(27 Mar 2017) LEADIN: A rotating home that offers five different living spaces in one room is the main attraction at this year's Ideal Home Show in London. The popular interior design show features three concept homes that are designed to make us think about the way we live. STORYLINE: Taking centre stage at the Ideal Home Show: the rotating house that's getting everybody in a spin. This London event is all about the way we live now - and might in the future. The rotating house has a space-age feel, and is designed with space constraints in mind. A flick of the button and the dining room becomes the living room, another click and it becomes a bedroom. Everything - and the kitchen sink - is hidden away behind panels on the four sides of the cube. Most property hunters are concerned with the square footage (square meterage) of a property, but with this home it's time to think in three dimensions. Lee Baldry is a technology and entertainment presenter who is demonstrating the rotating home at the Ideal Home Show. "Everyone buys a house thinking how big is it, what's the square foot. Now we're talking cubic feet or metres because now we're giving it a three dimensional space instead of just floor space. So floors can become walls that then can become ceilings depending on which way round the rotating house is," he says. Everything in the house needs to be designed not to fall out as the house rotates. The microwave, for example, sits on a gimbal which rotates with the house. So if you're cooking soup and your house rotates then it won't spill. Also the cutlery sticks to the cupboard wall with magnets. The bed descends from the ceiling space, or what was once the floor, and a step ladder allows access. Baldry explains: "You've got five kinds of spaces, you've got garden, you've got kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and living room and in this three by three metre cube you have all of those." The rotating house was designed by architect George Clarke. It weighs 3.5 tonnes and stands 4.3 metres (14 feet) tall. The house might be the most outlandish show home at the Ideal Home Show, but it's a clever demonstration of how much is possible in the tiniest amount of space. If you're not head-over-heels about the house, then don't worry, it's just a prototype. The 21st Century Cottage is much closer to becoming reality. It is a traditional cottage with a thatched roof and a contemporary and stylish interior. It's been designer for a family or couple who live in London and want to escape for a weekend retreat without losing their chic city style. Thatch is gaining popularity as an eco-friendly alternative to other types of roofing. Designers say it is a great insulator of both noise and temperature and is also carbon-neutral. Giles Perry, the event director of the Ideal Home Show says: "It's trying to bring a traditional element more up to date with a contemporary twist so obviously you can see the thatched roof behind you with the cottage underneath but I think you can see it's a very different twist." The cottage's interior has been designed by Art and Design students from Chichester College. Ella Smith, an art and design student who worked on the cottage explains her design vision. "So lots of sleek designs, flat surfaces, very bright, clean, youthful if you will. Very modern, bright colours, the kitchen, bright yellow. We wanted to make it sophisticated but yet homely at the same time, so this is a second home for a London family." The final show home is in fact three houses in one - the three storey Property Ladder apartment combines a home for a first time buyer, a new family home and a downsizing penthouse. The second floor is a new family home and is influenced Scandinavian style. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/cd42952752142e1baa9505c4a667334b Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

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