Change in focus boosts Grand Designs show

The home lifestyle event reported a 25 per cent rise in visitors on its first weekend, and put the growth down to a shift in focus from switching addresses to switching sofas.

Group marketing manager of event organisers Media 10 Rob Nathan, said: "We're reflecting the current state of the housing market. Last year, the market was much more buoyant than it is 12 months on. People are not moving on as much.

"A grand design doesn't have to be about moving to a new home. It could be about a new bathroom, kitchen, sofa or even a pod. It's a slight change in emphasis and it's working well. We seem to be fairly recession-proof.

"We attracted 25,000 people to the first weekend. Considering the state of the economy and the fact that we're a home show, we couldn't be more delighted."

Grand Designs TV show host Kevin McCloud used the event to promote the Great British Refurb Campaign, a call on the Government to subsidise eco-refurbishment in homes through incentives and tax breaks.

But building from scratch also appears popular this year, with a 15 per cent rise in exhibitors in the build section.

Mr Nathan said: "There hasn't been a better time to build your own house in the last 15 years. Land is cheaper, labour and materials are cheaper, and the incentives are there from the Government."

There were plenty of sofas, lamps, baskets and household accessories on offer from the 550 exhibitors, as well as a growing number of pods. The futuristic icon has been adapted for use everywhere from the garden to the games room, like a fashionable economic fall-out shelter.

It is at once a conservatory space, a sun-lounger with retractable canopy, and even a high-end gaming cocoon.

The Ovei allows buyers to enjoy gaming, TV, surround sound, mood lighting and air conditioning in a module that resembles the space capsule from TV's Mork And Mindy.

The made-to-order pod, which promises "a sense of solace and sanctuary", is currently available from £50,000.

Those working from home can also find peace in the Office Pod (pictured at top), a temporary eco-structure that can be rented by employers and installed in the back gardens of employees working from home.

The aluminium and wood prototype, which will be soon be available for lease for around £5,000 a year, was first devised in 2000 by building surveyor Stephen Tanner, who struggled to balance work and child-sitting in his study.

He said: "It came out of the experience of trying to work at home with the kids around.
"Working in the study was impossible out of school hours.

"We can survey a person's garden and do all the preparatory work, and then install it in a day on our third visit.

"With this, the employer has the ability to make very rapid strides in downsizing the amount of office space they have in a way they've never done before.

"Part of its development will be to make it more reliant on solar and wind power, but the technology is not quite there at the moment."

Just yards away, sculptor Kate Edwards was showcasing a much more traditional style of building built from cob, a mixture of sand, clay and straw.

Kate, of Edwards Eco Building, runs cob-building courses in Norfolk, helping home-builders to develop this "ridiculously environmentally friendly and cheap" practice.

She said: "You can go anywhere in the world, dig a trench, and use the stuff you take out of it to build the house.

"It's warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and there are cob buildings in the world that have stood for 10,000 years.

"A lot of people say they're building eco-houses, but all they have is a very well insulated house.

"How much energy does the installation and construction take?

"Over 50 per cent of houses in the world are made out of cob. I have people break down when they come here, because it's just so simple."

Grand Designs Live is at the Excel centre in Royal Docks until Monday May 4.

Go to granddesignslive.com.