This year’s Ideal Home Exhibition at Olympia perhaps reflects the current housing situation in the UK. At one time, major house-builders fought to outdo each other with their show homes. Today, they are noticeable by their absence, presumably because demand is such that they do not need to advertise at the Exhibition. There are still show homes, but they are probably more focussed on visitors who are remodelling rather than purchasing. It was good to see that students from Chichester College had styled both the Cottage and the Apartments, which gave it some style plus excellent experience for the students. New trends on show include bathrooms and bedrooms combined in the one space (which may be space efficient but no-one likes it) and storing your bicycle on the lounge wall (what happens if it was raining when you came in from a cycle run?). There appear to be only two forms of housing, depending whether you are in the country or the city: a 21st century cottage complete with thatched roof or a 21st century apartment.
The Young Gardeners competition was a good idea and if you wanted a giraffe or a gorilla (a sculpture not a live animal) for the garden, this was the place to come.
As usual, there was a focus on enjoyment in the home, including garden buildings, conservatories, garden furniture and whirlpools, plus eating and drinking including new designer spirits, one company supporting gorillas in Africa with a donation from every bottle sold, another, from Edinburgh Gin supporting innovation in the Scottish economy.
Located between the two show properties and taking centre stage was the futuristic one-room house by George Clarke, which rotated round for different uses – cobbled garden patio, bedroom, lounge and kitchen/dining, with the bathroom and wc sensibly fixed at the rear. Everything appears to have been thought about including a rising dining table and tumbler mechanisms to ensure that the kitchen equipment maintain their gravity, even if full of water. Energy efficient, it runs on the same engines as wheelchairs.
It is great to see innovation to stimulate discussion at the Exhibition. How many people would actually want to live in such a house? It was the youngsters at the demonstration who were most enthusiastic. An interesting idea, perhaps for a couple of nights away from home or as a teenager pad at the bottom of the garden, but best for one-person living otherwise there may be arguments about which room to occupy tonight.
