Those of us living in UK have enjoyed (or not depending on your property ladder status) an enormous and unprecedented boom in the housing market in recent years. Now that a looming bubble burst is upon us we have all considered the financial effects that this will have, but how many of us have considered social effects of the looming effigies to that rapid era of growth? With swathes of unoccupied market apartments likely to become the new slums and sprawling estates of mock Tudor horrors we seem so keen on living in, the UK’s architectural future looks bleak. For what so many people take for granted is the impact of our environment on not only our quality of life but our psychological well being.

And with that in mind I have a new raison d’être, a vision mission I know I’m not alone in dreaming. So my contribution to the cause? Why, I’m going to shamelessly plug some much needed UK based contemporary architecture in the hope we as a nation will start realising that modern can not only be beautiful but also offers us a better way of living and a sustainable future.

First on my list is Edinburgh based Zebrano Design who pride themselves on offering innovative, contextual and well detailed architecture for the 21st century. Bravo!

For more information visit Zebrano

Typically when we come across examples of contemporary residential architecture, it generally does not call the UK it’s homeland. So imagine our surprise when we came across a whole development of such, not just on UK soil, but in the prestigious and much revered Cotswolds, home of winding lanes, rickety yet charming stone cottages and plenty of antiques. Then add the exact location to that element of shock, the Cotswold Water Park, a nature reserve and outdoor pursuits treasure buried deep in the heart of the conservative countryside, a place where I myself spent much of my youth dabbling around in a canoe.

So you see, Landmark Houses, are not even just mere landmarks they are something quite historically groundbreaking too. Billed as the UK’s first residential nature reserve, the development although unquestionably modern is sensitive to the surroundings, a place where families can embrace both the countryside and the contemporary existing in harmony together.

The sponsor and land owner Jeremy Paxton, has brought together over 30 of the worlds leading architects including, Will Alsop, Eva Jiricna, Sutherland Hussey, Richard Meier and Partners, Roger Sherman, Sarah Featherstone, Alison Brooks, Piers Gough and Greg Lynnto complete this impressive project.

Designs include the Orchid House, inspired by the camouflage of the Bee Orchid and the Sundance Villa, of which the main floor rotates 360 degrees for panoramic views of the landscape.

For more information and images visit www.lmearchitecture.com

Multi award-winning architect, Will Alsop, purveyor of distinctive modernist buildings, many of them constructed in the UK, has lent his incomparative vision to the Tees Valley Regeneration project (TVR.) Alsop's company, SMC Alsop, have termed the project the "Middlehaven Masterplan," and it is a plan which centres on, though not exclusively, the town of Middlesborough. Incorporating the entire Tees Valley Corridor, Greater Middlehaven will undergo some seriously regenerative construction, and construction which will be unequivocally stamped with Alsop's trademark use of vibrant colours and unusual forms.

Bringing £200m of investment to Middlesborough, TVR is part of the government's scheme to address regeneration in some of the most necessitious areas in the UK. The Middlehaven Masterplan, though, will see the landscape evolve to encorporate existing landmarks, such as the Clock Tower and Riverside Stadium, and will grow with a sympathy for its existing environment. This new vision for Greater Middlehaven seeks to inspire, excite and firmly establish the area as a waterfront destination of international significance through the implementation of great design.

SMC Alsop's scheme will be a testament to modern, sustainable development and urban living, and promises to bring thousands of jobs and opportunities, hundreds of homes, great leisure facilities plus a general uplift in the way Middlesbrough is perceived both by its residents and the outside world.