'I think all architects want to build their own house, so I'm like a pig in mud,' says Andrew Tate, the proud owner of a 100-foot converted water tower near Amersham, Buckinghamshire.
The tower is about five and a half metres in diameter, so it has been divided. Bedrooms and the main living areas are contained in a single storey extension. Glazed walls to the extension capitalise on heat from the sun, and the connecting walls are made with polystyrene blocks filled with concrete, providing effective insulation.
It took Andrew more than a year to get planning permission on what is a greenbelt site, but councillors and local residents were won over by his plan to conceal the extension behind a grassy bank, which blends in with the banks of the surrounding reservoirs.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Andrew's prime tip for other self builders is to get a good architect.
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Want to be a self-build guru? Then read on....
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