Grand Designs 8/4
Discussion
Noone else seems to have commented on this, or at least if they have I can't find it, so I'll throw in my pennyworth.
First of all - they fooled us - there was no Grand Designs last week so we thought the series was finished - however there it was large as life again last night.
I said on the 'real estate porn' thread that if anyone was planning a 'barrow boy made good uber-pile' they should post on here first to get some help. Last night's programme demonstrated why that won't happen. Someone who has accumulated the cash to build something like that cannot conceive that someone else could do a better job designing houses than them. It's odd that, because they wouldn't think about doing their own plumbing or electrical installation any more than they would try to build their own Porsche. But naturally, they can design their own house.
Furthermore, your self-made millionaire of that type anyway, is going to employ an architect who will nod when he says black is white and will just do exactly as he is told. His Patron has probably seen one or two nice details in houses, magazines or trade shows, has worked out how they are done, and reckons that is all you need to know. He's an artist. Sure he is. It's not difficult to get that sort of, er, well s
te frankly, past the planners because they love everything modern white strange and 'sustainable' 
(If you don't believe me take a look at the site which Knight Frank are selling near Maidstone with planning consent for a 'Flow House'. The drawings of the house are there to see and it is so fking sustainable it is probably unbuildable at any sensible cost and thereafter a maintenance nightmare. But hey! Unfortunately for them they have commenced development, probably neutralising the value of their site. That is however another story.)
Right then, off they go and design a weird looking 'avant garde' box which they consider to be modern because it is in a style popularised by Le Corbusier about 90 years ago. What they have done, however, as Kevin so acutely pointed out, is come up with a wonky shape and then thought, 'Cor Blimey! Now how do we fit some rooms into this'. Answer, very awkwardly, with loads of wasted space, and embarrassing unresolved problems all over the shop. There is a 'Pod' on top which is a modern device which has been fashionable for 10 years or so. It's not modern at all, it is a Victorian detail dressed up as modernity, as it happens, but Jubbly Bubbly, bang it in!
They are a decent couple, even if they have got carried away. He hasn't learned much from his heart attack by the looks of things, and she will be devastated if he turns his toes up which imho he is at risk of doing. However, if you were rich in years gone by you got Vanbrugh or Adam, Kent, Playfair, Blore, Burn, Barry, Shaw, Lutyens or whoever, a demonstrable expert, to design your house, and you have something to be proud of. Now it's 'Bugger that, Trevor, Bish, Bosh, Bash and Bob's your Uncle'. And you end up with something that a drug fuelled Sheik might have commissioned on a whim for a member of his harem. There are a few of them on the Thames down Chelsea Harbour way. It can only be described as gopping. OK he has 'realised his dream'. It's 'a heroic effort'. Yes, but I'm afraid that just isn't enough.
Plus, I am going to write to Kev, because I am truly fed up with the way he never really shows the context in which the house is going to be built.
First of all - they fooled us - there was no Grand Designs last week so we thought the series was finished - however there it was large as life again last night.
I said on the 'real estate porn' thread that if anyone was planning a 'barrow boy made good uber-pile' they should post on here first to get some help. Last night's programme demonstrated why that won't happen. Someone who has accumulated the cash to build something like that cannot conceive that someone else could do a better job designing houses than them. It's odd that, because they wouldn't think about doing their own plumbing or electrical installation any more than they would try to build their own Porsche. But naturally, they can design their own house.
Furthermore, your self-made millionaire of that type anyway, is going to employ an architect who will nod when he says black is white and will just do exactly as he is told. His Patron has probably seen one or two nice details in houses, magazines or trade shows, has worked out how they are done, and reckons that is all you need to know. He's an artist. Sure he is. It's not difficult to get that sort of, er, well s
te frankly, past the planners because they love everything modern white strange and 'sustainable' (If you don't believe me take a look at the site which Knight Frank are selling near Maidstone with planning consent for a 'Flow House'. The drawings of the house are there to see and it is so fking sustainable it is probably unbuildable at any sensible cost and thereafter a maintenance nightmare. But hey! Unfortunately for them they have commenced development, probably neutralising the value of their site. That is however another story.)Right then, off they go and design a weird looking 'avant garde' box which they consider to be modern because it is in a style popularised by Le Corbusier about 90 years ago. What they have done, however, as Kevin so acutely pointed out, is come up with a wonky shape and then thought, 'Cor Blimey! Now how do we fit some rooms into this'. Answer, very awkwardly, with loads of wasted space, and embarrassing unresolved problems all over the shop. There is a 'Pod' on top which is a modern device which has been fashionable for 10 years or so. It's not modern at all, it is a Victorian detail dressed up as modernity, as it happens, but Jubbly Bubbly, bang it in!
