Townhouses are some of the most interesting creations of modern urban architecture. This selection of newly designed townhouses includes unconventional architectural concepts in terms of imaginative use of space and creative ways of capturing natural light.

What would you do if you could reinvent your home? A link to the garden, to bring nature closer. A re-thought layout, that complements your lifestyle. A greener home, for a sustainable future (and lower energy bills). More space. Better space. You probably know what is wrong with your house, but do you really know what would improve it? Architects do. Even better, they can design a home that works for you, with ideas and solutions that you may not yet have considered. This stunningly illustrated book showcases the best examples of what can be achieved when homeowners collaborate with RIBA-certified architects to realise their House Goals. Sorted by motivation, it breaks down how architects can address these universal problems in unique, bespoke ways that suit their clients, while providing inspiration for your own home. Crucially, House Goals fully explains the process of working with architects - from first contact to completion - to ensure you know exactly what you're getting into, and how to make the most of it. Features: Examples of projects in Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, inter-war and post-war homes. A range of scales, from one-bed flats and split-level maisonettes to two-up, two-down terraces and cosy cottages, elegant town houses and detached homes as well as interesting conversions and garden rooms. Rural and urban locations ranging from hamlets to big cities, covering: London, Norfolk, Cheshire, Sussex, Herefordshire, Yorkshire, Oxfordshire and more. Work from more than 30 architects, including: Arboreal Architecture, Bradley Van der Straeten Architects, Gagarin Studio, IF_DO, Knox Bhavan and nimtim architects. With a foreword by Kevin McCloud.

"Some particular books I found useful for A Game of Thrones and its sequels deserve mention...Life in a Medieval Castle and Life in a Medieval City, both by Joseph and Frances Gies." -George R.R. Martin, author of the series A Song of Ice and Fire Medieval history comes alive in Joseph and Frances Gies's Life in a Medieval Castle, used as a research resource by George R. R. Martin in creating the world of A Game of Thrones. Newly reissued for the first time in decades, Life in a Medieval Castle is the bestselling classic that has introduced countless readers to the wonders of the Middle Ages. Focusing on a castle called Chepstow on the border between England and Wales, acclaimed Medievalists Joseph and Frances Gies offer an exquisite portrait of what day-to-day life was actually like during the era, and of the key role the castle played. The Gieses write eloquently about the many people whose lives revolved around the castle, from the lord and lady to the commoners of the surrounding village. We discover what lords and serfs alike would have worn, eaten, and done for leisure; the songs sung; and the codes of sexual conduct that maintained order. We learn of the essential role of honor in medieval culture, the initiation process undertaken by knights, and how castles attempted to keep the constant threats of outside violence at bay. Exhaustively researched and as engaging as any novel, Life in a Medieval Castle is the definitive text for anyone wishing to learn more about this fascinating era.

While most books on architecture focus on the architectural outcome itself, Architects on Dwelling takes a close look at how that outcome is created. To design any kind of dwelling, architects draw on both their reservoir of ideas as well as their own experiences as fellow inhabitants of such structures. This book explores how architects design the places we inhabit and how those places in turn inform the manner in which we live, in ways beyond lifestyle and personal taste. Through contributions by Stephen Hoey, Henry McKeown & Ian Alexander, James Mitchell, Stacey Philips, Christopher Platt, Adrian Stewart, and Miranda Webster-most of whom are Scotland-based practitioners as well as teachers in The Glasgow School of Art-it reveals the unique values and qualities that inform their design processes.In their essays, they focus mostly on one exemplary building, explaining how and why they design the way they do. Dick van Gameren, Simon Henley, and Graeme Hutton, distinguished experts and themselves architect-educators, place this work within an international context and provide insightful comment about what these design approaches inform us about contemporary design in Scotland. Complemented with a wide range of images, these essays both illuminate the architects' motivations and inspirations and celebrate their featured works. Taken as a whole, Architects on Dwelling reminds us how profoundly the place we live in matters to our wellbeing, and of the social responsibility architects have in creating the built environment in general and dwellings in particular.

