More square footage to enjoy as a family was just one of the driving factors behind one couple’s decision to extend the ground floor of their Manchester home, with the opportunity to make the most of the views of their gorgeous gardens too good an opportunity to pass up.

Those that closely follow Channel 4’s Building the Dream may recall Charlie Luxton profiling Cambridgeshire-based husband-and-wife self-build duo Rob and Sarah Collard back in 2018. Their ambitious build, aptly named Collard Towers, was designed entirely by the pair without the help of an architect – and with an astonishing objection-free…

Self-builders Brent and Aishling Bryson have been together for almost a decade. Brent grew up on a family dairy farm just outside Banbridge, County Down, and has always wanted to build his very own home on the land.

Tullyorior School House is located near Corbet just outside Banbridge, County Down. The school was built in 1966 and closed in 1985. Michael Wallace’s father bought the property in the early 1990s and it lay empty for many years. Here, Michael tells i-Build how he brought the school back to…

Teachers Rachel and Jarlath McArdle are certainly no strangers to the world of self-building. Having completed their very own farmhouse-style project in rural Ireland next to their working dairy farm – where Jarlath also works as a farmer – their home is very much the epitome of country living –…

Life began at Filly Island in the 1700s, when this cottage was used to store the cart which the neighbouring mill’s horse dutifully pulled upstream. Flash forward to today, and the building has received an extraordinary transformation thanks to the dedication and determination of its current owner, Mouse Martin. The…

Jon and Victoria Oakley’s home, a former water tower – which served a prisoner-of-war camp and doubled as a secret communications hub during the Second World War – is currently listed for sale via OnTheMarket. Here, i-Build talks to Jon and his Architect, James Furzer of architectural design practice JFD,…

For Frank and Wendy Bradshaw, building their new home at Park Gwyn meant the fulfilment of a long-held ambition to return to St Stephen near St Austell. Frank had previously run a Cornish pasty factory in the area, and although the couple had moved away, they were excited to return…

Located in the serene small Cornish village of Portloe, on the Roseland Peninsula, sits Nare’s Yard – the ultimate countryside escape built by the Pryor family.

The Speakmans had lived in their High Wycombe home for more than 20 years when a property on their road came up for sale, offering the perfect chance for them to create their dream house. Keen to work with a company that could assist with everything from project management to…