An innovative eco-friendly home in a Cotswold nature reserve has been sold for a world record £7.2 million for a country house. The ‘thoroughly modern manor house’, modelled on a bee orchid found on the reserve, was sold off-plan last week. The buyer has chosen to remain anonymous but speculation is rife with Brad Pitt having looked at the plans and Kylie Minogue having stayed nearby recently.
The size of an average semi, the cost works out at £3,000 per square foot.

Orchid House will be part of the Lower Mill Estate, built on a 550-acre privately-owned nature reserve near Cirencester, known as the ‘Capital of the Cotswolds’.

Building work for the house, which is one of the country’s most complicated planning applications, will take three years to complete. It is hoped it will produce more energy than it uses, with an underground pump and geothermal heating. The house is designed by Sarah Featherstone, whose practice in east London is designing part of the Olympic athletes’ village

In addition to arguably being the most expensive private home in the world (how about $1 Billion to build?), it will also be the tallest–measuring in at 42 stories.

Residence Antilla, though, will only have 27 stories, due to Ambani’s desire for taller ceilings.

Mukesh Ambani is reported to be the 14th richest man in the world, with estimated personal wealth of around $21 billion. He is also one of the more visible men of wealth in India.

Whirlpool has shown of its futuristic “green kitchen” concept in which 60% of the water and heat generated from appliances is “diverted” to fuel other appliances or functions in the eco-kitchen.

Through this integrated use of appliances, with the concept taking its model from the cycle of nature, it optimises the use of heat and water with processes that increase energy efficiency up to 70%.

For example, the kitchen allows you to use the heat produced by the fridge compressor, the only appliance to operate 24 hours a day, to produce hot water for the dishwasher.

Simple changes make a difference too - the refrigerator also uses a fridge “drawer”, instead of the normal cabinet. This new design prevents the cold air from slipping out every time the door opens.

As well as being eco-friendly, the average savings that an owner could make from the kitchen eco-system created to adapt, reduce and recycle water, heat and energy are estimated at 24%.

If this project gets the green light, London’s skyline would have a new addition in the form of the mile-high ‘eco-friendly’ tower, to be located in East London. Towering 500 stories high, it is expected to house 100,000 people, in addition to having space for schools, hospitals and stores.

This proposed giant skyscraper by British firm Popular Architecture will create 12 new ‘villages’ in the sky and is three times larger than anything built in the capital. And for every 20 stories, there will be ‘holes’ that serve as public spaces containing botanic gardens, ice-skating rinks and swimming pools.

The whole idea of using minimal land to house a large number of people adds an ecological advantage to this project. For now though, this skyscraper remains a pipedream till an interested developer turns it into reality.

Rising above the skyline of Khanty Mansiysk in Siberia, this mixed use tower will be a new landmark, providing crucial amenities for the city, sheltered from the harsh local climate.

The concept is driven by a progressive environmental strategy that is expected to establish new benchmarks for the region.

Set high on a hill in a densely wooded area, the tower rises above two podium buildings each facetted like a cut diamond, reflecting and refracting natural light to illuminate the interior.