The roof was ok in the end but a bit scrappy. In the last few shots I was itching to get the circular saw out and cut the sticky-out panels flush with the beams. Maybe they were going to get to that later.
Also the curve wasn't fibonacci enough, looked not far off a half donut from the overhead shots.
When it started I thought it was going to be a good un. When they put the roof on I thought it could lovely on the inside.
However when it was all finished I just wasn't convinced at all. I thought the inside roof line looked very underwhelming for what could have been an amazing roof.
Still at least it felt like more of a home inside than some of the recent ones.
Of all the episodes I've seen I think this one was the biggest disappointment in terms of what I thought it was going to end up looking like. I kind of accept that the concrete/glass modern living style ones have a certain aesthetic, which I personally wouldn't want to live in, but they are what they are. I thought this one failed to live up to what they were trying to achieve: Not very well executed hobbit house.
Didn't like anything about this one.
I felt a little underwhelmed by the final result. A genuinely impressive construction, but not something I'd aspire to live in. I got the impression the fella wasn't quite as delighted with the final result either 😆
All that waffle about being "in" nature was nothing unique to the building either, which grated a little. You could have built a Barratt home in that field and still had deer walking past the window.
Was it this one?
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Surprised by the negativity looking at these 2 pics. Looks interesting at least
I'm liking the way it sets the OCD amongst us twitchy. Calming but quite old fashioned in some ways inside.
I really liked it
he's an ecologist and she's called Saffron
I'm trying desperately not to stereotype but.......
Well it’s ambitious. I suspect it may feel somewhat subterranean...
he's an ecologist and she's called SaffronI'm trying desperately not to stereotype but.......
😀
Such a lovely building badly let down by a cold, industrial, unfinished interior
They can big it up as much as they like, but it's just not finished.
Shame cos its lovely on the outside.
Such a lovely building badly let down by a cold, industrial, unfinished interior
As in true STW style, I thought it looked mint. 😳
I don't think it turned out as they'd hoped. Looks like they ran out of money and couldn't finish it, then everyone at the end said how they loved it but inside they knew it was awful
I thought it looked mint
Would you like to love in a house with that interior? Not exactly homely and welcoming was it
It wouldn't cost much for a bit of stud work and plasterboard, no skirting etc. You wouldn't even need to cover all the block work, this would enable areas of smooth subtle colour (or strong colour if that's what you like) to stop it looking like a half done shop fit-out.
Yep - like MrSmith says. They spent over £700K. Just plastering and finishing the inside would have been peanuts extra.
It's beautiful from the outside - but the inside, just no.
I’d just paint the block work, to give more variety in the colour, but otherwise I like the textures, and I like the exposed conduits and pipework, I’ve seen similar done elsewhere, but the overall grey is just a bit boring, It just needs colour.
The outside is fantastic, exactly like I’ve fancied doing myself given the money, I even know where I’d build it, if the site became available.
Plenty of stone to clad the outside, it’s on top of the Cotswold scarp, just north of Bath, with a view right across Bristol and the Severn valley over into the Beacons and Black Mountains.
Every room facing that way would have a telescope and a couple of pairs of binoculars.
Fred’s also a mountain biker fwiw 🙂
I loved the sort of devotion to the project of these two last GD (I'm catching up).
The curved house was crazy (it was done almost as an experiment to prove some building techniques as much as to build a house) and the owner obviously very dedicated to his plan. I really liked the overall finished building.
The hillside out in the Peak District was great too. Another dedicated and nutty project. I'm damn sure they could have bought another house in the village and made it eco friendly much more easily. Also the BS about people having to move away due to the high prices and then build a £1M somewhat hypocritical? Great GD man maths self justification to the overal build too. The house itself was a lovely design. I particularly liked the jokey part of the little barn on top for display. I also agree that the house could have been finished even a little bit better - paint the block work a light colour! Also £500k mortgage at 50??
We have a field in the village where MrsG grew up in the Breacon Breakons national park on the edge of the village with a lovely site for a house on a slope - sound familiar! We'd like to build a house there but just couldn't be bothered fighting planning for years.
Not sure how they managed to present that as an eco-home. Masses of concrete, block and steel, plus energy-intensive site work - offset by some shutters.
Can't have done his credentials as a consultant much good. Though I suppose many of his clients will be after a fig leaf approach to cover up their eco-unfriendly activities.
They had enough land next to the road to build a decent home, without having to knock out half the hillside for a bit more privacy and less noise. Can't see it being worth more than 500K after all that, so a very expensive vanity project.
