Hi! I’m Jerry.
Architect, Property Developer and Self Builder. Here to help you wade through all the DIY, home improvement, and product information out there, so you can take the right direction to build your own home projects.
About Me
I’ve enjoyed a career of Design, then added Construction and Self Build, and buying and renovating real estate.
I love the process of repairing and adding wonderful design to sometimes neglected buildings, and if you can learn anything from something you see on these pages, I hope you can get the same pleasure for your own projects that I have for mine.
My Experience
Where I started
I loved art and design as a kid, but I also loved mathematics. Studying Architecture seemed a good compromise! After graduating I was lucky enough to work under one of the great Scottish Architects, who was also a master builder. He designed all sorts of award winning stuff, and most exciting was that I was tasked with running the builds on site. Amazing experience.
Once I gained my final qualifications to become a Chartered Architect, I travelled around the world, and had spells working in France, Spain, Austria, and in Boston USA, where I learnt a variety of different building technologies.
Starting my Building Company
I could see there was a big gap between Architects and Builders, back in the UK, so I decided a great idea would be to start a company that did both!!! It was a roaring success and before I could take a breath, still in my twenties, I had a load of great employees and tradesmen and we were building all sorts of amazing things.
After the credit crunch of 2009, Scotland didn’t escape, its construction industry was decimated , and…with it…. went my business. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but out of that devastating experience I learnt some huge lessons which still help me today.
Recovery and working
I was invited by a renowned international development organisation to work as a project coordinator, which involved leaving the uk to work on projects in the rainforests Northern Borneo, where I was tasked with managing sustainable building and infrastructure projects, in extremely remote communities in Sabah, working with some very inspirational people. We had no electricity, no phone signal, we just had AM radio and some very basic tools…..and…..our wits.
Rediscovering the old school construction methods
It was there I had to remember and use the old school methods of construction and technology I had learnt as a student , since we had so few tools and no electricity. No fancy setting out lasers and no electric saws. Everything manual and old school. There I managed and built the first timber framed schools, and gravity water feeds to create running water….using my knowledge of all the trades, plastering , plumbing, bricklaying, cement and concrete, timber construction, and technologies such as setting out, timber frame, and the physics of water flows, (to create fresh clean pressurised water), in the way our forefathers did.
Real Estate Property Developer
After I returned to the uk, I started to develop properties and buy real estate, building up a portfolio of properties by targeting old places in great locations all over the world, that I could renovate myself. The money is a big driver of course, but as a career, nothing makes me happier than turning something unloved and unwanted into something beautiful, functional. Turning an old neglected building into something valuable and desirable. And that love of property is what I hope to share with you. Best of luck with your project!