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“The Architect’s Pocket Book is a very useful book, as an architecture student it has helped me a great deal in getting hold of those important facts and figures quickly, from building reg’s to brick sizes, door dimensions to tree heights, all those details that you need to look up on a day to day basis can be found in it, think Schott’s Original Miscellany for architecture.

It provides much of the depth of its larger cousin The Metric Handbook, but without the size, making it more accessible on-site, in the studio or at home and still fits in important illustrations and drawings. Much of the information that I needed was accessible in this book removing the need to check the larger reference books. This is where it comes into its own- easily fitting in to a coat pocket or bag alongside your sketchbook it is very portable.

The latest edition of the Architect’s Pocket Book doesn’t change the successful formula and adds new detail without compromising on the size (although the change in paper quality adds an extra 2mm to the thickness for only 5 extra pages!). The illustrations are clear and concise and labeling accurate. It doesn’t feel squashed or compromised because of its size.

Overall the book feels more detailed and refined and adds more information on construction materials and a little bit more on environmental building standards- though it still lacks slightly in this area. Having said that, the improvements are noticeable.

Would I recommend this book? If you own the previous edition then you can probably do without, for me the content is too similar for the investment, but to any student or professional that doesn’t already own this book I would urge them to buy it- they are sure to get the mileage from it and I’m sure that it will become a essential tool as it has for me.”