Rich Egyptians lived in large, comfortable houses with many rooms. The walls were painted and the floors had colored tiles. Most wealthy houses had enclosed gardens with pools. Inside their homes, rich Egyptians had wooden furniture such as beds, chairs, tables, and chests for storage. However, instead of pillows, they used wooden headrests. But this heightened, hyperbolic style continues for another couple of chapters which are theoretically establishing said characters. Ok, we're witnessing a lightning-bolt, love at first sight moment between two strangers in a club, but one or both girls are endlessly melting, exploding, bursting into flames or squeezing their bones out of their skin every other paragraph. These overwrought similes and metaphors don't feel remotely earned and are, frankly, more than a little cringey. With the in-built vertical lift, the machine can build easily to the height of a standard two-storey house, so it is much safer than building in the traditional way. In 1900 about 90% of the population rented their home. However, homeownership became more common during the 20th century. By 1939 about 27% of the population owned their own house. Central heating became common in the 1960s and 1970s. Double glazing became common in the 1980s. The robotic laying arm sits on a nine-metre high vertical lift frame, removing the need for scaffolding and for people to work at height.

In Catal Huyuk there were no panes of glass in windows and houses did not have chimneys. Instead, there were only holes in the roofs to let out the smoke. Inside houses were plastered and often had painted murals of people and animals on the walls. People slept on platforms. In Catal Huyuk the dead were buried inside houses. (Although they may have been exposed outside to be eaten by vultures first). Peasants’ houses were simple wooden huts. They had wooden frames filled in with wattle and daub (strips of wood woven together and covered in a ‘plaster’ of animal hair and clay). However, in some parts of the country huts were made of stone. Peasant huts were either whitewashed or painted in bright colors. The poorest people lived in one-room huts. Slightly better-off peasants lived in huts with one or two rooms. There were no panes of glass in the windows only wooden shutters, which were closed at night. The floors were of hard earth sometimes covered in straw for warmth. It is this outlook that bonds herself and Harry during their drug-fuelled first meeting in the club. As they swap stories about what they do, why they do it and who they would like to someday be, the scene presents a picture of a tough modern London where breaking class boundaries means breaking the law. Written and read by Kate Tempest. Tempest is a poet, rapper, playright and novelist. She was awarded the Ted Hughes Prize for poetry in 2013 for her epic narrative poem, Brand New Ancients. The following year, her narrative-led hip hop album, Everybody Down, was nominated for the Mercury Prize. However, during the 17th-century glass became cheaper and by the late 17th century even the poor had glass windows. In the early 17th century there were only casement windows (ones that open on hinges). In the later 17th-century sash windows were introduced. They were in two sections and they slid up and down vertically to open and shut. Although poor people’s homes improved in some ways they remained very small and crowded. Most of the poor lived in huts of 2 or 3 rooms. Some families lived in just one room. 18th Century HousesIt was this jarring transition from poet to president that settled my opinion of this book: in the light of this world, it is a truly good thing. Inca homes did not have furniture. People sat and slept on reed mats or animal skins. Doors and windows were trapezium-shaped. (A trapezium is a four-sided shape with only two parallel sides). Roofs were thatched and there were no chimneys. Rich Incas, of course, lived in much grander homes. Inca palaces sometimes had sunken stone baths. Mayan Houses To change the sex of a main character seems like a pretty bold move, but it pushes the reader to understanding that sometimes sex is less important than gender. If anything, the change adds a new element for our characters to dance through, and dance they do. I’d love to know whether Tempest always knew Pete had a sister. There are many colour variations — from white to cream, yellow through to orangey reds, browns and blue tones, there’s a spectrum for traditional and contemporary designs. But it is not for the story that one reads, nor for the sociopolitical material, which is more crudely drawn. It is for the pinpoint evocation of a milieu, its texture and contours, all delivered with an intensely gathered and focused energy. Sometimes, of course, it helps to imagine Tempest reading – or, indeed, simply to read it aloud yourself. In passages like this, for example, the realisation of her rhythmic control is transformative: “She watched a boy on a bike doing wheelies past a group of four girls sitting on a wall who weren’t looking at him. She watched a man in a suit on a bench by the bus stop, leaning down to offer his sandwich to two fat pigeons, while behind him a homeless man was passed out on the floor, next to a sign saying HUNGRY. PLEASE HELP.”

In the 15th century, only a small minority of people could afford glass windows. During the 16th century, they became much more common. However, they were still expensive. If you moved house you took your glass windows with you! Tudor windows were made of small pieces of glass held together by strips of lead. They were called lattice windows. However the poor still had to make do with strips of linen soaked in linseed oil. Ordinary Maya lived in simple huts of wood or stone with thatched roofs. They had no chimneys or windows. They did not have wooden doors either. Instead, doorways were hung with cloth screens. There was very little furniture. Mayans slept on beds, which were low platforms made of a wooden frame filled with woven bark. Dead Mayans were buried under the floors of their houses. Rich Mayans, of course, lived in far more elaborate homes with many rooms. 17th Century Houses

Disadvantages of wood

The London in the novel comes alive through the author’s lyricism: “Modern punks and ancient drunks and new-school rude-girls escaping the drudgery. If you need love, you can come here.”

Aztec nobles lived in much grander houses with many rooms. They were usually shaped like a hollow square with a central courtyard. It often contained gardens and fountains. By law, only upper-class Aztecs could build a house with a second story. If ordinary Aztecs did they could be executed. Inca HousesIn the late 19th century workers’ houses greatly improved. After 1875 most towns passed building regulations which stated that e.g. new houses must be a certain distance apart, rooms must be of a certain size and have windows of a certain size. Construction Automation has already secured patent in the USA on the technology, and a European and UK patent is expected to follow shortly.

When the idea came that merited the form and I finally sat down to write, I realised I had been developing my voice for years, and every single scrap I’d scoured with undisciplined scribbles was really helpful in making me feel at ease with sentence structure, prose and paragraphs.With all fiction it begins in truth. The best fiction begins in some moment that feels so real and right with you that it sends you to try and make sense of it through writing. The setting, for example - South London - is so huge for me internally; it’s the place I grew up.