Books

Buy The remarkable story of Great Ormond Street Hospital on Amazon and Earthships: building a zero carbon future for homes from the publisher – IHS BRE. The Great Ormond Street book is published by Simon & Schuster.

Contact my literary agent, Andrew Gordon, at David Higham Associates (DHA) if you are interested in commissioning a book. You can see my listing on the DHA site here.

My next book, which has the working title of Peter Pan’s First XI, is being published by Hodder.

Journalism

I am the editor of The Media Society newsletter. The Media Society organise a range of fascinating debates and other events at some great London venues throughout the year.

I write regularly for Green Building Magazine, which is part of Green Building Press.

I have also written for BBC Who do you think you are magazine, Green Futures Magazine, Grand Designs Magazine and the Architects’ Journal.

And I’ve had work published in the Guardian and the Sunday Times.

Friends and other things I like:

I am fortunate to have some talented friends.

They include Tomomi Kojo, who makes amazing organic fairtrade clothes under the name of Onagono.

I was co-author with Mischa Hewitt on the book about earthships. He played a major role in building Earthship Brighton and is also a director of the Low Carbon Trust.

The inventor of earthships is Mike Reynolds. Watch the film Garbage Warrior, which is all about Reynolds, or visit Reynolds’ own site all about earthships. You can also stay in an earthship in Normandy, which I wrote an article about in the Guardian.

I worked with photographer Tyson Sadlo on the Grand Designs Abroad book a few years ago. He’s not just a great photographer but an intrepid adventurer also.

Chris O’Donovan is another fabulous photographer.

Red Stone are an independent design company based in Clerkenwell, London. And they rock.

My website has been designed by Ed Lea, who also runs ArtFlock, an online creative community where you can buy and sell original art and craft.

Also, check out the work of artists Helen Beard, whose work is featured on the ArtFlock site, and Nigel Grimmer, whose work is not.

When I wrote the Grand Designs Abroad book my favourite project was also the most humble – the renovation of an ancient olive farm called Impisi in Puglia, southern Italy. You can stay there – and enjoy the wonderful hospitality of David and Leonie.

You can also stay rather closer to home at Tom’s Field in the New Forest, which is run by Tom and Tina – and Austin. The site is listed in the Cool Camping Guide.

And while you’re here, how about some fun, courtesy of YouTube:

Teach yourself the first part of Bach’s Prelude in C Major – you’ll probably need to perch your laptop on top of a piano...

Or watch one of the greatest pieces of instrumental improvisation ever to have taken place in a muddy field full of hippies.

And I love this footage of film director David Lynch signing autographs in Venice, with a great soundtrack from Nina Simone.