Most creatives yearn to build their own home, experimenting with materials, styles and ideals. Type “self build” into Google and up will pop homes ranging from the singular to the outlandish. Triangular houses squeezed into tight urban spots, round houses perched on stilts like landlocked moons – the vacant plot is your blank canvas.
Garvan de Bruir’s home in Kildare, Ireland, is a case in point. A designer-craftsman best known for his leather bags and accessories, de Bruir drew on the history of aviation to build his unusual, timber-framed dwelling. “The technical term is a monocoque, which refers to the cocooning shape of an aircraft’s fuselage. It’s thin, but by virtue of its curved profile – like a shell – it’s also very strong.” It is also eco-friendly. “You use the minimum amount of materials for maximum effect.”
