Grand Designs 11/2
Discussion
I could've hit that banker guy repeatedly with a large baseball bat. Her, I'd give her one.
I liked the fact she got her name put on the stone first. That annoyed him somewhat.
'yes considering where we came from' f
k off you tt, you make it sound like you were born in the middle of belgrade.
tt ttting fkbag
I liked the fact she got her name put on the stone first. That annoyed him somewhat.
'yes considering where we came from' f
k off you tt, you make it sound like you were born in the middle of belgrade.t
t ttting fkbagEdited by Silverbullet767 on Thursday 12th February 06:33
VxDuncan said:
Split in half, the two buildings, old and new would have been fantasic. Just not sure they worked together...
.. but on too more important things, his hair was dyed wasn't it?
Well the woman started the programme with very dark brown/black short hair, went through longer full blonde, on to much longer straw blonde and ended up honey blonde with one side short and the other long... but on too more important things, his hair was dyed wasn't it?
Nut nut.
I forking love pistonheads.
I was fairly confident that there would be a large amount of praise for this one....wrong again!
I think they did a very good job overall. The bits they put on tv seemed to show people that had done well for themselves, and chosen to look after a great building using good local tradesmen (who look like they did a fantastic job). She seemed to get the hang of project management on site quite well, and they did a fantastic job of finding builders who were willing to work with her and her limitations (thinking about it, family connections maybe?). All the while, keeping an eye on value - great way to go instead of just considering cost.
I don't think that the two designs clash that badly if you consider them as two seperate buildings/spaces, and I don't think kevin minded that either. Frankly, I don't remember seeing him soo keen on a house.
The upstairs bathroom is a shame, but it doesn't look like there would have been anywhere else as practical without making a bathroom in one of the rooms.
I did wonder how they got permission, but it seems that the extension is not visible from the roads in the drive by shots later in the program, so I guess that's the basis on which it won.
It seems that mr Berry was a bit defensive in some of his talky bits and I have to wonder if that was a defence mechanism, that he has had to create over time, if he's a council estate lad who has had to mix it with the Harrow boys to get where he is. Whatever, he certainly seems to have remained grounded, and I like that. Same with mrs Berry.
I was fairly confident that there would be a large amount of praise for this one....wrong again!
I think they did a very good job overall. The bits they put on tv seemed to show people that had done well for themselves, and chosen to look after a great building using good local tradesmen (who look like they did a fantastic job). She seemed to get the hang of project management on site quite well, and they did a fantastic job of finding builders who were willing to work with her and her limitations (thinking about it, family connections maybe?). All the while, keeping an eye on value - great way to go instead of just considering cost.
I don't think that the two designs clash that badly if you consider them as two seperate buildings/spaces, and I don't think kevin minded that either. Frankly, I don't remember seeing him soo keen on a house.
The upstairs bathroom is a shame, but it doesn't look like there would have been anywhere else as practical without making a bathroom in one of the rooms.
I did wonder how they got permission, but it seems that the extension is not visible from the roads in the drive by shots later in the program, so I guess that's the basis on which it won.
It seems that mr Berry was a bit defensive in some of his talky bits and I have to wonder if that was a defence mechanism, that he has had to create over time, if he's a council estate lad who has had to mix it with the Harrow boys to get where he is. Whatever, he certainly seems to have remained grounded, and I like that. Same with mrs Berry.
I'm amazed that people get so angry about the couples and design on this show; I wonder how many of you hurling abuse would do so to their faces... 
We watched it, enjoyed it, laughed at the woman's constantly changing hair, didn't like the first floor bathroom but apart from that thought the place was OK, loved the tower room snug/cinema. Agree with the ~£1.5m estimates. Good luck to them.
We watched it, enjoyed it, laughed at the woman's constantly changing hair, didn't like the first floor bathroom but apart from that thought the place was OK, loved the tower room snug/cinema. Agree with the ~£1.5m estimates. Good luck to them.
V8mate said:
VxDuncan said:
Split in half, the two buildings, old and new would have been fantasic. Just not sure they worked together...
