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Sorry but that is a bit mad - the view is not that good..
Repulsive couple
Get the distinct feeling the builders are not happy!!!
Kevins lost his touch, no babies on the way or born this one!
Why do these houses never have curtains?
Is it me or does it looks like every other one they have done recently??
Because they have gone naively into the contract and tied down by the smug rich people. They probably went bust
Where exactly is it? Wimbledon?
Herne hill
Souldrummer it ain't you.
Why do these houses never have curtains?
Aye, pervy bathroom onto a main London road... 😕
Daughters and their bedroom, onto public park, no curtains or blinds. 😕
Too much concrete surfacing as well.
I liked the Iroko cladding ...
All a bit revolting. Can I swipe those specs off that archetects face in a not too careful manner please.
I liked it, great location too.
I caught the last few minutes and quite liked the place in the end.
Great location - there's even a BMX track within a 100m of the garden.
I cycle down (a different) edge of brockwell park every commute. The area is a bit shabby and the park is just a plain park, seemed odd to me.
Grand Designs is beginning to make me feel quite sick. People utterly obsessed with having the best this or the best that to put on their projects driven my marketing hype and the new best thing. Polished concrete, the latest ceramics .......hang on!
I noticed their windows weren't the new standard though - must be utterly rubbish 😉
I liked it, not keen on the location but then I'm not a Londoner. Where did they keept their cars though?
If they can afford to commit to that level of mortgage then why not do it?
The show is called Grand Designs so if it was all about a lonewoodsman in a forest building his house out of twigs and berries then that would kind of miss the point too.
It would be nice to see some more quirky project though, looks like next week's might tick that box.
The show is called Grand Designs so if it was all about a lonewoodsman in a forest building his house out of twigs and berries then that would kind of miss the point too.
I think the best one ever was the bloke who built his own house in his woodland, built just by him and his mates out of fresh wood and straw bales.
I would dread going round to visit though. Bet they come out grinning every time "So... let's give you the tour" and then you have to shlep round admiring every f*cking hinge.
"So... let me give you the tour..."
"No that's OK, I get it, upstairs has bedrooms and stuff... standard"
"OK get the f*ck out of my house"
The 100k house on BBC2 is a little more down to earth and less vomit inducing
I did like last nights - It just needs window coverings and less concrete inside.
that 100k house program was better.
I would love to live in a 747 fuselage!
have to say its all becoming a bit of a yawnfest, it wouldnt be a grand design these days without some amazingly expensive glass and a shafted builder.... There appears to be no mix these days and as said above its all about the hinges and hand made austrian taps. yes it is a grand design but how many people really have £1M to spend on a pet project. To some, spending £100K would be pretty strong and theres no reason to say that it wouldnt be a grand design (its been done before!!). I've said in the past that my decisions on the show are becoming more about the people and to be honest these days the ego projects are getting right up my nose. A balence is what is needed so a bit of "hippy" (for want of a better word) design would be nice to see. And finally... budget, why is it when they go over by £100K they alway manage to "find" it somehow... i know i couldn't!
The programme is contemptible. If I watch it, it makes me feel angry, although this develops into a perverse form of 'entertainment' in itself.
I agree that it's getting way too formulaic and hence a bit boring to watch.
I loved that house though - I would literally kill to live in that location, it would be perfect for me.
Grand designs ran out of anything genuinely interesting to say years ago. Either that, or just got too lazy to be bothered. The most interesting one was when a couple were converting an old pumping house, on a really tight budget. Or the guys who converted the water tower. Stuff like that is worth watching. Unfortunately its now just formulaic, unimaginative cheque writing.
They should re-title the programme 'Massive Ego. Massive Bank Account' and just have done with it. Alternatively change the format so it has a caustic running commentary in the style of 'Come DIne with Me'. Now that would be worth watching 😀
The last one I enjoyed at all was the life boat launch hut in South Wales (Tenby???). But the interesting ones have got rarer and rarer, from either an architectural viewpoint or people you can root for. Haven't watched any of the current series.
