But then I’m convinced half these programmes are made up anyway.

See: New lives in the wild in Iceland – Ben arrives by miles of walking and a ropeway across the river.
T’interweb reveals vehicle access on a good road, the river ropeway leads to the ruined farm, and the hot waterfall is actually a 45 minute drive away, not on their land.

See: Neighbours in Sheffield were filming for Location location – producer gave them a dog and had them looking at two of three houses that had already sold… With big garden for the dog that didn’t exist.

I’m sure there’s a bunch of these programmes that are half truths…

I’m really not sure the pond is a great idea with a youngster.

House was massive.

I talked to an architect about an episode a couple of years ago, and he just laughed at what they’d claimed it cost

I don’t see why to wasn’t set back from the road more, the neighbours are massively over looked, bet they are dead happy about it

massive pond in front garden with a young child ?!

when they pan out, the immediate
surroundings are not as rural as they try to make out

That pond looked like a drainage sump that will likely be fenced off ( I hope)

Although the High drop will see to the kids before they drown anyway.

Enjoyed the programme but the house wasnt my cup of tea…got it stuck in my head that it reminded me of the Amityville horror house. Preferred the annex house

Was intrigued by the planning permission and how they managed to get it…felt they could have expanded on that

Was a bit brushed over re the planning which was disappointing. I even rewound to see if I missed somit, but naw.

Preferred the annex house

+1 & I’d love to get my hands on an acre plot for £100k too

I think a lot of these builds end up looking like posh office buildings/creative hubs rather than houses. We used to rent these sorts of places for work when we needed out of office space

Millionaires and their kids playing house.

Just happened to have a plot going spare.

Started a micro brewery using family farm buildings etc.

All that glass with no curtains or blinds!

Good for them.

I wonder how many of his other building projects had additional costs added to them?
His building firm probably brings him into contact with planners too.

I wonder how many of his other building projects had additional costs added to them?

I remember seeing some invoices for work we did for a client when I worked in previous employment, let’s just say what was on the invoice didn’t quite match the work that was done

How long before Kev runs out of ways to say “…and then there was a pandemic”. There’s also a cruel sense of dramatic irony when you see the late 2019/early 2020 update and they make bold claims about what they’re going to get done in the coming months while we’re all sitting at home saying “oh no you wont”.

At first we were wondering why last night’s one didn’t just focus on getting the annex habitable so they could move in there, not chuck a load of money at rent and then be on-site more for the completion of the visitor centre main house. But then at the end he said he found 100K by mortgaging another property so seems like talk of budgets was made up for the producers (again).

Annex was a proper building, main house was just a folly. Irritated me as it mimics the shape of the Dutch Barn buildings but without needing to due to its construction method – so just an affectation (or a sop to planning). Maybe they just got all the measurements wrong by a factor of two too.

Staircase should have been left raw metal too IMO.

Having said that, the ‘porch’ was awesome, and I like the rectangular ‘pods’ poking out of the arched shape in places.

Plus, one of Kev’s best ever links – “or are they in danger of getting a clown interior…”

the had huge curtain in the bedroom…

i liked the fires and fireplaces, but hate poncey staircases like those. not a fan of those open plan bedroom/ensuites either with nowt but a floating wall between my head on the pillow and the mrs releasing a flock of seagulls first thing in a morning.

wondered what the situation with his mother were, if they had any dollar would they not have lived in more salubrious digs for the past decade? i reckon once they pop it they will just sell off the annexe? dunno what the house prices are like round there but probably recoup a fair chunk of the (as seen on tv) project cost.

that pond is probably a good place for dumping unsightly submersible shite when you cba going to the tip.. id have one!

I know a guy in the Borders who had a massive garden and dug a huge pit for his junk instead of skip trips.

Lazy barsteward.

Last week’s still bothers me on a practical level.

She’s obviously not well and I hope they have a long life together.

But what happens when she succumbs (let’s face it she’s not well)? It’s on her parents land, which was gifted but it cost him and her and probably them to build it.
How good will that relationship be when there’s someone else there with him? Will a new other half want all that baggage?

Live for now, not for later , maybe ??

Would a lender be happy with that? It’s not nice but I’m sure the lawyers/lenders would be dispassionate enough to have everything sorted. I just hope he/they were to.

I now know what you all mean about visitor centres, I was expecting a tourist in high viz waterproofs and boots to come walking round from behind a corner at any minute.

Also, I think the house looks like a crumpled up drinks can lying on it’s side.

But what happens when she succumbs (let’s face it she’s not well)? It’s on her parents land, which was gifted but it cost him and her and probably them to build it.
How good will that relationship be when there’s someone else there with him? Will a new other half want all that baggage?

I thought that about last weeks too, but felt a bit mean posting it.

Actually the same is true of this weeks, you now have a second home very much attached to the drive and garden of yours, so you’d have to really want to get on with new inhabitants or split the land with fences down the line once parents are no longer using it.

last nights house was very crude and too big by far, designed by someone with no real design skills, clumsy and unsophisticated. no consistency with the adjacent annex, two completely different designs… why?. entrance looks like it was designed by a child. I liked the brick chimneys but they were too big and on the wrong house and the fascias on the gables were really crude. I like the materials and building system but it looks like someone picked a load of current design trends, and threw them together with no real skill or sensitivity. could be the client or designer??
No mention of environmental impact of size of the development, why so big! or any effort made to reduce the energy use, how was it heated? how did it perform? for example?
Also the ground floor kitchen window being high level for no reason! why? they are happy for everyone driving by to see in the bedroom and ensuite but put the kitchen in an enclosed room with no views. I could go on……
respect for trying to do something contemporary but bloody awful and a total shame opportunities don’t come to clients and designers with some vision and actual talent who can produce something positive, contemporary and also beautiful. such a wasted oppurtunity!!!!