Beyond the Gatehouse is a lighthearted, witty but factual biographical account of the eccentric lifestyles of the builders and residents of some of England's best-known country houses. Extraordinary buildings require extraordinary people, and over the centuries our historic houses have produced more than their fair share of oddballs. Insulated from the outside world by vast wealth, rolling acres and the social status that a title implies, aristocrats have always been able to amuse themselves - and now us - by pursuing their idiosyncratic interests and manias to the point of eccentricity. David Long lifts the lid on all that's bizarre, implausible, unthinkable and delightfully wacky about our glorious heritage homes and their unusual occupants.

An introduction to the history and architecture of the American house, from the 12th century to the present day. This book features 100 exemplary houses ranging from traditional dwellings to iconic masterpieces of the twentieth century and contemporary architect-designed builds. The houses are presented in chronological order and each entry features a full-page image with a short text describing the house, its designer and historical context.

Explores the origins and evolution of Georgian landscape architecture, a period of innovative and diverse garden structures in which some of the era's greatest architects experimented with different forms, styles, and new technology The invention and evolution of the Georgian landscape garden liberated garden buildings from the corset of formality, allowing them to structure much more extensive areas of garden and park. One of the leading authorities on Georgian landscape architecture, Roger White explores a genre in which some of the era's greatest architects experimented with different forms, styles, and new technology. Covering not just the obvious adornments of parks and gardens such as temples, summerhouses, grottoes, towers and "follies," the book also explores structures with predominantly practical functions including mausolea, boathouses, dovecotes, stables, kennels, deer pens, barns, and cowsheds, all of which could be dressed up to make an architectural impact. White examines these structures not only architecturally but from a functional and cultural viewpoint, considering questions of stylistic origins and development. Focussing on the contributions of Britain's leading eighteenth-century architects-Vanbrugh, Hawksmoor, Gibbs, Kent, Adam, Chambers, Wyatt, and Soane-Georgian Arcadia provides a richly illustrated account of a period of innovative and diverse garden building.

This fine Palladian house known as New Park was built between 1777 and 1783 and became part of the golden age of the Georgian country house. Its owner, James Sutton, was one of a new breed of landowners, benefitting from the proceeds of the boom in late eighteenth century trade and from local political influence. The house was a celebration of the dynamism and success of Georgian Devizes, built on its thriving wool trade. As neoclassicism became the defining style for the late eighteenth English country house, New Park, later re-named Roundway Park, perfectly represented the high ambition of the age, the product of the prestigious architect, James Wyatt, and landscape designer, Humphry Repton. Roundway continued to prosper in the Victorian and Edwardian eras under the ownership of the Colston family of Bristol fame. In 1938, on the death of Rosalind Colston, the first Lady Roundway, the house and estate were, on the surface, indistinguishable from their Victorian heyday. But just sixteen years later, the estate had been sold and the house largely demolished as the effects of family tragedy and the weight of social and economic change took their toll. The Forgotten Country House tells for the first time the story of Roundway's rise and fall, the people who built and owned it, lived and worked there, and the contribution they made to their local community. It paints a vivid picture of the lives of gentry families who far outnumbered their more aristocratic counterparts and who played a central role in the rural communities that characterised much of Britain up until the mid-twentieth century. Part family history, part love letter to the English country house, Simon Baynes draws on family papers and new research to pay a fitting, evocative tribute not just to his ancestors, but also to a lost world and the people who lived in it.

This book focuses on Kay Fisker (1893-1965)’s housing estates in Copenhagen. A leading exponent of Danish Functionalism, Fisker was influenced by Louis Sullivan, and had a strong belief in continuity, putting modernism in perspective and identifying precedents. He built many large-scale housing schemes, mostly for non-profit workers' housing associations, and developed innovative and beautifully considered high-density, low-rise block schemes, which have proven useful and influential to the growing number of contemporary architects who have examined his designs. Beautifully illustrated with photographs and architectural drawings, this book documents and critically analyses three of Kay Fisker's seminal housing projects in Copenhagen: Hornbaekhus (1923); Vestersohus (1935-39); and Dronningegarden (1943-58). These projects reflect how Fisker's work contains valuable lessons for contemporary architects in economy, precision and generosity in housing design. Essays by Martin Søberg, Poul Sverrild and Job Floris set Fisker’s work within their historical, social and architectural context. In the final section, architects from three leading contemporary practices – Clancy Moore, Monadnock and Tony Fretton - discuss how Kay Fisker has influenced their own approaches and work.