Two points I noted,
one- they wanted build an eco home in a village they love and have lived in for decades in a beautiful area.. which made me question how they got planning in an area so crammed with rules and regulations on planning restrictions and such.. so utterly brilliant they stuck to their guns and took on what was probably a soul crushing excersise dealing with the planners..
two- they built something for them to thier own design and it looked pretty good when finished. Overcoming the issues on building on a slope would put 99% of folks off. Thought the use of the limestone bricks on the outside was inspired, from digging the stuff out of the ground then re using that.. loved the interaction with timber and limestone, didn’t really like the three floors, the inside was fine because they’ll no doubt finish off that over the years as they love and grow in the home.
Not sure about the overall design, the view from the other side of the valley made it look a bit awkward and ungainly but that could have been the camera angles..
I'm undecided about the interior but my partner was all for it claiming it'd make it easier to repair, spot issue arising etc.
She's right, of course, but it had that weird warehouse conversion feel about it that Americans seem to favour. Not a fan, personally.
Is it heck finished - it’s all a contrived narrative, innit?
Is this the one?
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Can't see a single picture of the inside online.
Anyone else?
some pics here - https://www.granddesigns.tv/peak-district/
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Seems a bit of weird episode, spend 800k but cant afford a few grand for finishes (except for his office...), meant to be eco but no eco features (or not shown anyway bar the window shutters), no film of large parts of the 2nd half of the build.
Looks good from the outside, but the layout and interior finish appear to be rubbish for the money.
I really struggle to see how it cost so much money...
I'd have it.
I think the exterior looked great, the I actually really like the kitchen too, but that's as far as it went. The rest of the interior looked bloody awful.
They will have real trouble selling it at a profit I would imagine.
Also I loved the fact they go around advising companies how to reduce their carbon footprint (I assume by growing flowers) and then when they get on TV to publicise they business they use the most un eco friendly construction techniques.
the cost was the contractor getting up and down the slope and pouring TONS (literally) of concrete and block and metal and windows, it's 3 floors and this was the silly bit for me, could have been a lot cheaper less complex if the bedrooms were on the same level as the kitchen etc behind where you don't need picture windows. As Kev pointed out you could have stuck the steel straight into the bedrock behind and had insulated panels at the rear instead of more concrete
plasterboarded within 3yrs, or at least paint the block as countzero says to bounce some natural light around instead of the grey
For the last time a big eff off house in the country is not Eco!
*No I most definitely did not shout that at the tellybox
Exactly what I was thinking. The perfect "eco" home for a consultant who's job is to help big companies do as little as they can to meet eco regulationsNot sure how they managed to present that as an eco-home. Masses of concrete, block and steel, plus energy-intensive site work - offset by some shutters.Can't have done his credentials as a consultant much good. Though I suppose many of his clients will be after a fig leaf approach to cover up their eco-unfriendly activities.
Three levels of "green"
greenwash - which is what this appears to be ie do what you want and then add a veneer of green over the top
Pale green - be as green as you can but refuse to give up anything in order to be green
Dark green - works the other way - stop non green activities and then try to mitigate the effects this has on your life
Its not easy being green
Saffron is a voice double for Victoria Wood.
The main issue was all the concrete, but there was another Grand Designs house built into a hillside in the north Cotswolds that had full Passivhause credentials because they used ecocrete, which uses boiler ash, if my memory is correct.
Aesthetically I didn't like it outside and inside especially.
There's an arguement that a thermally and energy efficient property can reduce the whole life carbon cost of the building compared to a 'standard' building.
My issue with this one is that if you're dropping the better part of a million on house, you don't need to do so on a f***ing difficult site where you need so much material to structurally form it.
Why not find another more manageable site and reduce the materials impact even further?
Pay more for the land but less groundwork and materials costs
^ It was a very nice kitchen to be fair
Edit: the craftsmanship on the M&E was very impressive too
Was last weeks the last in the series ?
One tonight
This is going to have you lot in fits, London, Rapha T-Shirt, Hackney tosspot, trendy yoot etc etc.
No fancy facial hair, manbun or his sisters jeans, though.
Oh dear.
That’s pretty pissed.
a 9M x 4m two bedroom house is small? it's bigger than the two bedroom house i'm typing this from..........
Also, "hired a hole digging expert" who then ignores all the standard rules for shuttering and makes a right a**e of it, only on GD!
