Building a glass palace

David Beatham is a man with a dream. "My wife Penny calls it an obsession," he chips in. He is building one of the 21st century's most striking-looking contemporary country houses.

It is a shimmering, tiered, glass palace overlooking a vast landscaped lake in Bedfordshire. "When we saw the lake, we fell completely in love with it and bought the surrounding land," recalls Beatham, who for the past 18 years has run a 1,200-head pig farm on the land as well as working as an engineer.

"We'd always wanted to build a new house overlooking the lake, but failed to get permission until the planning law changed in the late 1990s," he explains. The water and surrounding land had formed part of an old brickworks but, because it was designated as green belt, it had been protected from development.

"We made tentative proposals for a Lutyens-style house, thinking that something fairly traditional-looking would be accepted by planners. But that didn't work.

"We were then advised that, within the PPG7 remit, a truly contemporary-style home might be looked on more favourably as a genuine 21st century contribution to the landscape." Taking inspiration from the Beathams's love of the homes of American Frank Lloyd Wright, architect Graham Applin, of Applin Associates, came up with a concept design for a contemporary home in concrete, glass and steel. This time, permission was granted.

Having constructed two homes already and using his engineering skills, Beatham has decided to build the house himself and, with a budget in the region of £1.2 million, he believes Lake House is the most complex and expensive self-build project in the UK.

The landscaping and remodelling of the lake is complete, and work on the house is at the halfway stage. When finished at the end of next year, it will stand as a fivestorey structure with swimming pool, gym, cinema and billiards room at the lowerground level, a generous entertaining space on the ground floor, seven bedrooms above and then Beatham's own studio on top.

The home also has many ecological features. Beatham says: "This is partly because I'm interested in the technology of things like solar energy, natural heating and cooling systems and sustainability, but also because I think a house of this size needs to be innovative and ecologically responsible."

With the building complete, he will employ the skills of his interior designer stepdaughter, Briony Reyne, to fit out the rooms. "It will be unusual and minimal," he says.