The idea of an environmentally respectful house is appealing to more and more people. In the last decade, architects from all over the world have been especially interested in the possibilities of an innovative home in a natural environment, with ecological solutions and a low impact on the environment. There is a great variety of this style of architecture both in terms of its use and in geographic location. This book serves as inspiration and progress for the world of architecture and the new generation.

Courtyards have long played an important function in residential design, regulating light, shade and the use of space. With thousands of years of tradition as inspiration, contemporary architects are realizing courtyard living afresh. This lavish survey of 25 residences across the Asia-Pacific region features homes from Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, India, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. Structured by courtyard function, the book consists of five chapters - on privacy; multigenerational living; sightlines; light and ventilation; and living with nature - that are richly illustrated with photography as well as architectural illustrations showing courtyard positions within floor plans. Showcasing the unique lifestyle opportunities afforded by contemporary courtyard design, this is an inspirational resource for anyone interested in indoor-outdoor living.

A detailed guide to the technical aspects of refurbishing and upgrading buildings, this book provides solutions to a range of problems, challenges and issues and is essential reading for all students studying building refurbishment at all levels. Includes:

• existing floor and wall strengthening
• facade retention
• introduction of new floors
• timber decay problems
• fire-resistance
• prevention of moisture and damp
• upgrading thermal and acoustic performance.

This new edition has been fully updated to include new technological information, and covers new areas such as stonework restoration and repair, upgrading of c1960 framed buildings, refurbishment logistics and case-studies.

Historic Homes of Minnesota is the engaging story of the evolution of architectural styles in Minnesota from 1830 to 1914 -- from the influence of the early French traders along the Mississippi and St Croix to the emergence of the school of Frank Lloyd Wright. Through photographs and colourfully informative text, internationally known historian Roger Kennedy helps readers understand the unique styles of Minnesota's first homes, including the Mower House in Arcola, the first large house on the St. Croix; Alexander Ramsey's 'Mansion House' in St Paul, influenced by Pennsylvania Dutch virtues; the whimsical Charles C. Clement house in Fergus Falls, clearly Norse in spirit; and the Purcell House in Minneapolis, a fine example of the Prairie School design. On a broad plane these architectural eras reflected social customs, politics, commerce, religion, and literature. On a personal level they often revealed the national origin and character of the families that made the house a home. In short, this is in large measure a history of the people. Kennedy has considered their heritage and traditions as carefully as he has examined the architecture they created, and he offers a fresh, holistic approach to the study of our state's great houses.

This book invites readers to discover an exceptional wine grown in the French region of Bordeaux. Chateau Cantemerle, which has been a vineyard since the Middle Ages, has a unique history full of mystery and intrigue. To tell its story, Valerie Labadie has created an original narrative, combining her own insights with the imagined memory of Baroness de Villeneuve, a 19th-century ancestor who signed the important Bordeaux Wine Official Classification documents in 1855. With 150 stunning, atmospheric photographs, Labadie takes readers on a journey around the vineyard, revealing a mansion that looks like Sleeping Beauty's castle, mysterious shadowy cellars, and a romantic 200-acre park in which wine-lovers can be lost for hours. Including a detailed history of Cantemerle's wines, this beautiful book will seduce wine lovers as they drift through its pages, ideally with a glass of Bordeaux in hand.

