David Birkbeck

  • Almere - abandoned plot
    Comment

    Why self build is no panacea

    2012-05-15T13:12:00

    Housing minister Grant Shapps is focused on boosting the small self-build sector. These images from a much-heralded Dutch self-build scheme make it clear it won’t be plain sailing, argues David Birkbeck

  • German 'sausage' homes
    News

    Unexplainable homes: German sausage

    2010-03-02T12:11:00

    A continental approach to housing uses colourful facades to show just who owns what

  • News

    Unexplainable homes: Access to flats

    2010-01-29T11:28:00

    David Birkbeck's look at the shock troops of housing design continues with a dramatic reinvention

  • Decoding homes 1: House or hovercraft?
    News

    Unexplainable homes: House or hovercraft?

    2010-01-26T16:53:00

    The new series kicks off with how energy efficiency can become an eyesore

  • David Birkbeck
    News

    Put money in their purses

    2009-10-02T00:00:00

    Allowing councils to pocket the taxes from the sale of new homes would ensure they are much more supportive of development

  • Comment

    Demanding satisfaction

    2004-09-17T00:00:00

    Brighton. Buxton. Broadway. Bradford. Britain’s most lively townscapes gained their individual character because development was in the hands of local specialists. Today most of the country’s output comes from volume housebuilders, and they work wherever there is a local market.

  • News

    When badgers attack

    2002-05-17T00:00:00

    Allow third parties to object to planning decisions – as some pressure groups want – and you'll create a bill of rights for busybodies. Here's one man's story

  • Features

    Mine's bigger than yours

    2001-02-02T00:00:00

    Leeds' Bridgewater Place could become the tallest residential building in the north. That is until Manchester comes up with something even higher.