Grand Designs - 11th March
Discussion
I love watching the fabrication technology at work 
, but the final result was ghastly. If the material is laminated from cheap pine offcuts, and the surface of the material is unfinished, doesn't that mean 
, but the final result was ghastly. If the material is laminated from cheap pine offcuts, and the surface of the material is unfinished, doesn't that mean *Raz* said:
Oh I love Grand Designs....!
when I win the lottery! Im applying
Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber have finally run out of money, so you don't need to win the lottery to own a Grand Design.when I win the lottery! Im applying
Markh said:
Dargie said:
WTF was going on with the furniture? Ultra modern home, furniture from my grans house!?! 
nah the Juxtaposition of the furniture was cool I thought (although maybe unintentional in this case)
That staircase was s
te. Kitchen was ste. I'm not really a fan of these post-post-post-modern eco-box houses and I don't think that was a particularly good example of one anyway. The bedrooms were small and did look like saunas as well.
Nice pool though!
te. Kitchen was ste. I'm not really a fan of these post-post-post-modern eco-box houses and I don't think that was a particularly good example of one anyway. The bedrooms were small and did look like saunas as well.Nice pool though!
Edited by Neil_H on Thursday 12th March 00:12
I've just watched it after sky plussing and thought it was fecking horrid. I liked the glass but the rest was just a shambles and had a very cheap feel about it. 700k, crazy money for that!!!
And why oh why does it seem this series that people spend all this money on a house then have a sh!te, cheap kitchen? It's the most used room in any house and yet it always feels like an afterthought!!! That effort tonight was by far the worst i've seen on GD...
And why oh why does it seem this series that people spend all this money on a house then have a sh!te, cheap kitchen? It's the most used room in any house and yet it always feels like an afterthought!!! That effort tonight was by far the worst i've seen on GD...
Well, at least they were a nice couple.
You have to say that of course, they are an ethnic minority, but they seemed fairly straightforward, and given what was happening, pretty laid back. Yuppies, and stupendously wealthy of course. What must 12 acres of Kent cost? Not to mention the planning consent, or the £650k.
Very concerned about sustainability they were too, but as usual with sustainability it's the image that matters, not the reality. There is nothing more sustainable than a steep pitched roof. They will last for millennia, provided you don't hang gutters off them. But they look so the century before last, don't you know, and it's what your friends think that counts. Flattening a perfectly good but rather dreary bungalow was another good move, and to top it all there was the most sustainable of all building features, the indoor swimming pool, or huge bath, or whatever it was. If it's a bath it will take a hell of a time to fill. If it's a swimming pool it will cause your fine timber house to move and rot and eventually collapse unless you spend a fortune on air conditioning. All that stuff about retaining heat in winter and storing it in summer is fine until you get into it for a swim. It works fine in the Mosel Valley but inside a house it is a recipe for disaster.
Externally it was stunningly beautiful, you couldn't fault it, though you could reasonably say it is the ultimate expression of the Portakabin aesthetic. Internally, I liked it, there were some nice spaces but it was a matter of taste. All the wood demonstrated why last week's couple were so wrong to stain their woodwork grey. It's warm and comforting, if a teeny bit like being in your box. I'm also very uneasy about the business of bringing your children up in a work of art, as opposed to a home. I am not sure what kind of human being will result, which is why I'm still with people like Lutyens.
What I didn't like about last night's programme was more to do with Kevin. I felt that we were not being told anything like the full story. As usual the context was largely ignored, other than some chat about disappearing in the landscape, which it didn't. We hardly saw the architect, but someone designed and detailed that building to perfection. It's just not something a busy supermum does between breastfeeding the kids and managing a hedge fund. The string was just a dramatic device, like James Bond's Walther PPK. In no way was that ever set out by HER or with STRING. The steelwork was fundamental to the whole project, but we hardly saw it or found out who designed it or how it fitted into the building as a whole.
I got the distinct impression that the whole thing was being set up to make Mimi the star of the show, including the essential pink hard hat. The only thing they failed to do was get her into some more figure hugging tops. There must have been a lot of other people in there making sure it all went right, doubly so when you are spending that kind of money and want something that will have some residual value (unlike our friend the Michelin man).
Anyway, good effort.
You have to say that of course, they are an ethnic minority, but they seemed fairly straightforward, and given what was happening, pretty laid back. Yuppies, and stupendously wealthy of course. What must 12 acres of Kent cost? Not to mention the planning consent, or the £650k.
Very concerned about sustainability they were too, but as usual with sustainability it's the image that matters, not the reality. There is nothing more sustainable than a steep pitched roof. They will last for millennia, provided you don't hang gutters off them. But they look so the century before last, don't you know, and it's what your friends think that counts. Flattening a perfectly good but rather dreary bungalow was another good move, and to top it all there was the most sustainable of all building features, the indoor swimming pool, or huge bath, or whatever it was. If it's a bath it will take a hell of a time to fill. If it's a swimming pool it will cause your fine timber house to move and rot and eventually collapse unless you spend a fortune on air conditioning. All that stuff about retaining heat in winter and storing it in summer is fine until you get into it for a swim. It works fine in the Mosel Valley but inside a house it is a recipe for disaster.