.. but on too more important things, his hair was dyed wasn't it?
Well the woman started the programme with very dark brown/black short hair, went through longer full blonde, on to much longer straw blonde and ended up honey blonde with one side short and the other long... but on too more important things, his hair was dyed wasn't it?
Nut nut.
Mr MoJo said:
The usual sgging off of success in the first few posts on here, from first hand experience, Dean is very down to earth genuine guy who worked like hell for what he's acheived. Seriously ? To have the kind of cash to build that house ?
I thought it looked ok, although didnt really fit, more like bolted on the side, but each to their own
what always amazes me about grand designs is just how much money people had to spend ! and where do they get it from !!
I'll say this and I would quite happily say it to their faces.
Inevitably the process and the finished product reflect the personalities involved. But, first off - the building.
They seemed to get it built, which was good, though the precise involvement of other professionals was glossed over. The restoration aspect seemed to be well executed, but they let it deteriorate for a hell of a time after they bought it before they took it in hand which is only ever going to create trouble - that decorative plasterwork just got worse and worse and I hate to think what was under it. Dry rot I expect.
The extension and the original tower did not fit together in any shape or form. The result was a ghastly reminder of the shonky 60's and 70's single storey extensions people used to do to Victorian houses, particularly to turn them into hotels with dining rooms and 'conference centres'. The thought that a 'star' conservation architect was involved makes you shudder. The upper floor bit was just too crass for words. I am sure at some point, perhaps in the not too distant future, someone will think again and demolish it. There was no explanation of how the design fitted on the site, which would be a good starting point for this kind of exercise, other than to say the views were fantastic.
Strange then that the space which had the largest windows and most benefitted from the views was the bedroom corridor. Clerestory windows achieve nothing internally except make the place feel like a public toilet. Then the interior design was like a high end Barratt show home, and all the spaces had that cold tidy whiteness which is like a disease these days but noone can think of anything better. It photographs well, but I suspect noone actually likes living in it much. The four poster in the master bedroom was laughable. One good jiggle and it would be a pile of matchwood. Where on earth is he supposed to have her? On the island unit in the kitchen?
I thought that we had the whole Scarpa conservation methodology typed and filed by now, but obviously not. As McCloud said, it is a hard one to pull off and frankly they failed and spent quite a bit doing so.
This is a direct result of the parties involved. He seemed a straightforward enough chap, but they lost me as soon as the 'B' word was used. I just think of smooth con men with six figure bonusses and the rest of us with reducing turnover and valueless pensions. She was a cutie, but she knew it and has no doubt been trading on the fact. With her silly pink hard hat and hi-vis she absolutely oozed the sort of selfishness and arrogance we normally associate with the home counties stockbroker set. To what extent her 'drive and determination' got the job done was hard to tell, but I have never met a bull headed amateur who built their own house exactly as they wished and actually succeeded.
I have a lot of time for Kevin McCloud, his comments are always to the point and he knows what he is talking about. I can't think of anyone who would present this better. Who do you want presenting it? Some anodyne grinning idiot like Noel Edmonds?
Inevitably the process and the finished product reflect the personalities involved. But, first off - the building.
They seemed to get it built, which was good, though the precise involvement of other professionals was glossed over. The restoration aspect seemed to be well executed, but they let it deteriorate for a hell of a time after they bought it before they took it in hand which is only ever going to create trouble - that decorative plasterwork just got worse and worse and I hate to think what was under it. Dry rot I expect.
The extension and the original tower did not fit together in any shape or form. The result was a ghastly reminder of the shonky 60's and 70's single storey extensions people used to do to Victorian houses, particularly to turn them into hotels with dining rooms and 'conference centres'. The thought that a 'star' conservation architect was involved makes you shudder. The upper floor bit was just too crass for words. I am sure at some point, perhaps in the not too distant future, someone will think again and demolish it. There was no explanation of how the design fitted on the site, which would be a good starting point for this kind of exercise, other than to say the views were fantastic.
