ensure that their vision becomes reality. Organized into three main sections—Thinking, Dreaming, and Doing—guidelines are provided that cover every aspect of the build, from finding a plot, obtaining planning permission, and commissioning and briefing architects and builders up through implementing the build itself. Structured around fundamental locations—urban, suburban, and rural—a host of successful projects are featured, including, a reinvented violin factory, a converted barn, and a glass pavilion on a beach. Suggestions for using green design and building techniques are also provided. DIVDIV Kevin McCloud is an interior designer and the author of several books, including Bathrooms, Choosing Colors, Grand Designs, Grand Designs Abroad, and Lighting Style.

If you’ve ever dreamt of designing and building your own home, this book is for you. Becoming a ‘self-builder’ doesn’t necessarily mean learning to build a house physically from scratch. Anyone can be a self-builder – you can do so without ever having to lay a brick yourself. Self-built homes can also be more individual, better designed and more economical than buying from a developer. This book is designed for homeowners and self-builders, whether aspiring or on the brink of starting a project. It provides a jargon-free, step-by-step guide to the process of designing and building your own home, distilling all of the practical information needed to make your dream house a reality. Carefully crafted to offer friendly, easy-to-understand practical guidance and packed with watch points, hints and tips, it also highlights the potential pitfalls and suggests ways of avoiding them. Including indications of costs and timescales, Self-build demystifies the process of budgeting, finding a site, gaining planning permission, designing your home and all of the surrounding issues to do with sustainability, planning, regulations, procurement and the use of building contracts. Beautifully illustrated with over 230-colour photos, diagrams and plans, it provides all the inspiration and ideas you need to bring your own project to life. Featured houses include: Amphibious House by Baca Architects Corten Courtyard House by Barefoot Architects Haringey Brick House by Satish Jassal Architects Shawm House by Mawson Kerr Architects Sussex House by Wilkinson King Architects The Pocket House by Tikari Works Architects.

An inspiring and practical handbook for everyone who has ever dreamed of renovating or building their own home. An inspirational and practical guide to building exciting, beautiful and extraordinary homes, GRAND DESIGNS AUSTRALIA HANDBOOK is a must-have book for all homeowners, builders, renovators and dreamers. Showcasing the striking homes - from streamlined, sleek modernist homes to rustic country getaways - that appeared in Grand Designs Australia television series 1-3, this book is packed with practical guidance, advice and ideas for people who are considering building or renovating their home. From the initial vision through to the planning, construction and finishing stages, Peter Maddison steps you through the principles and practicalities involved in creating your own dream house. An essential book for anyone and everyone who has ever dreamed of building, renovating or just living in a beautiful, custom-built home.

The new comprehensive bible of interior design, from a home styling guru who has coached an entire Scandinavian generation in the art of creating a harmonious home. Frida Ramstedt believes in thinking about how we decorate, rather than focusing on what we decorate with. We know more today than ever before about design trends, furniture, and knickknacks, and now Frida familiarizes readers with the basic principles behind interior and styling—what looks good and, most of all, why it looks good. The Interior Design Handbook teaches you general rules of thumb—like what the golden ratio and the golden spiral are, the proper size for a coffee table in relation to your sofa, the optimal height to hang lighting fixtures, and the best ways to use a mood board—complete with helpful illustrations. Use The Interior Design Handbook to achieve a balanced, beautiful home no matter where you live or what your style is.

A complete celebration of Britain’s favourite architectural show.

A collection of "green" writings which provide an overview of ecological design in architecture and planning.

In Grand Designs Handbook , British TV's architecture and design guru Kevin McCloud arms the aspiring self-builder with the tools to ensure that your vision becomes reality. Via three main sections—Thinking, Dreaming, and Doing—he guides you through each stage of the process of building a home, from working out what you really want to implementing the build itself. Structured around fundamental locations—urban, suburban, and rural—the author presents his own compendium of houses that he finds exciting and exemplary. For anyone who cares about design or has thought about building their own home, this illustrated guide is inspiring reading.