Externally it was stunningly beautiful, you couldn't fault it, though you could reasonably say it is the ultimate expression of the Portakabin aesthetic. Internally, I liked it, there were some nice spaces but it was a matter of taste. All the wood demonstrated why last week's couple were so wrong to stain their woodwork grey. It's warm and comforting, if a teeny bit like being in your box. I'm also very uneasy about the business of bringing your children up in a work of art, as opposed to a home. I am not sure what kind of human being will result, which is why I'm still with people like Lutyens.
What I didn't like about last night's programme was more to do with Kevin. I felt that we were not being told anything like the full story. As usual the context was largely ignored, other than some chat about disappearing in the landscape, which it didn't. We hardly saw the architect, but someone designed and detailed that building to perfection. It's just not something a busy supermum does between breastfeeding the kids and managing a hedge fund. The string was just a dramatic device, like James Bond's Walther PPK. In no way was that ever set out by HER or with STRING. The steelwork was fundamental to the whole project, but we hardly saw it or found out who designed it or how it fitted into the building as a whole.
I got the distinct impression that the whole thing was being set up to make Mimi the star of the show, including the essential pink hard hat. The only thing they failed to do was get her into some more figure hugging tops. There must have been a lot of other people in there making sure it all went right, doubly so when you are spending that kind of money and want something that will have some residual value (unlike our friend the Michelin man).
Anyway, good effort.
I thought it was a decent enough job.
On the plus side - the staircase was a nice touch, a decent layout and despite being 'modern' they did try and make it a useable family home
On the downside, all that untreated wood made it look like the 'marketplace' in Ikea, not enough recption rooms and at 650k build price, I would rather have an albeit more modest Huf-haus.
If they put this weeks staircase in last weeks house....
On the plus side - the staircase was a nice touch, a decent layout and despite being 'modern' they did try and make it a useable family home
On the downside, all that untreated wood made it look like the 'marketplace' in Ikea, not enough recption rooms and at 650k build price, I would rather have an albeit more modest Huf-haus.
If they put this weeks staircase in last weeks house....
I *really* liked the exterior, although the detail at the base of the glazing panels didn't seem to be resolved - I am sure I could see a packer at the base of each pane as if a cill or other flashing was missing.
I thought having timber everywhere was overwhelming on the interior (did anyone notice the painted/stained wall in one of the children's bedrooms?) but, depsite what others have said, I *really* like how the furniture worked in the kitchen and the "living room" (the bit with the stove).
I thought having timber everywhere was overwhelming on the interior (did anyone notice the painted/stained wall in one of the children's bedrooms?) but, depsite what others have said, I *really* like how the furniture worked in the kitchen and the "living room" (the bit with the stove).
Love Grand Designs but that house last night was a mess. Would you really spend all that money on a house that was made of cheap cack wood, the inside looked like a sauna or it hadnt been finished and the outside looked like a porta cabain storage area.
What the hell was that womans voice all about ?
What the hell was that womans voice all about ?
Oakey said:
Did anyone see at the end, in the gap between the ground and first floor portacabins, there appeared to be a trench of water a few inches deep. Was this intentional or was it simply rainwater build up they'd not considered and forgot to include any sort of drainage?
Yeah we noticed this, looked pretty stagnant, didn't it? Certainly wasn't moving or draining away. That'll be great for breeding water-borne life in summer...looked too much like an office but the windows looked good with the cladding. Do the windows open at all they didnt look like they did? I felt he was a bit harsh on mimi throughout - the joke re the string was a valid point but he kept going on and on about it. The staircase looked crap but maybe will look better when it is full of books etc. Their furniture couldnt have been more wrong for it but as theyve max'd out their credit cards prob couldnt afford that bit yet which is fair enough.
I think the string joke was made up for TV. That lady isn't stupid, and the people who laid the foundations had proper optical equipment to check dimensions, plus I bet the architect might well have been on hand a bit more than he was credited for. My guess is she was showing the kids how to check dimensions with string & the TV producer thought 'here's a way to add interest'!
nogginthenog said:
I think the string joke was made up for TV. That lady isn't stupid, and the people who laid the foundations had proper optical equipment to check dimensions, plus I bet the architect might well have been on hand a bit more than he was credited for. My guess is she was showing the kids how to check dimensions with string & the TV producer thought 'here's a way to add interest'!
I think this series is struggling a bit with the level headed people doing the builds. We haven't had a complete hashup of the planning/budget/schedule/contracts yet.Being made of wood, with all the local plants on the roof, I would imagine it will be full of bugs by the summer. As previously mentioned, do any of the windows open? If not, will it not be just a giant greenhouse in the summer?
As for the staircase, I know they said they'll be using it as a bookshelf, desk etc but wouldn't some of the things that are put on it just fall out the back? One knock and a whole shelf load of stuff could fall off and down the stairs.
As for the staircase, I know they said they'll be using it as a bookshelf, desk etc but wouldn't some of the things that are put on it just fall out the back? One knock and a whole shelf load of stuff could fall off and down the stairs.
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