THE SECOND decade of the 21st century will be marked by notable construction
projects. The Olympic site in East London will be the largest and most
expensive; the redevelopment of the Chelsea Barracks site, in London SW3,
probably the most luxurious. The building of several hundred homes on two
pieces of land in Swindon, Wiltshire, might seem insignificant in
comparison. But these will be just as famous in their own way, if only
because they will test whether people will be happy to share cars with other
families, live in smaller units but be able to entertain their friends in
shared spaces, and wholeheartedly espouse carbon-neutral living.
These HAB (happiness, architecture and beauty) homes will exemplify the
eco-conscious creed of Kevin McCloud, the presenter of Channel 4’s Grand
Designs and the champion of sustainable living. As we reported in June,
McCloud has turned developer to bring his dream of contextual, sustainable,
contemporary architecture to life. The Swindon experiment – which will be
the subject of a Channel 4 series – will be the pioneer for the green homes
that the Government wishes to build in its proposed eco-towns. Ahead of the
Grand Designs Live show at Birmingham NEC that starts today, McCloud talks
about the guiding principles of his very own grand design.
Kevin on his favourite housing schemes: “The very few housing
developments that I consider to be successful include Südstadt in the
southern German city of Tübingen, built in the 1990s on the site of a former
French barracks. It’s a hybrid mixture of traditional and modern homes,
offices and workshops in different colours, built round piazzas – an almost
Mervyn Peake assortment of styles. It is one of the schemes that I would
like to take members of the community, and anyone thinking of living in my
HAB scheme, to visit as part of our consultation.
“I’d also like to take them to South Staithes in Gateshead, the collaboration
between Wayne Hemingway, the designer, and Wimpey. Some things don’t come up
to scratch, in my view, such as the ceiling heights and the room sizes. But
I like the U-shaped open spaces, and the way in which the car has been
subjugated.
“I am also a fan of the 1960s Span developments by Eric Lyons. He wished to
put great architecture within the grasp of everyone: I would like to take
that further and put great, highly sustainable architecture within the grasp
of everyone.”
Kevin on his least favourite schemes: “High land values mean that there
is pressure on developers to pack houses on to sites; they also pay only lip
service to sustainability. There’s too much concentration on how homes are
built, rather than on street layout. The appearance of this type of
development is one of the reasons why so many people are reluctant to accept
contemporary architecture.”
Kevin on reinventing homeownership: “With the aim of sustainability, I
think that we need to start thinking about a whole new, more flexible system
of homeownership. It will be one of the things that we are examining during
our consultation process. What if we bought smaller, more energy-efficient
homes, but at the same time acquired a stake in a community building where
we could entertain a large number of people if we wanted to?”
Kevin on home information packs (Hips): “Hips provide a certain amount
of information on a home, but not the right kind of data. What I would like
people in my developments to have is an online guide to every aspect of
their home, something akin to a logbook.”
Kevin on car-sharing: “One of the ideas we are going to be floating
during our consultation process is car-sharing, with people pooling
vehicles. But I am not sure how popular such schemes will prove. The
location of our sites will make it easy to cycle everywhere. We will be
talking to local farmers, with a view to having a farm shop on site. After
all, about 70 per cent of the lorries on our roads are carrying food.”
Kevin on his golden rules: “We are proceeding towards a planning
application on the two Swindon sites in the spring. This will be followed by
a consultation process with local communities. I am sticking to my own
golden rules for all building projects: to employ professionals and to
spend, say, three years in the planning and six months in the building,
rather than the other way round.”
Kevin on improving his own home: “The older I get the more I like the
home I live in: the last thing I want is to get the builders in. I can think
of nothing I would change, although with a house with bits that are 15th and
16th-century, you are always doing repairs, such as repointing the windows.
More and more doesn’t equal happiness, it equals responsibility.”
Kevin on a great night at home: “Filming Grand Designs means
that I stay in too many hotels. So for me the highest pleasure is to be at
home. One night recently I opened a bottle of locally brewed beer and had
some cheese, also made down the road from where I live. It was packaged in
greaseproof paper, the sort my mother would use to wrap things, rather than
enclosed in a bubble pack.”
Swindon
Set in the picturesque Cotswolds, it is within easy reach of Oxford and
Bristol.
80 miles and less than two hours’ drive from London; 55 minutes by rail from
Paddington.
The population is 184,000.
27 per cent of the workforce is employed in restaurants, hotels and
distribution, with 23 per cent in the finance sector.
Intel, BMW, Nationwide and Honda have offices in the town.
Diana Dors, Billie Piper and Mark Lamarr were born here.
A £1 million public-private investment scheme will include a library, museum,
art gallery, theatre, retail centre, office park and a new railway station.
House prices are lower than in Newbury and Reading farther along the M4,
making it a good spot for first-time buyers. KASIA MACIEJOWSKA
Grand Designs
When: Until Sunday
Where: The NEC Birmingham
Cost: £14 in advance or £18 on the door. Under 15s go free.
How to buy tickets: Call the Ticket Hotline (0870 3800353) or visit www.granddesignslive.com
What’s on: It’s divided into five areas of home improvements. The Interiors
section is brimming with futuristic and classic styles; in the Build
area you can meet Grand Designers from the show; the Kitchens area
will display the cooking gadgets of tomorrow, while the Bathrooms
and Gardens areas will focus on eco-awareness. There is a also
shopping arcade with a wide choice of products.
Ask the experts: An excellent opportunity to talk to experienced
professionals – such as architects, conservation experts and garden
planners.
Seminars: Free talks and debates on subjects such as Hips, going
green, profiting from property and buying overseas. What now for
house prices? The Times seminar on the future of the property
market, with Judith Heywood and Helen Pridham of The Times and
Charles Buckley of Hamptons International discussing the outlook for
mortgages, investment property and owner-occupiers. At 2.30pm tomorrow.
