ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV

It may not be in the Lonely Planet guide, but BRE’s Innovation Park is fast becoming the UK’s latest visitor attraction, with 14,000 people from around the world having visited since it opened in June 2005.

The site near Watford features five homes and one school, each of them incorporating a mix of modern methods of construction, which are destined to be adopted on an industry-wide scale.

If you haven’t had a chance to visit the Innovation Park yet, be sure to log on to ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV TV in the coming weeks, on which we will be presenting a series of films about the structures on display.

These include interviews with the teams behind the buildings and information on the technology and how it was integrated. As you would expect, ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV’s technical editor Thomas Lane also remembered to ask the awkward questions about cost overruns and delays.

In today’s first film, Thomas speaks to Jaya Skandamoorthy, the director of BRE Enterprise & Innovation, who reveals the research body’s plans for world domination, including details of new Innovation Parks.

In subsequent weeks, Thomas will talk to representatives from Kingspan, EcoTech, Stewart Milne, Hanson and Osborne about their exemplar homes, and to Willmott Dixon about its vision for future school buildings.

The landscaping at the Innovation Park, which has just been completed by Macfarlane Wilder, will also be looked at. This is an intriguing insight into what the gardens of the future will be like when the Code for Sustainable Homes and the integration of flood management, sustainable drainage and biodiversity are taken into consideration. Judging by Macfarlane Wilder’s designs, which provide wild habitats, none are likely to feature lawns …

The lawn: Is there a place for it in the 21st century?