Harbour View, Northfleet
Joe Miles wanted me to design a scheme for a couple of houses in Cathays, but first he needed to test me; if I wanted to work for Joe, I first had to demonstrate my skills on a project for his Bulgarian friend and colleague, Emil.
Emil, a carpenter, that Joe had brought forward over some years in his construction firm, had saved his earnings to purchase some land. The land he bought had outline planning permission for a block of flats, but the drawings were wrong; the proposed building would not fit on the land.
As I had only designed extensions previously, and this was a major project. I worked closely with the planners to both design a new building, and complete the associated documentation. The application was handled by the Gravesham Head of Planning, Michael Jessop. He wrote afterwards; “I think this has been a good example of proactive discussion between parties resulting in a high quality development. I look forward to approving the final details in due course and seeing this scheme be built”. I was now playing in a bigger game; taught how-to by the planners themselves.
Emil completed his building with his father, by hand, over a couple of years. The main construction material is recycled woodfibre insulated concrete formwork; Durisol.