I don't look at what people do with their homes in terms of money, but the social and personal value of what they're trying to do and achieve..

Every decently-made object, from a house to a lamp post to a bridge, spoon or egg cup, is not just a piece of 'stuff' but a physical embodiment of hu….

The greatest architectural illusion is not Baroque fancy or Victorian flamboyant, but minimalism..

Building your own house is a primal urge, one of those universal genetic drives like the need to provide for your family..

Building your own home is about desire, fantasy. But it's achievable; anyone can do it..

I was never a hugely successful theatre designer. I painted a lot of scenery and did the lighting, and my lighting business grew out of that..

I like the absurd and the surreal: the Coen brothers, Bunuel, Kubrick..

I admire anyone that follows the road less travelled..

I don't want anything that I buy to have done any harm to anyone or anything..

The thing that I champion is sustainability. My terror is that suddenly we see it as a luxury, not an essential. That's a danger..

I have a recurring nightmare that I wake up in a gutter with nothing. I've had it all my life. That's why I work, I think..

I'm not too fond of really cool design. I've got quite kitsch taste really, in things like tableware. I'm quite a sucker for 1930s pressed glass..

Sustainability is now a big baggy sack in which people throw all kinds of old ideas, hot air and dodgy activities in order to be able to greenwash th….

As a property developer, I learned a long time ago to choose your battles wisely and that, unfortunately, compromise is a given..

I've got a farm in Somerset, and I think it's God's own country. I love it..

I cannot look at modern buildings without thinking of historical ones..

A great deal of energy is wasted in hating people, and I can honestly say I've no wish to expend such a precious resource on being outraged about any….

I don't enjoy living in a white box flooded with light. I like shadows, small spaces, old furniture..

I'm terribly fastidious. I like symmetry and neatness, but my house is as chaotic as any other family's..

Building design isn't trendy..

If you said to me, 'Lie down on that concrete floor and fall asleep,' I could do it. I can sleep anywhere at any time of day on any surface..