Let me guess how it went. Kevin McSmug berates the project from the outset then at the end admits it's "quite nice actually". Utter tosser.
The last one I enjoyed at all was the life boat launch hut in South Wales (Tenby???). But the interesting ones have got rarer and rarer, from either an architectural viewpoint or people you can root for. Haven't watched any of the current series.
Isn't part of this a result of the fact that domestic architecture in the UK just isn't as boring as it was 15 years ago house?
I feel the same really but then looking back at the last series I kind of realised that the defining characteristic of the ones I disliked was that they were london builds on awkward plots. Most of the rest I enjoyed. I'd forgotten the nuts Irish singer building himself a castle.
Edit: and I bloody loved the Skye one.
They should re-title the programme 'Massive Ego. Massive Bank Account'
Indeed. The smug grin when last night's chap proudly said how much the windows cost was horrid.
These windows? Yeah, baby, 60 large, because I'm loaded innit!
have to say its all becoming a bit of a yawnfest, it wouldnt be a grand design these days without some amazingly expensive glass and a shafted builder
Mostly, though I did like the "Japanese" house in Wales last week. And the budget was more sensible than most.
Mostly, though I did like the "Japanese" house in Wales last week. And the budget was more sensible than most.
I liked that and I liked the mad bloke with his airfield the week before.
it's become more generic designs than grand designs in my opinion.
lets get back to the genuinely inspiring and quirky builds rather than an another ego driven 'design' w**kfest
Careful now....You'll have teh modz warning you for swear filter avoidance using stars like that...!
However, I agree. Intriguing stuff where people are trying something different is interesting. Smug (swear filter avoidance)s showing off how much they spent on their kitchen isn't. I can only assume they're doing it so they can get a better selling price when they feel the muse upon them for another project where they can really make their mark, you know, like in an artistic way bringing something new? (AKA when they're broke)
Mister P - Member
Let me guess how it went. Kevin McSmug berates the project from the outset then at the end admits it's "quite nice actually". Utter tosser.
Exactly the same as Sarah Benney in this respect...
The problem with that 100k house prog on bbc2 is that the ones I've seen so far have not cost 100k. The last one was 160k! Which quite spectacularly misses the point. Shirley.
The grand designs house built by the soldier who had his legs blown off by an ied was quite good I thought.
Toppers, the title doesn't really make sense, the larger builds are still much cheaper per sq metre than the average.
And don't mention 'Double your house for half the money' which mostly consists of a childless couple living in a large detached house, which 'isn't big enough' (for their ego), so they spend another 100K on top of their mortgage to end up with a 'lovely space' (=large kitchen).
it's become more generic designs than grand designs in my opinion.
lets get back to the genuinely inspiring and quirky builds rather than an another ego driven 'design'
Recently, we've had a Japanese design in rural Wales and a metal hangar inspired design in a Scottish airfield. If they're not quirky, what is?
Not this series but the converted lifeboat station at Tenby was good too.
In last nights build they kept nothing of the old building they used. They might as well have knocked it down- would have been cheaper and faster.
Why does it come as a surprise to anyone that extraordinarily large triple glazed danish windows delivered by negotiated access through a public park and a team of 14 people to fit them cost a stupid amount of money?
Big glass costs a lot of money, they could have done it for a quarter of the cost by using a series of smaller glass panels with more solid uprights or worse still extensive framing but that wouldn't have given them the open look that they wanted. They were lucky/hard working enough to have found themselves in a position where they didn't need to compromise on what they wanted so they didn't.
As for smug, if i were ever in a position that i was able to build a house to my personal specification in my favoured location without any major compromise I'm pretty sure I'd look as smug as a dog with two dicks.
Next week's Grand Designs is a bit different.
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Web site here [url= http://www.buildsomethingbeautiful.co.uk/gallery/24/ ]Build Something Beautiful[/url]
The owner/builder is a mountain biker, not sure if he comes on STW though so I'll do the promotion here.
My practice has done the structural engineering (but not me personally).
Grand Designs clashes with our mid week night ride, but I should be able to catch it on C4plus1!