When people see the castle that Jim Bishop built for the first time, the reaction is almost always the same: How can a single man build a giant castle all by himself? The answer lies in decades of manual labor, creativity, and stubbornness. It all began in 1969, when he built a first room on … Read more
Cob building is a method in which clay, sand, and plant fibers (usually straw) are mixed manually and molded directly in place. Unlike bricks, blocks, or concrete walls, cob doesn’t use forms, doesn’t require molding and allows for the creation of curved walls, niches, arches, built-in benches, round windows, and sculpted details. There are cob … Read more
Woodstock is a self-sufficient, private house in Belgium, conceived as a vessel anchored along the riverbank. The project embodies the core principles of architecture as a form of transition within the construction culture towards a regenerative and post-carbon world. The architects say, “We believe systemic change in architecture must be learned through making. Woodstock became … Read more
Housing NOW is a modular bamboo housing system that provides rapid, affordable homes in Myanmar’s conflict- and disaster-affected regions. They use small-diameter bamboo bundled into structural frames that interlock to form the backbone of each house. This method uses abundant, low-value bamboo culms from local sources and transforms them into load-bearing construction elements through bundling, … Read more
Dating back to 1640 with later additions through the 1700s, this beautifully restored 5-bedroom property in Somerset, known as Malthouse, spans roughly 2,861 sq ft, with contemporary delights such as a summerhouse and a swimming pool. Beyond its classic stone façade and mullioned windows, The Malthouse’s interiors are steeped in character. Original architectural features — … Read more
While vacationing, Nicole and Gav decided they “might as well” view some smallholdings for sale to simply indulge in a dream they had long carried. They were attracted to a 13-acre smallholding in west Wales, with a crumbling farmhouse and a yard full of derelict outbuildings. The couple immediately fell in love with it and … Read more