They are a decent couple, even if they have got carried away. He hasn't learned much from his heart attack by the looks of things, and she will be devastated if he turns his toes up which imho he is at risk of doing. However, if you were rich in years gone by you got Vanbrugh or Adam, Kent, Playfair, Blore, Burn, Barry, Shaw, Lutyens or whoever, a demonstrable expert, to design your house, and you have something to be proud of. Now it's 'Bugger that, Trevor, Bish, Bosh, Bash and Bob's your Uncle'. And you end up with something that a drug fuelled Sheik might have commissioned on a whim for a member of his harem. There are a few of them on the Thames down Chelsea Harbour way. It can only be described as gopping. OK he has 'realised his dream'. It's 'a heroic effort'. Yes, but I'm afraid that just isn't enough.
Plus, I am going to write to Kev, because I am truly fed up with the way he never really shows the context in which the house is going to be built.
Edited by cardigankid on Thursday 9th April 09:07
In short I agree with most of the above, lots of steel, concrete, glass and as many en-suite bathrooms as possible do not make a 'grand design'.
I feel the programme is now lacking in some real grand designs or renovations, and is concentrating on the personal lives of the owners instead of giving us a more in depth overview of the design and build process.
I feel the programme is now lacking in some real grand designs or renovations, and is concentrating on the personal lives of the owners instead of giving us a more in depth overview of the design and build process.
scotal said:
Although the discrepancy between his budget for windows and the quotes received was a bit eye opening.....
Indeed, in fact isn't the point of the budget to list how much things are going to cost? It appeared that he decided he was having the glass, came up with a figure in his head that he thought it would cost, then was disappointed when told it would cost twice as much, begs the question why didn't he do his homework at design stage?maxc said:
I met Barry at Le Mans 4/5 years ago. Great bloke, no bullst and modest. The process has certainly aged him though! BTW, his red Aston was the TG test car.
To be fair to the guy, he wqasn't backward about the effect his dream had had on their lives. (Ie set them back a bit) but I didn't like his house, and I have to admit to some surprise that he got planning through for it.t and modest. The process has certainly aged him though! BTW, his red Aston was the TG test car.It was a great idea for a programme, and at least it is a cut above the 'Relocation, Relocation' or 'Property Virgins' sort of chewing gum TV. But maybe they are just running out of people to do genuinely ambitious and innovative stuff, so they are left with the next millionaire builds his dream house...
Edited by cardigankid on Thursday 9th April 11:27
cardigankid said:
It was a great idea for a programme, and at least it is a cut above the 'Relocation, Relocation' or 'Property Virgins' sort of chewing gum TV. But maybe they are just running out of people to do genuinely ambitious and innovative stuff, so they are left with the next millionaire builds his dream house/
i think the proramme makers are more savvy aqbout who they put on, and people are more savvy aqbout going on. Enough people looked a little bit foolish in the early series to put off the enthusiastic amatuers without a clue.
I'm not sure if i was building my first home I'd be looking to get a film crew around to record my mistakes.
You did have to wonder if his mates call him lucky.
There was a lot that was good about the design but, unfortunately, a lot that was bad. The aforementioned square rooms in a curved building.
I did like his attitude about having the Duke on the wall though. She said there was no way he was having two bikes in the house so he took that to mean he could have one. What with that and the Aston he's obviously a bit of a petrolhead.
There was a lot that was good about the design but, unfortunately, a lot that was bad. The aforementioned square rooms in a curved building.
I did like his attitude about having the Duke on the wall though. She said there was no way he was having two bikes in the house so he took that to mean he could have one. What with that and the Aston he's obviously a bit of a petrolhead.
Roo said:
You did have to wonder if his mates call him lucky.
There was a lot that was good about the design but, unfortunately, a lot that was bad. The aforementioned square rooms in a curved building.
I did like his attitude about having the Duke on the wall though. She said there was no way he was having two bikes in the house so he took that to mean he could have one. What with that and the Aston he's obviously a bit of a petrolhead.
What was good about the design?There was a lot that was good about the design but, unfortunately, a lot that was bad. The aforementioned square rooms in a curved building.
I did like his attitude about having the Duke on the wall though. She said there was no way he was having two bikes in the house so he took that to mean he could have one. What with that and the Aston he's obviously a bit of a petrolhead.
JeepJunkie said:
I thought this was the worst 'Grand Design' in the series...
Nice chap though, shame about his ticker...
contender for worst ever imo. liked the staircase and the idea of the bedroom box, but the rest was abysmal. looked like a new media conference centre. Nice chap though, shame about his ticker...
thoroughly likeable couple though which i think was needed for a white elephant/credit crunch episode.
on the glass front, i saw him at the trade show then missed where he went for it in the end. did he want curved panels? my dad could have made those for him [he did some test canopies for the mlondon eye amongst other things] but obviously needs to brownnose pilky's a bit more!