Strange then that the space which had the largest windows and most benefitted from the views was the bedroom corridor. Clerestory windows achieve nothing internally except make the place feel like a public toilet. Then the interior design was like a high end Barratt show home, and all the spaces had that cold tidy whiteness which is like a disease these days but noone can think of anything better. It photographs well, but I suspect noone actually likes living in it much. The four poster in the master bedroom was laughable. One good jiggle and it would be a pile of matchwood. Where on earth is he supposed to have her? On the island unit in the kitchen?
I thought that we had the whole Scarpa conservation methodology typed and filed by now, but obviously not. As McCloud said, it is a hard one to pull off and frankly they failed and spent quite a bit doing so.
This is a direct result of the parties involved. He seemed a straightforward enough chap, but they lost me as soon as the 'B' word was used. I just think of smooth con men with six figure bonusses and the rest of us with reducing turnover and valueless pensions. She was a cutie, but she knew it and has no doubt been trading on the fact. With her silly pink hard hat and hi-vis she absolutely oozed the sort of selfishness and arrogance we normally associate with the home counties stockbroker set. To what extent her 'drive and determination' got the job done was hard to tell, but I have never met a bull headed amateur who built their own house exactly as they wished and actually succeeded.
I have a lot of time for Kevin McCloud, his comments are always to the point and he knows what he is talking about. I can't think of anyone who would present this better. Who do you want presenting it? Some anodyne grinning idiot like Noel Edmonds?
Edited by cardigankid on Thursday 12th February 09:15
I like the presenter, he speaks a number of different languages as well having watched the other series, on the house, I thought some of it was stunning, they did say they wanted to blend old with ultra modern (trendy) and to be fair, they've done that. You can't fault someone for designing their dream, I would imagine they could give two hoots what a load of strangers thought, it's their house, their dream so good luck to them.
So it's a listed building and they can't replace the windows etc with modern stuff, yet they got planning permission to stack what looks like a portacbin village, with a glass corridor, alongside the main building.
I think that they did a brilliant job of managing the project and admire them for retoring the original castle but I really just can't understand how they ever got the modern extension past the planning stage.
Personally, I'd have tried to extend just at ground level and in a more balanced on either side of the castle, maybe even trying to match the existing finish of the castle, which was presumably a local stone anyway.
And yes, she was quite fit!
I think that they did a brilliant job of managing the project and admire them for retoring the original castle but I really just can't understand how they ever got the modern extension past the planning stage.
Personally, I'd have tried to extend just at ground level and in a more balanced on either side of the castle, maybe even trying to match the existing finish of the castle, which was presumably a local stone anyway.
And yes, she was quite fit!
I thought that they ran out of money at the outset .. the quotes for the extension were probably at least double what they hoped for .. the window restoration probably shocked them - as a result of which they got rid of the architects, cut back drastically on the quality of materials, and did some sort of deal with local builders.
V8mate said:
VxDuncan said:
Split in half, the two buildings, old and new would have been fantasic. Just not sure they worked together...
.. but on too more important things, his hair was dyed wasn't it?
Well the woman started the programme with very dark brown/black short hair, went through longer full blonde, on to much longer straw blonde and ended up honey blonde with one side short and the other long... but on too more important things, his hair was dyed wasn't it?
Nut nut.
cardigankid said:
I have a lot of time for Kevin McCloud, his comments are always to the point and he knows what he is talking about. I can't think of anyone who would present this better. Who do you want presenting it? Some anodyne grinning idiot like Noel Edmonds?
I think Kevin McCloud is a very good presenter of the program. Can't imagine it working with anyone else at the helm.
To be honest I think internally the house looked very nice externally is another issue. The only comment I would like to make is that when she mentioned that they had gone out to 7 different contractors and that she was disappointed to get only 2 prices neither of which she incidentally used, why was she surprised?. I run a contracting business and if I know we are bidding against 7 other contractors I will usually return the tender. A one in seven chance of winning a job that will without doubt take 2 weeks to put together are poor odds. The client in my opinion is looking for one of the contractors to drop a clanger during the tender period and then take advantage.
