Building DIY Gardening

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 […]

We have a large green building section in this website. There have been a lot of stories about plastics ending up in the oceans, polluting and killing birds and animals. See our green building section here > One issue is that plastic is itself a recycled byproduct of the oil industry. This means it is […]

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 […]

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 […]

The SelfBuild and Design Show Don’t miss this show, on this weekend. Free tickets are still available from the link below. Are you about to start a refurb a building, or start a conversion or doing some remodeling? Learn all about renovating a home, and all house renovation and home design projects. Self-building – start […]

These are photos from the master bathroom plan and fit out for the recent eco build job. This had an eco boiler, and Dalsouple flooring, the worksurfaces are Corian which is a recycled plastic material with a distinctive pattern. The master bath was a standard bath with no extra special fittings but it had central […]

These are a selection of images from the fitting out of a new build job. This is a varied collection of outdoor and indoor shots. Above: Architect Ivy Ngeow RIBA makes an inspection visit. These stairs were made onsite by the carpenter Craig, very fine job. Above: Note insulation, cladding (Thermowood) and check tags from […]

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 […]

The annual Grand Designs show, fronted by Kevin McCloud, is on again, in Birmingham NEC, very easy to get to for most people in the UK unlike London. Kevin is doing book signings so check that out on the website. I am interested in what happened to the Swindon eco estate, I think it has […]