I liked the bike, I have to admit. I would have gone a step further and had a garage with raised floor and a glass wall to the living area so he could not only have had the bike on display but ridden it as well, along with his Aston and anything else he has tucked away.(A bit like Ulrich Bez, who has a 993 on display in his lounge. Good Man.)
Good luck to him, I don't decry his enthusiasm - I just think he was going in the wrong direction.
By the way Shirt, you should post a link to your company if that is permissible on here. Pilkington's are a walking disaster area, promise the earth and don't deliver which is sad for what I believe is still a British company. They were the first into Planar Glass some decades back which gave them the impression that they had the world at their feet, then they didn't bother their arses unless they were promised an international airport on their laps. I have been through exactly the same experience of developing a project with them to then be told it's too small, we won't do it. They simply cannot organise themselves to provide customer service. It's like dealing with the old British Steel.
Could you get supplies from Solaglas or St. Gobain?
Good luck to him, I don't decry his enthusiasm - I just think he was going in the wrong direction.
By the way Shirt, you should post a link to your company if that is permissible on here. Pilkington's are a walking disaster area, promise the earth and don't deliver which is sad for what I believe is still a British company. They were the first into Planar Glass some decades back which gave them the impression that they had the world at their feet, then they didn't bother their arses unless they were promised an international airport on their laps. I have been through exactly the same experience of developing a project with them to then be told it's too small, we won't do it. They simply cannot organise themselves to provide customer service. It's like dealing with the old British Steel.
Could you get supplies from Solaglas or St. Gobain?
Edited by cardigankid on Thursday 9th April 12:26
Not a very good design and far too big IMO. You can tell it was amateur by things like pillars in the middle of bedrooms and odd bits of corridor to get to bedrooms.
Bloke seemed to lose a lot of weight after his heart op, then put most of it back on by the end of the show. I do hope he's leading a less stressed life now. Also, I thought his wife had suffered a fair bit during the show - she looked much more tired/stressed at the end, and didn't exactly seemed enthralled to be living there.
Bets on this being for sale soon?
Bloke seemed to lose a lot of weight after his heart op, then put most of it back on by the end of the show. I do hope he's leading a less stressed life now. Also, I thought his wife had suffered a fair bit during the show - she looked much more tired/stressed at the end, and didn't exactly seemed enthralled to be living there.
Bets on this being for sale soon?
cardigankid said:
By the way Shirt, you should post a link to your company if that is permissible on here. Pilkington's are a walking disaster area, promise the earth and don't deliver which is sad for what I believe is still a British company. They were the first into Planar Glass some decades back which gave them the impression that they had the world at their feet, then they didn't bother their arses unless they were promised an international airport on their laps. I have been through exactly the same experience of developing a project with them to then be told it's too small, we won't do it. They simply cannot organise themselves to provide customer service. It's like dealing with the old British Steel.
Could you get supplies from Solaglas or St. Gobain?
dad wound up the company in november as the phone hadn't rung in months. he's downsized and kept all the kilns & machinery, but his main income stream is from selling equipment not glazed products. it was more of an interest, probably under pilky's radar to be fair.Could you get supplies from Solaglas or St. Gobain?
he did one piece half-egg sections for the eye which is ridiculously difficult but they were binned as they had to support the weight of everyone inside if it toppled over. he also did a lot of curved glass lifts/staircases. i have more than a few jobs for him of my own planned for the future [need cash].
cardigankid said:
What was good about the design?
I liked the fact that he was prepared to take on a site a lot of developers would have walked away from and make the most of it. Excavate a lot of the site to create the basement etc.If he had managed to stick to the original idea of curved glass for the windows I think the overall appearance would have been much better as it would've looked less office like.
As has been said though, he's an artist not an architect which is why I don't think it worked as an overall package.
I was looking for a thread on this.. but looking in TV, Films & Music. I guess we will have to get used to playing 'guess where the thread is'...
Thought the building was very nice, but some shocking stuff going on in the interior. I dread to think what it will look like when it's finished. He seemed like a top bloke though.
Thought the building was very nice, but some shocking stuff going on in the interior. I dread to think what it will look like when it's finished. He seemed like a top bloke though.
Roo said:
cardigankid said:
What was good about the design?
I liked the fact that he was prepared to take on a site a lot of developers would have walked away from and make the most of it. Excavate a lot of the site to create the basement etc.If he had managed to stick to the original idea of curved glass for the windows I think the overall appearance would have been much better as it would've looked less office like.
As has been said though, he's an artist not an architect which is why I don't think it worked as an overall package.
In fairness to Barry from Brighton it didn't look as if his house would slide anywhere.
Edited by cardigankid on Thursday 9th April 13:39
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