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.
About the Author: Julian Owen is an architect with over 30 years' experience of running his own practice in Nottingham. He has authored several books including Home Extension Design, andis a founder and director of ASBA Architects, a network of locally-based practices that markets it members to self-builders and members of the public who wish to alter or extend their homes. In 2004 he received an MBE for services to architecture.
