Barry and Julie have lived and worked in Brighton for years. Julie works as a nurse at the local hospice, while Barry is a successful builder and property developer. Barry is about to start a major new project - for the first time he’s building his own house, and he has high ambitions.
Barry and Julie currently live in a large house which Barry renovated three years ago. But Barry's never had a go at building a house for his family from scratch, so that's exactly what he's going to do, on a plot nestled between the family home and an investment property he owns.
Barry intends to sell both of these to help pay for his ambitious personal project. The site slopes steeply, but that doesn't put Barry off and it's full steam ahead laying the foundations for the new house.
Atop these foundations will be the basement level, hosting Barry's outdoor hot tub, swimming pool, home cinema and there’ll still be room for an art studio. A sinuous staircase, designed by Barry, will curve its way up to the huge double height living space.
One wall of this giant room will be built entirely from enormous sheets of glass – curved of course – which will illuminate both the ground floor and first floor gallery corridor. The first floor itself will be divided into five en-suite bedrooms giving ample space for when all the children stay over.
At the rear, sliding glass doors will deliver yet more natural light as well as open up onto a curved balcony overlooking the garden. The crowning glory of this house will be Barry and Julie’s fantasy bedroom. Clad in chestnut and yet more glass, this enormous 60 foot long pod will appear to float over the rest of the house, and over Brighton. Its doors will open onto a peaceful suburban rooftop garden.
By driving the project himself and using his trusted team of builders, Barry’s intending to have the whole place finished in just nine months.
After laying the massive concrete slab, Barry and his team can erect the steel frame that will pin the whole place together. Once the curved steel sections are in place, it's possible to see the shape of this house for the very first time.
Barry keeps a tight rein on costs, sourcing materials from afar if it will hit his wallet less than popping down the road. This fastidious approach to budgeting may not be ecologically sound, but should give this project the best possible chance of coming in on budget.
When the steel arrives for the bedroom pod, it becomes clear just how much this house will dominate its surroundings. Sitting atop the already massive house, the pod takes domestic architecture to a whole new dimension.
Barry's artistic flair shows as he designs the staircase himself. Forming the seamlessly smooth, flowing lines of this spiral will take months, so in the meantime Barry needs to sort some more pressing issues, such as where he's going to get his windows from. While deliberating over this, disaster strikes and Barry suffers a heart attack. After months of recuperation he's fighting fit, but changes his priorities as what's important in life really hits home.
Eventually Barry compromises on the curved glass wall, opting for flat glass panels instead. Remarkably this will save him a massive £155,000, and as the global credit crunch looms on the horizon, it's a wise decision. Eventually the glass arrives, and aided by one of the biggest cranes around, the house is sealed and the interior work can start.
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