The Story of the Curved House
Contact:
Anjana and David can be contacted on anjanadevoy@aol.com, OR 07951 957067 / 0208 6753269
The story so far: David and Anjana Devoy lived with their two children in a Victorian coach house in Clapham. Looking for a solution to halt 'death by clutter' they hit on the perfect plan: build a new home in the back garden. The only limits to their build were a massive horse chestnut tree and access to the plot. Their solution was to build a curved house walled with glass that circumnavigated the tree. Two years since the start of the build and over a year since their story was shown on Grand Designs, Anjana and David still have much work to do. Here Anjana explains why she wouldnąt do it again:
'By an accident of history, our property, not 3m wide, had been granted the entire grazing plot when it was demised, enabling us to obtain planning permission for a detached four-bedroom home with studio/garage annexe. Those who saw the programme, will know we chose to build a curved house designed around the site's most dominant feature; a magnificent horse-chestnut tree'
'Our architects did not let on that curves were more difficult to construct than straight lines. For this I am grateful. It is absolutely the right design and I love it, but had I known what I know now, it would never have been built'
'I elected to project manage the build, despite being deeply unpractical and qualified only to sue people if the process went pear-shaped. Six weeks in, as my impossibly competent builder, Pat, who was fully able to project manage himself, ran rings around me and, riding high on adrenalin and confidence, we doubled our folly. Ex-barrister and City boy David threw in his lot with the build'
'The early days - the hot summer of 2003 brought beers on the roof, bacon sandwiches and scant regard for health and safety regulations. The TV crew arrived with expense account coffee and, of course, the Divine Mr McCloud. This was the moment for delusions of grandeur. This was blind love for the project before routine turned it into daily grind. I imagined the house as virtually complete, unable to conceive of the complex layering which goes into a well-designed modern home. What was left to be done after erection of the blocks and steels except for a bit of plasterboard and decoration? These were my words to Martin, the director of the film, in July 2003'
'We were the dream team, or so it seemed to ourselves and, with the advent of Ben, our tree-surgeon friend who came for three days and stayed for 365, we worked from 7am till 10pm. My Asian shopping skills meant I was good at bargain-hunting and the budget was well on target, while David and Ben's resourcefulness and can-do enthusiasm found solutions to the concerns more experienced contractors threw up. Problems which seemed big on screen were shrugged off through ignorance and we made good time, fully expecting to be in the house at Christmas, if not by the (unrealistic) six-month target set by the architects. But no one told us that building is no fun in the winter. Short, cold, dirty days with so much to achieve, mounting pressure to move in and compound tiredness. We slogged on resolutely until the screening of the programme in February 2004'
