Grand Designs - New Series
Discussion
They marked them down on the size of the bath, I'm amazed they didn't have to build it with wattle and daub 
boyse7en said:
Quite liked the end result, but for a large sized two bedroom house (or was it three? thought I might have glimpsed a single bed upstairs on the CGI plans at the beginning) the build cost seemed remarkably high. I know it was all super-eco stuff, but there weren't any 'bells and whistles' (cinema rooms, zoned heating, fancy lighting etc) that seem to suck up huge amounts of budget.
There was a third bedroom (called music room on the plans) behind the lounge.deltaevo16 said:
Excellent finished product. Loved the whole aspect of the design, and people partnerships that showed throughout the build. The way forward to avoid the obligatory mundane boxes that people seem to build, is the Eco house. As long as you stick to the ticking of the boxes, design seems limitless. Very clever thinking. I'm off to the GD show on friday.
Actually it's the planning departments that are the key to exciting architecture.Many are afraid/reluctant to allow ambitious/creative/daring architecture so that architects know there is no point designing such buildings.
Where I am, in Poole, we have a very progressive planning department who have allowed a wide range of contemporary houses to be built alongside the more traditional styles. Examples:
campionissimo said:
How do the get any silt out of the concrete 'tank' that the house sits in? Surely it'll fill up in a flood, and the house can't return to it's original level because it's sat on a new bed of Thames silt..........
Not sure. He did say the flood had taught them about silt movement so we shall see.I kind of liked it, not sure about the cladding, but the design was very interesting, and a good idea if it works.
I too wondered about silt in the hole and shearing forces on the columns. They also mentioned timber sliders that run up and down the dolphins. I wonder what type of wood it is, how replaceable it is etc, as it might not last very long in those conditions. I can see this as being brilliant while it works, and then a total nightmare when something goes wrong.
I had the chance to briefly see the house in the flesh about six weeks ago (so knew right from the start of the show that it wouldn't be finished at the end). Lovely little island and a great place to live I think, apart from dealing with the flooding which in the end becomes part of the 'charm' of a little island like that. I was looking at the house next door so didn't get to look around this one, but had a good nose over the fence.
I too wondered about silt in the hole and shearing forces on the columns. They also mentioned timber sliders that run up and down the dolphins. I wonder what type of wood it is, how replaceable it is etc, as it might not last very long in those conditions. I can see this as being brilliant while it works, and then a total nightmare when something goes wrong.
I had the chance to briefly see the house in the flesh about six weeks ago (so knew right from the start of the show that it wouldn't be finished at the end). Lovely little island and a great place to live I think, apart from dealing with the flooding which in the end becomes part of the 'charm' of a little island like that. I was looking at the house next door so didn't get to look around this one, but had a good nose over the fence.
Huge respect for what they are doing, they are certainly committed to living in that exact location. I wasn't a huge fan of the zinc covering, but otherwise it's a nice little place.
I wondered about what happens when the pit fills up with silt and leaves etc, assume they have a means of pumping it out?
I also wondered what happens in the future, can't imagine a property like that would be mortgageable?
I wondered about what happens when the pit fills up with silt and leaves etc, assume they have a means of pumping it out?
I also wondered what happens in the future, can't imagine a property like that would be mortgageable?
Stunning house for the money, really made me want to check it out and go and stay there 
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