Building DIY Gardening

Vertical garden or green wall spotted in Fulham, near Chelsea Football Club Stamford Bridge stadium – for sale if you interested! How is this watered? It looks expensive, as befits the area (Fulham). Not sure how much oxygen and pollution cleansing this wall might do but it looks very nice amongst the urban sprawl. We […]

I was in Central London recently and had a walk around the new development next to Victoria Station SW1. Very impressive. They blend in well with the old buildings by contrasting rather than emulating. Some nice touches in the street furniture and smaller details. See our section on Steel Buildings here > Here are some […]

Wandsworth Council, a large borough in South London, has exceeded targets for affordable housing new builds. This means low cost, market cost, social rent and starter homes with shared ownership, where the tenants pay a part of the mortgage towards part-ownership, which can be traded. There were 501 low cost homes newly built in Wandsworth […]

Cherwell District Council have opened a large scale zero carbon development, due for completeion in 20131. This has 400 completed properties with an estimate of 6000 by the end. There is also a school and 250 care homes.

Ecobuild the future at ExCeL, London Tue 5 to Thur 7 March 2013. This a great show and worth the effort of getting to Excel in London Docklands. It is an interesting venue. This is the best exhibition for sustainable design, construction and the built environment. There are many attractions including: Practical Installer Future Materials […]

These are very interesting buildings embedded into the flat landscape of the Barnes Wetland centre, west London (south of Hammersmith). Some can be built in your garden, if suitable. The Berkeley Bat house could be an excellent addition. Best to check with a vet or bat expert first though. Here come the bats! Rabies! So […]

Annual show approaches, for all DIY, self-build, refurbishment projects, and you can get free tickets, see link at end. Friday 28th to Sunday 30th September 2012. Lots on as usual. Well worth a visit especially as free (get your tickets before 14th September) Real life examples and talks about: Two storey extension Cottage extension, 2 […]

This show is on Saturday 8 to Sunday 9 September, at Westpoint, Exeter, UK. Various seminars are lined up with eco green build experts: Saturday 8th 11.30am Ross Stokes SelfBuild & Design Magazine A beginner’s guide to self build Simple introduction from someone who has built and renovated properties, and is also a journalist. 12.30pm […]

This is a very interesting video of flying robots building a tower out of preformed parts. Here, the parts are laid out and the robots fly off and build as fast and efficiently as they can. In the real world, this method of construction is standard in large structures, where precast and manufactured walls, beams, […]

Ecobuild 2012 is sponsored by Schuco, who make solar power and heat (thermal) systems, glass, facades, etc. Ecobuild claims to be the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment – although that claim doesn’t sound very ‘eco’. Bigger? I though Small is Beautiful. Anyway… This show is focussing on “new eco […]