30 Energy-Efficient Houses...You Can Build

by Alex Wade, Neal Ewenstein

Floor plans, drawings, specifications, and descriptions are provided for efficiently and ecologically designed family houses, studio livingspaces, hillside homes, and underground and passive solar-tempered houses

Genres: Nonfiction

316 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 1977

About the author

Alex Wade was born in Chiswick, London in 1966. Despite an upbringing in Devon he remains a dedicated QPR fan, often travelling from his home near Sennen Cove to games in Shepherd's Bush.

Alex's principal interests as a writer are law, sport (especially football, surfing and boxing), poker (Alex played, while a columnist for Flush magazine, in poker tournaments around the world) and travel, as well as general features, football match reports (for The Game, the acclaimed supplement of The Times) and book reviews (for The Times Books and Times Literary Supplement section).

Many years ago, when he was a media lawyer, Alex worked for leading libel firm Carter-Ruck before becoming now-Express Group proprietor Richard Desmond's first Head of Legal Affairs. Subsequently Alex's unreconstructed tendencies got the better of him. His life went off the rails but boxing played a large part in his rehabilitation. This story is chronicled in Wrecking Machine, a Sunday Times sports book of the week ("superb", "irresistible") but also one that saw Metro's book reviewer characterise it as "drivel" written by "a sexist womaniser who likes a drink or six". Best to buy it and make your own mind up.

Since 2002, Alex has worked mainly as a writer. He has also enjoyed stints as a licensed bookmaker and a sports rights consultant, selling the rights to key properties such as the FA Premier League in territories as diverse as Albania, Georgia and Azerbaijan. He has made a number of media appearances including Sky News, Talksport, BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Radio Five Live.

Alex has travelled extensively. He has written about New York, Albania and Kazakhstan; Barbados, Ireland and Andalucia; Captain Cook country, Mexico and Francis Ford Coppola's retreats in Belize and Guatemala. His two sons, Harry and Elliot, are keen surfers, and Alex continues to surf, box and play football despite surgery on his neck in 2009 and any number of sports injuries from repeated shoulder dislocations to broken bones and torn ligaments.

For many years Alex worked as a night lawyer for national newspapers including The Times, Independent and Sun. In 2006 Alex was the lawyer behind the scenes for Frank Skinner and David Baddiel's FIFA World Cup podcasts for The Times, and he continues to provide pre-publication legal advice either directly for clients or via Frugal Speech Ltd, an editorial services company which he runs with his partner Caroline Davidson.

Alex was proud to serve on the committee of Walcot Amateur Boxing Club in Swindon and is pleased to note that Wrecking Machine is, apparently, the most popular book in at least one of Her Majesty's institutions.

Alex Wade's literary agents are Jonathan Harris and David Luxton.

Reviews

[James]

Alex Wade is an architect who started practicing in the 60s and is currently semi retired. One of the earlier pioneers of small, independent houses, his design are still of interest. This book has 30 design examples, many of which were actually built! Some are not so tiny, but the stories are interesting and the designs are useful for those who like funky buildings. Actual construction techniques are now somewhat obsolete.

One of the more popular pre-oil crisis/hippie era architects. Worth a peek if you can find it cheap or through your local library.

[Mark Selleck]

I'm one person who built my house myself after reading Alex Wade's book. My wife and I were members of The Organic Gardening Book Club when it was offered as the monthly book. I didn't return the computer card soon enough, and though I wasn't particularly interested in the subject, I decided to read it when it arrived. I then read it again...and again. Afterward, I decided to build my house based on many of his principles, while I ignored some. I later purchased his sequel: A Design and Construction Handbook for Energy-Saving Houses.

The project was filled with local building-inspector problems, and initial resistance when trying to find financing, in the early 1980s. My family moved in after about 6 years of work, and my wife and I are still there. I'd never built a house before, but I grew up building small boats with my father, so I had some skills. I cut 36" diameter poplars and sweet gum trees off my property, had them taken to a local sawmill, and milled the boards with a small surface planer myself. The lumber became interior wall paneling and ceilings. It was an experience I won't forget, and I learned a lot, about building and other things.

[Claire]

I would have enjoyed color pictures more. Who wouldn't? The black and white photos made it difficult to see details, and every interior looked shabbily rustic. BUT, there were a lot of good ideas and extensive exploration in the text about how these houses were built. Plus, there were often warnings about mistakes homebuilders made.

[Abbey]

I love this book! It contains beautiful houses that can be built inexpensively. The problem with this book, is that I wanted it to have more specific information about building homes of this style.