Kevin McCloudThis blogging malarkey appears to have triggered an unexpected impulse within my synaptic gap, namely the constant need to reference the deity of property putdowns that is Kevin McCloud.

“I’m not obsessed!” I wailed at my boss on presentation of this latest subject.

“You have a picture of him on your computer,” he replied, in an annoyingly accurate encapsulation of the situation.

And so, not content with namedropping the Big Mac here, here and here, I now bring you the latest in Kevwatch… and it’s not good news.

It would appear that for all his verbal veneration on Grand Designs, our Kev has not found the act of transforming creative vision into liveable reality so easy to accomplish.

I’m not questioning the intentions behind his development company Hab (standing for Happiness Architecture Beauty in that delightfully sparse, punctuation-free way that only a design guru would dare to associate with the inherent griminess of a building site).

But in a classic case of the spirit is willing but the flesh refuses to pay what the architect wants, Hab has, allegedly, parted ways with award-winning firm Wright & Wright in a dispute over fees.

I won’t bore you with the details, but McCloud was heard muttering about working for free at weekends, something that replacement firm Glenn Howells Architects is apparently willing to do despite the possibility of the project all ending in tears.

A deal has yet to be agreed with Swindon Council over land for the project and it’s back to the drawing board as far as designs are concerned because Wright & Wright have dug their heels in and refused to sell theirs on.

Still, if any one can pull it out of the bag, Kevin, it’s you. I’m still a believer, a sceptical one, but a believer nonetheless…

But judging by the comments, the same can’t be said for some of the architects reading about this over at BD Online.

Related Tags: New Homes, Development, Architecture, Architecture & Design, Kevin McCloud

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