[Closed] Last night’s Grand Designs

Bleurgh! I quite like some of the 'modern' designs they feature, but that's horrible.

You'd arrive home & think you were actually back at an industrial unit just off the A14.

In your first pic, the block paving doesn't really go with that wall & neither seem to go with the aesthetic of the house.

I liked the lift for when they got too old for the stairs. Plus any build that uses big cranes is ok with me. (Log burner was good as well.)

Great idea/concept but yes it almost looked bland?

The log burner looked like a veterinary incinerator.

i'm with stumpy01 - to me the exterior looked like a motorway service station - the inside like a reception for a haulage company

I liked last week's one a lot.

Not exactly daring but great taste.

Yes! somehow it reminded me of the sets on Alan Patridge 😆

I quite like the way the grid pattern was mirrored on the floor and ceiling. I am not a fan of modern houses but for me the exterior was more successful than the interior. The outside drying area was great.

I think the producers struggled a bit to get the drama. To build a house that quickly is incredible, usually they have a person who has taken a year and a half off work to 'Project Manage' the build. There were no money worries related to the build.

I really liked it; but then most people do say I'm a tad weird 🙄 Was actually wondering how much it would cost to buy one. Cost him £500,000, so assume a shed load more for one to be built for you, (don't know if that included the land - I assume it did).

terrible positioning of the TV and sofa means that there will be a constant reflection of the window on the screen.

Must admit I hate tv's on the wall like that. They are put on the wall because they can be. It is not comfortable to watch with your head pointing upwards and reflections are a big issue.

I though the end result was ok looking but the steel frame was so redundant, a massive, over engineered frame between elements that would stand up all by themselves without it. If the spans were massive (like in a shopping centre), or the whole thing was cantievered out over the edge of a cliff then the structure would make sense, but on a household scale its just daft. Most of that steel didn't need to be there and the modular concept would have mostly been achieved without it.

As a retirement gift to yourself, if you've spent your working life building steel buildings then its ace, but I can't see a market for selling more of them. Its a £500,000 solution to a £50,000 problem.

I did like it, but can't help feeling that Huf houses do the pre-fab thing a little better.

The spans in the bottom pic look pretty large for a residential project. Traditional timber/masonry doesn't really work with spans much over 5m.

I loved the fact he had wanted to do this for so long and finally did, and it worked. It had plenty space, was flexible and wasn't to everyone's taste - which is fine. It was nice to see a bloke achieve his dream rather than some poncy architect producing his 'masterpiece' or some rich idiot throwing money at an ugly building and using the show to demonstrate their wealth.

He was blooming lucky it didn't rain before he got the roof on. All those unprotected fully finished modules, covered in carpet with all the electrics exposed.

The spans in the bottom pic look pretty large for a residential project. Traditional timber/masonry doesn't really work with spans much over 5m.

One or two steel beams would deal with those spans though, all the vertical metal had no purpose at all.

The missus mentioned again 'why build that now/how much time do they have left to enjoy it'?

Same as the house the old lady built at the foot of the garden of her old home (spiral staircase)- which looked REALLY promising until she clad the interior ceiling in sauna wood, painted the outside retirement peach and put garish double-glazing in!

The answer is, why not? Its your money, why not design a house to your taste, take your time then build it.

I guess that eventually they will sell off the big house and the land which will cover the cost of the new house with a bit left over to spend on soft furnishings.

I bet they move that TV within a week.

Trying to find his company website (ADA?) to see if all of his builds look like that. There is one up the road from where I work that is very similar, but it is a VOSA testing centre for trucks.

It was only that costly as it was the first one - I'd expect productionised versions to be cheaper. Think of it as a poor mans Huf Haus!

Hats off to the man for putting it on the line in order to save his compay and hopefully take some of his old staff back on

Here's his website

http://www.adaptahaus.co.uk/

I actually did my dissertation on prefabricated buildings so quite enjoyed last night and can foresee a lot more of it happening when the housing shortage really gets critical.

not seen it yet but on basis of those pics it looks a bit pokey 😉

Forget the riding connotations I could watch (and live) in this one all day long:

http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/grand-designs/episode-guides/les-gets-the-alpine-chalet-08-06-12_p_1.html

Also loved this one for different reasons:

http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/trade-secrets/episode-information/guildford-the-art-deco-house-08-06-16_p_1.html

For 500000 you could could get a hell of a lot more house. I wasn't paying too much attention so didn't catch if this was including the price of the land. I assume it isn't as he already owned the house on the land.
I can see this being more successful as a modular office development or show room that could be moved between locations.
As long as he is happy eh?

If we're doing favourite epsiodes, I think I liked the [url= http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/grand-designs/episode-guides/puglia-the-villa-08-06-04_p_1.html ]Puglia [/url]one the best. Not least because he did the whole thing nearly all by himself.

The one built over the man made loch has long been my favourite.

Puglia house has my vote as well, I'd move there tomorrow!

That place looks a bit like a visitor centre to me, maybe a different location would have helped.

If you going to talk about others, could you post pictures, please?

It was nice to see a bloke achieve his dream rather than some poncy architect producing his 'masterpiece' or some rich idiot throwing money at an ugly building

I completely agree. Last night's house itself wasn't to my taste but happy for the bloke. Although I did like the tipped up fire.

Grand Designs is still great. I was particularly inspired by the Puglia one and also the man who lived in the woods and used wood, clay etc from those woods to build himself a home.

[url= http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/grand-designs/episode-guides/killearn-the-loch-house-08-06-10_p_1.html ]Kilearn Loch House[/url]

I thought it was a great idea but I think that the producers must have missed a lot due to the speed it went together. I like the idea of a prefabricated house built in a factory and then bolted together. Being able to remodel the interior is great as well. But, I think that his process needs to get a water tight shell asap and then add the interior fittings due to the weather - though this goes against the philosopy of each panel being finished inside and out.

IMO the best thing about the show was that it showed a British engineer having a dream, thinking differently, then designing and building it.

+1 for the Puglia one its my favorite part of italy and i was really impressed with the blokes stonework. (and the way he got ripped building it)

although the woodsmans cottage i can watch again and again - just love his level of skill with those woods

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Just needs some Land Rovers on the forecourt.... 🙄

I like the idea of prefab, and steel structures. But being able to move the walls is an expensive option that you probably wouldn't use in reality. Design the space well in the first place and leave it that way.