(disclaimer – I am an architect specialising in domestic/residential projects and cry inside everytime i see something like this! but can’t stop watching the car crash projects on GD also from the fens so even more tears are flowing)

Got a website @Fenboy ?

could be the client or designer??

Two thoughts we had – firstly it was an ‘Architectural Technician’ not Architect, secondly he used the materials and suppliers he knew for ‘normal’ houses and flung them at this building.
We agreed that the brick chimneys looked odd and some of the spaces seemed poorly thought through.

brads i do but not sure i want to be critiqued by the STW forum! 🙂

@fenboy. Could you answer the question why is it that the buildings designed never seem possible to be built within the clients budget? It’s not just GD but all of this genre. To the uniformed viewer it comes across that the architect has no idea how to design what they can afford to build which is probably unfair

brads i do but not sure i want to be critiqued by the STW forum! 🙂

you know we’ll track you down anyway……:-)

chrismac
bit long but I’ll try. but this is a bit like therapy for me so excuse me…
It is very complicated when a project is commissioned, designed and then tendered and without early cost control to establish a realistic budget, clients and architects can get a bit carried away with scale, detail, features and often this isn’t tested unitl the project is priced in the market. the market is also very fluid and contractors costs can vary enormously depending on the procurement route, size of contractor, cost of materials and labour also the nature of the appointment of professionals (architects, engineers, QS) can have a big impact on a projects success.

A lot of the projects shown on TV have unrealistic budgets, with no real disclosure of this, one thing about last night was the designer did state he had advised the client the budget was too tight. this happens a lot and some/ (maybe a lot) clients don’t believe the professionals they employ and think they can do better because their friend told them something different?? Some appointments are restricted and contrary to popular myths we don’t make a lot of money so if your invovlement as an architect is limited by cost then oyu have little influence how a project might develop if your appointment is curtailed too early. This is how most of the TV projects go, if we are still involved then ‘value engineering’ is more easily resolved for a positive outcome!

For any large projects we now always advise using a QS to establish a feasibility cost report that is then used as a design tool with the client to manage expectations prior to putting this to the market. Of course this can all fall apart for any number of reasons. Communication being the main one!

So most of these programmes don’t really discuss these aspect of a project and whose involved at what level. The architects are sometimes involved to the end but mostly they fade off as the client doesn’t always want to pay for the full array of skills we offer. Plus you do get what you pay for in most cases so if oyu’ve adequately designed and described a project and used cost reporting from an early stage and you stay appoitned then the difference can be large when it comes to the outcome.
Also you need a decent contingency related to the project circumstances, mostotf the TV programmes theres always a hidden pot of cash that appears, like last night.

I used to work in the commercial field for a number of years and commercial projects were so much easier as everyone is a professional but i love domestic work so do this now.. poorer but happier but dealing with clients and their expectations of cost is one of the hardest parts. Sorry very long….

I liked the tiled finish and overall outside was appealing but seemed..dunno…too chunky in places. Inside not so sure.

Lots of big questions unanswered, the planning and the cost!

This is how most of the TV projects go,

In a past life I sold insulation and render to GD projects.

They choose the people to be on camera carefully – it isn’t great TV when Kevin says ‘well, they listen to the Architect, agreed a realistic budget, bought in a main contractor who used a near off the shelf timber frame, bathroom and kitchen, and apart from a week lost to the builder having a week in Greece on holiday, finished within a few days and £1k of their budget’.

They do tend to be a bit nuts – it makes better TV.

I liked the exterior of both buildings, although the cladding could do with weathering in a bit. Inside it seemed pretty sensibly laid out and tastefully done (apart from the clown chairs), the Juliette balcony probably needs a trampoline underneath though. I’m assuming the pond outside was a temporary thing or yet to be finished, no way you’d have a 45 degree slope on each side into a pond…

Would be nice to see a break down of costs at the end of the episode but I suspect the numbers wouldn’t add up :p

totally agree matt_outandabout this is about making good TV, it would be pretty boring if everything was too close to reality….

In a past life I sold insulation

I used to like matt_oab, I’m not so sure now

😉

@fenboy

PM me if you like I wont mention the site on here. I’m in the thinking hard about it stage of a plan to build a house in the Scottish borders in the next two years so am looking at what Architects / Designers do and who I need to get involved and when.

totally agree matt_outandabout this is about making good TV

not sure they succeeded then! As has been mentioned before, Amazing Spaces is a far better show now for many reasons.

@brads Ok I’ve sent you a message and if i can help i will.

Amazing Spaces is a far better show now for many reasons.

Really disagree with this.

There have been a few interesting things, but there seems to be so little content in the show. Most of the screen time seems to be taken up by talking about what is going to be shown later in the programme, what we will see next, what we have just seen and then what we saw earlier. Ending the show on another full description of what we have all just seen.

After every bit with a person on, the presenter then repeats what the person said almost word for word in a voiceover.

GC in voiceover: next we will see if Bob is proud of his bar made from an old grain silo.
GC to camera: I’m about to ask Bob if he is proud of his bar. Bob are you proud of your bar?
GC in voiceover: I’ve just asked Bob if he is proud of his bar, let’s see what Bob says..
Bob: I’m proud of my bar.
GC to camera: Bob, that’s great that you are proud of your bar.
GC in voiceover: I’m so pleased that Bob is proud of his bar.

LOL at that grain silo bar – must have taken ruddy ages to take down and erect again! Describing it as portable was a bit of a stretch. 🙂

There have been a few interesting things, but there seems to be so little content in the show.

that was exactly the problem with last nights GD tho! Everything that might have been interesting was totally glossed over!

@fenboy

Good man. I’m in East Lothian by the way so expect a phone call lol.