Kevin McCloud's Grand Design for the Great British Housing Problem

05 Jan 2012 12:42 pm

 The GHA has already worked with Hab Oakus (Kevin McCloud's sustainable residential development company) to showcase his Triangle Development in Swindon.  Follow this link for more on this and to view the presentations made on the day: http://www.goodhomes.org.uk/events/96 

Five years ago, he set up a company called Hab (Happiness Architecture Beauty) in order to "build houses that make people happy". The recession has slowed its progress, but its first creation, a 42-home development in Swindon called the Triangle, is now complete. Next month, Channel 4 is screening Kevin's Grand Design, a two-part documentary about the project, which was achieved in partnership with the housing association, GreenSquare Group. When it is suggested that the attention these programmes will attract will be a double-edged sword, he says: "It will be a one-edged sword with the blade laid across my throat."

He is addressing the great British housing problem. For decades, it has been plain that new houses are unimaginative, overpriced, undersized and resistant to the kind of technical improvement that is standard in industries such as car making. Changes in planning law, to improve design or make housing more accessible, are forever tried and forever failing. The rather daunting task he has set himself is to deflect the glacial flow of change, to make "a very significant difference from conventional development".  Click HERE to read more on this story.