The writer and presenter of Channel 4‘s Grand Designs, Kevin McCloud, gave his views on architecture and design to more than 200 Northern Ireland architects and members of the construction industry at an event hosted by the Northern Ireland Timber Trade Association (NITTA) recently.
On his first visit to the province, Mr McCloud said: “The most important piece of architecture any of us ever experience is our home.
“If Grand Designs can do anything, at least it can raise the level of our awareness and especially our expectations of the quality of the buildings we live in.”
Talking about the importance of environmetal issues he said: “Eco-building is no longer the domain of the knit-your-own-sandals brigade. Legislation and the Rio and Kyoto protocols require us to consider the environmental impact of everything we do, and clearly our homes are big producers of pollution both in their construction and in day-to-day running.”
NITTA acting chairman Maurice Brooks described Mr McCloud as “an inspiration to the construction industry and self-builders alike”, saying his refreshing attitude towards design and awareness of environmental issues were close to the hearts of NITTA members.
Mr Brooks added: “Timber is the most environmentally friendly building material available to us and it is fortunate that as suppliers of this product, we enlist the help of people like Kevin to communicate this important message to architects and specifiers across Northern Ireland.”