No fancy facial hair, manbun or his sisters jeans, though
True, no pug or 'adult scooter' for the commute to Old St either.
FFsake, place a ratchet strap round the panels and through the jib on the tele handler. 🙄
Apart from that i think he's doing well so far 😉
Surely the original basement work was not to spec / drawing and therefore should not have been paid for?
(they also can't drive a telehandler for toffee neither...... 😆 )
breaking the self imposed christmas deadline is a good call, he actually seems like an alright guy
those preformed panels are seriously impressive, you can chuck up a house really quick
Yes he seems like a decent chap.
I like him but he's suffering serious scope drift.
Getting a bit frustrating in that he keeps up-speccing the job. I dont get that. It seems to me that what he is building is a learning project from which he will move on further down the line.
Absolutely learn your lessons, but I think he desire to push the limits beyond what already exceeds the current norm (in this case) is hitting the point of diminishing returns.
also.. Swedish girlfriend? if Kevin doesn't strike again then his powers have truly waned !!! 😀
What do we recon, two times over budget or more??
at least its different to the usual.
The cladding is streets ahead of that bloody Fibonacci house the other week.
Those stairs won't meet building regs, surely.. You could clatter down three flights.
I was just wondering that!
I love it. Absolutely love it. It’s inspired
For someone that harps on about details, there were quite a few bits where the finishing wasn't quite there imho. The kitchen worktop wasn't level. Gaps around the window shelf and the wall ... flippin caulk it! etc etc.
I think he’s done a really superb job but I don’t think I could live in it.
It is great, I shouldn't be negative. good job.
me too. I really want to do an extension like that - a conservatory cum garden room, but built on to the back of my house rather than stand alone.
One of the better ones, really nicely done on a tricky site.
Budget was quite impressive, it's worth way more than what it cost unlike that hole in the slope of last week.
Next week has classic GD written all over it by the looks of it.
quite like that one, expert basement digger ?FFS, Id have sent him packing from my site day 1, lucky not to kill someone! Kevin loosing his touch?
I liked the house, could live in that quite easy (but not in london, move it up here to galloway) and the couple were also very nice re : the landscaping/groundwork outside etc for the surrounding neighbours.
me too. I really want to do an extension like that - a conservatory cum garden room, but built on to the back of my house rather than stand alone.
I’m building an extension like that right now. Will be dining room + kitchen.
Well, when I say “I” obviously I mean an experienced professional is doing it.
And, when I say “building” we will be just as soon as I’ve spent my contingency fund on a piling contractor so the whole thing won’t slip away in a pile of sloppy clay....
would you mind sharing some details, will send you an email if it's in your profile?
@ourmaninthenorth : That sounds like a perfect "build" thread to post on here
Well they won’t be having kids whilst they live there ...
Most toddler unfriendly house ever!
I was left wondering why they didn't go out on to the roof terrace during the final visit. I imagine the 'door' may cause ongoing issues given the weight and angle.
He is a bright lad and was pushing boundaries from a position of no training or experience in building design which made for interesting viewing; once he got the right team around him they seemed to be very tolerant of him too! He did well. Glad to see his partner felt a small bit of ownership in the project (although I think the term 'ownership' was lost in translation during that little conversation).
Wonder what that property would be worth on the market now? Even going well over budget I should think it was a good investment.
There were shots on the terrace, maybe the door needs some work, but it's just as likely that there is not enough space for three subjects plus camera and sound crew.
It did seem like a sale was on the cards soon, but good job and a lot learned for him.
Wonder what that property would be worth on the market now? Even going well over budget I should think it was a good investment.
Tricky to say without knowing the exact location and local market but £500k upwards.
would you mind sharing some details, will send you an email if it's in your profile?
No probs. Email in profile.
@ourmaninthenorth : That sounds like a perfect "build" thread to post on here
Given the builders were off site within a week of starting due to the foundation issues, I suspect it will be a while..!
Oh and I liked this week, entertaining and impressed by the finished item, the young lad did very well.
Was a little disappointed the girlfriend wasn't expecting a pair of minikevins by the end but then Kevin is getting older.... Count must be dropping.
Next week's looks good! Oh and I were LOL ing at the clips.
Just washed last night and I really liked it.
Thought it was great how he got so involved and completed so much himself.
Liked the layout and final product. Good work.
As most other posters - really enjoyed that one from crapoy initial basement digger who seemed to think that he could save them doing it properly, to the real lows of a self builder to the very nice finished product. Excellent - although minus points for no pregnancies.