It would have been good to hear the budgets because I bet the build was at least 500k and it would be good hear what the lowest tender had come in at even though they never used the tendering contractors (see what I mean about poor odds).
By the way the kitchen was MFI I know I bought one for a job recently, good on them for spotting value in a not so good brand. However I noticed she didn't admit it.
I'd imagine he's very proud of his house and his Mrs for getting through it without any tears however the approach towards getting the work done will have cost them more than they should have spent. A main contractor and a good QS should have been a minimum requirement on what was quite a complex build.
It would have been good to hear the budgets because I bet the build was at least 500k and it would be good hear what the lowest tender had come in at even though they never used the tendering contractors (see what I mean about poor odds).
By the way the kitchen was MFI I know I bought one for a job recently, good on them for spotting value in a not so good brand. However I noticed she didn't admit it.
I'd imagine he's very proud of his house and his Mrs for getting through it without any tears however the approach towards getting the work done will have cost them more than they should have spent. A main contractor and a good QS should have been a minimum requirement on what was quite a complex build.
I thought it was a great example of why GD does not normally show show level headed,affluent people who stick to the plans.
Irrespective of the design (even if the first floor bathroom extensions was horrendous) the project went very well.......
The professionals did their jobs.
The project manager stuck to her brief, seemed to listen to the pros and got everything done without histrionics
The architects had obviously done what theywere told to do without extraneous whistles and bells.
There was no obvious drama with steels not turning up, or windows taking 6 months to make when they really needed to be in last wednesday.
The listing officer was nowhere to be see so he must have been happy all the way through.
Budget wasn't mentioned, but although I suspect it was huge, I bet she still brought the completed build in close to their original cost plan. (They were at apins to point out therelatively low cost and humble origins of the Kitchen
You could see when KM was doing the piece to camera that the couple had taken over the project mangement, got rid of the original contractors, put the architect on the back burner etc that he was metaphorically rubbing his hands with glee. The unspoken message was that the amateurs were about to mke the biggest fkup of their lives, again.
And they didn't.
Which made for st telly.
Who really wants to watch an ambitious couple who have dne well in life suceed at something by making a plan and sticking to it when we could watch romantic dreamers fk up a mishmash of a design.
Basically it was really boring.
That bein said well done to them.
Irrespective of the design (even if the first floor bathroom extensions was horrendous) the project went very well.......
The professionals did their jobs.
The project manager stuck to her brief, seemed to listen to the pros and got everything done without histrionics
The architects had obviously done what theywere told to do without extraneous whistles and bells.
There was no obvious drama with steels not turning up, or windows taking 6 months to make when they really needed to be in last wednesday.
The listing officer was nowhere to be see so he must have been happy all the way through.
Budget wasn't mentioned, but although I suspect it was huge, I bet she still brought the completed build in close to their original cost plan. (They were at apins to point out therelatively low cost and humble origins of the Kitchen
You could see when KM was doing the piece to camera that the couple had taken over the project mangement, got rid of the original contractors, put the architect on the back burner etc that he was metaphorically rubbing his hands with glee. The unspoken message was that the amateurs were about to mke the biggest f
kup of their lives, again.And they didn't.
Which made for s
t telly.Who really wants to watch an ambitious couple who have dne well in life suceed at something by making a plan and sticking to it when we could watch romantic dreamers f
k up a mishmash of a design.Basically it was really boring.
That bein said well done to them.
sone said:
By the way the kitchen was MFI I know I bought one for a job recently, good on them for spotting value in a not so good brand. However I noticed she didn't admit it.
She did say that it was a highstreet kitchen, rather than bespoke, I doubt she could have said who it was from on the programme.FWIW, I really liked the program, think it looked really great. I really like the folly & also the new building, and they aren't that offensive together...
rfn said:
sone said:
By the way the kitchen was MFI I know I bought one for a job recently, good on them for spotting value in a not so good brand. However I noticed she didn't admit it.
She did say that it was a highstreet kitchen, rather than bespoke, I doubt she could have said who it was from on the programme.FWIW, I really liked the program, think it looked really great. I really like the folly & also the new building, and they aren't that offensive together...
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