The Marlborough Mound has recently been recognised as one of the most important monuments in the group around Stonehenge. It was also a medieval castle and a feature in a major 17th century garden. This is the first comprehensive history of this extraordinary site. Marlborough Mound, standing among the buildings of Marlborough College, has attracted little attention until recently. Records showed it to be the motte of a Norman castle, of which there were no visible remains. The local historians and archaeologists who had investigated it had found very little in the way of archaeological evidence beyond a few prehistoric antler picks, the odd Roman coin, and a scatter of medieval pottery. It was to be archaeology which provided the most dramatic discovery after the Mound Trust began to restore the mound in 2003. English Heritage were investigating Silbury Hill, and arranged to take cores from the Mound for dating purposes. The results were remarkable, as they showed that the Mound was almost a twin of Silbury Hill and therefore belonged to the extraordinary assembly of prehistoric monuments centred on Stonehenge. For the medieval period, this book brings together for the first time all that we know about the castle from the royal records and from chronicles. These show that it was for a time one of the major royal castles in the land. Most of the English kings from William I to Edward III spent time here. For Henry III and his queen Eleanor of Provence, it was their favourite castle after Windsor. It marks the end of the first stage of the work of the Mound Trust, which, following the restoration, turns to its second objective of promoting public knowledge of the Mound based on scholarly research. As to its final form as a garden mound next to the house of the dukes of Somerset, in the eighteenth century, this emerges from letters and even poems, and from the recent restoration. Much of this has been slow and painstaking work, however, involving the removal of the trees which endangered the structure of the Mound, the recutting of the spiral path and the careful replanting of the whole area with suitable vegetation. By doing this, the shape of the Mound as a garden feature has re-emerged, and can now be seen clearly. This book marks the end of the first stage of the work of the Mound Trust, which, following the restoration, turns to its second objective of promoting public knowledge of the Mound based on scholarly research.

"With a new epilogue"
Richly illustrated with houses large and small, old and new, with photographs, plans, and cutaway drawings, this is a book for people who want a house but who may not know what they really need, or what they have a right to expect.
The authors establish the basis for good building by examining houses in the small Massachusetts town of Edgartown; in Santa Barbara, California, where a commitment was made to re-create an imaginary Spanish past; and in Sea Ranch, on the northern California coast, where the authors attempt to create a community. These examples demonstrate how individual houses can express the care, energies, and dreams of the people who live in them, and can contribute to a larger sense of place.

Can we get a feeling of spaciousness and well-being in an apartment when the available space is very limited? This book shows that not only is it possible, but often the solutions turn the house itself into a unique and singular space. These types of projects are also a challenge for architects, since they require bringing into play all their ingenuity, technique, and talent.

Unlocking the history of the British home, this book reveals how its layout has evolved from the Stone Age to the present day. From modest ancient dwellings and medieval merchants' houses to imposing stately mansions and modern urban estates, the book explores the forces that have shaped these homes. Each chapter brings these ideas to life by focusing on buildings that are accessible and open to the public. Featured homes include: the Tudor mansions of Cowdray and Burghley House; and the grand Georgian terraces of London, Bath and Brighton.

Wide-ranging studies offer an in-depth analysis of castle-building 11th - 12th centuries and place castles within their broader social and political context. The castles of the eleventh and twelfth centuries remain among the most visible symbols of the Anglo-Norman world. This collection brings together for the first time some of the most significant articles in castle studies, with contributions from experts in history, archaeology and historic buildings. Castles remain a controversial topic of academic debate and here equal weight is given to seminal articles that have defined the study of the subject while at the same time emphasising newer approaches to the fortresses of the Anglo-Norman aristocracy. The studies in this volume range from discussions of the residential and military role of the castle to architectural symbolismand royal attitudes to baronial fortification. The result is a survey that offers an in-depth analysis of castle-building during the eleventh and twelfth centuries but which also places Anglo-Norman castles within their broader social, architectural and political context. Contributors: ANN WILLIAMS, RICHARD EALES, DEREK RENN, LAWRENCE BUTLER, ROBERT HIGHAM, MARJORIE CHIBNALL, R.ALLEN BROWN, CHARLES COULSON, SIDNEY PAINTER, FREDERICK C. SUPPE, GRANT G. SIMPSON, BRUCE WEBSTER, J.R. KENYON, THOMAS McNEILL, T.A. HESLOP, PHILIP DIXON, PAMELA MARSHALL, JOHN BLAIR, CHARLES COULSON, ROBERT LIDDIARD