Grand designs - new series 2021

[ToughButterCup]

I'm glad that someone has the vision and drive to make a project of that size work. I think people will exist in it, but find it hard to live there. I really hope they are happy there: any house is meaningless without that.

 

  On 02/09/2021 at 11:18, Ralph said:

...
Also what do you think they mean by a "...didactic solution."

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That's psychobabble  for  learning opportunity.

[Gone West]

  On 02/09/2021 at 12:58, patp said:

I loved the bit where Kevin McCloud points out that the bins have nowhere to go and, also, was it the bathroom that was miles from the living area?

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Wendy's comment was that they should at least have have the bins housed somehow and that at 70m it was a long way to go to the loo.

[Ralph]

  On 02/09/2021 at 15:32, Gone West said:

Wendy's comment was that they should at least have have the bins housed somehow and that at 70m it was a long way to go to the loo.

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Houses not actually designed for the people who live in them, classic. 

I may have to actually watch this, I'm still surprised at how bad the zinc cladding looks, unless they were going for the dented and rippled look.
 

[Moonshine]

  On 02/09/2021 at 15:45, Ralph said:

Houses not actually designed for the people who live in them, classic. 

I may have to actually watch this, I'm still surprised at how bad the zinc cladding looks, unless they were going for the dented and rippled look.
 

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I noticed the rippled effect too, I am sure that is not what the designer had in mind.

Detracts from the look.

[Ralph]

  On 02/09/2021 at 15:55, Moonshine said:

I noticed the rippled effect too, I am sure that is not what the designer had in mind.

Detracts from the look.

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We struggled with the same issue on our steel but it's not nearly as bad as this, probably because the runs are a lot longer on theirs. I'm convinced that a lot of the photos you see of metal roofs and cladding have been photoshopped. 

[Lorenz]

Having watched it, I actually quite like it and some of the ideas, but not the materials. The cladding started off smooth but has not aged well. I have seen a lot of this type of cladding in eastern europe, so it always reminds be of soviet utility buildings, but the old stuff was Emu Brand from Wolverhampton, over a hundred years old and still doing its job, though the coating has turned to rust or has been painted now. They should be able to do it without rippling, but guess they are still learning how to use it here. I do not understand with such a huge budget why you would squeeze it onto such a small plot in comparison to it's size?

[Moonshine]

  On 02/09/2021 at 16:30, Lorenz said:

I do not understand with such a huge budget why you would squeeze it onto such a small plot in comparison to it's size?

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It's not small a plot, though I don't know why the garage is where it is and the house isn't further to the south to open up land to the north where the view is

 

[Lorenz]

  On 02/09/2021 at 17:21, Moonshine said:

 

It's not small a plot, though I don't know why the garage is where it is and the house isn't further to the south to open up land to the north where the view is

 

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2.5 million you could have more land than you'd know what to do with. With the two other areas in the photo it would be OK, but he already owns next door, so guess he is going to sell that and imagine if someone builds on those two fields. Setting is something when you are in the countryside surely.

[Makeitstop]

I thought externally it looked an absolute jumbled mess.

 

Internally, attractive enough in places, and stylishly finished here and there too, but still somehow lacking on a £2.5M house.

 

When our Kev was looking at plans and asked where the nearest shower was in relation to the gym, and got the reply of "there" which was about 50 metres away, I actually laughed out loud like I was watching a comedy routine. It seemed obvious the owners had not had enough input or discussion with the architect on "how" they wanted to live in the place, which I found utterly astonishing.

 

As others have noted, £120K on the kitchen was a complete joke. Swanky, unnecessary overpriced shite. Half that spend could have done an outstanding job I'm sure.

 

Also, the canning on the zinc was pretty bad. I'd not have been pleased if I'd aimed £500K at it for it to end up looking like that. A really good company and skilled people should surely have been able to come up with a plan or design to minimise that.

 

Not one for me at all.

 

 

[ProDave]

Not my idea of a house design but each to his own, if you have deep enough pockets.  Worst case he would have to sell a car or 2.  He operates in a completely different financial world to normal people.

 

Yes I thought the cladding with all it's ripples was not the crisp look he wanted?

 

And I guess every episode in this series is doing to have the Covid delay factor in it.

 

But how did it go from an unfinished abandoned shell to a finished house at the end with no documentation of that part of the build and how they overcame all the previous challenges?

[Adrian Walker]

  On 02/09/2021 at 18:02, Makeitstop said:

I thought externally it looked an absolute jumbled mess.

 

Internally, attractive enough in places, and stylishly finished here and there too, but still somehow lacking on a £2.5M house.

 

When our Kev was looking at plans and asked where the nearest shower was in relation to the gym, and got the reply of "there" which was about 50 metres away, I actually laughed out loud like I was watching a comedy routine. It seemed obvious the owners had not had enough input or discussion with the architect on "how" they wanted to live in the place, which I found utterly astonishing.

 

As others have noted, £120K on the kitchen was a complete joke. Swanky, unnecessary overpriced shite. Half that spend could have done an outstanding job I'm sure.

 

Also, the canning on the zinc was pretty bad. I'd not have been pleased if I'd aimed £500K at it for it to end up looking like that. A really good company and skilled people should surely have been able to come up with a plan or design to minimise that.

 

Not one for me at all.

 

 

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Totally agree. There is nothing good about this design and build. Everything is so bland.

[joe90]

  On 02/09/2021 at 18:02, Makeitstop said:

When our Kev was looking at plans and asked where the nearest shower was in relation to the gym, and got the reply of "there" which was about 50 metres away, I actually laughed out loud like I was watching a comedy routine. It seemed obvious the owners had not had enough input

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Yes but what was an architect doing putting the shower so far away from the gym??? HE is supposed to be the expert ?‍♂️.

[ProDave]

  On 02/09/2021 at 21:08, joe90 said:

Yes but what was an architect doing putting the shower so far away from the gym??? HE is supposed to be the expert ?‍♂️.

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At that size of build and budget you would have thought the gym would have had it's own changing room and shower.

[gc100]

  On 02/09/2021 at 15:45, Ralph said:

Houses not actually designed for the people who live in them, classic. 

I may have to actually watch this, I'm still surprised at how bad the zinc cladding looks, unless they were going for the dented and rippled look.
 

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It does this as it comes off the roll. My roof had some but it’s starting to disappear now a year later as the metal settles. I think to will completely go by this time next year .

[Makeitstop]

  On 02/09/2021 at 21:42, gc100 said:

It does this as it comes off the roll. My roof had some but it’s starting to disappear now a year later as the metal settles. I think to will completely go by this time next year .

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I'm not convinced.

 

Even on the narrower trays there's considerable canning effect.

 

Having said that, I'm sure the owner could care a lot what the likes of me thinks about it.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Makeitstop

[gc100]

  On 02/09/2021 at 22:10, Makeitstop said:

 

I'm not convinced.

 

Even on the narrower trays there's considerable canning effect.

 

Having said that, I'm sure the owner could care a lot what the likes of me thinks about it.

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Not convinced about what?

 

more info : https://sheffieldmetals.com/learning-center/what-is-oil-canning/

[Ralph]

Interesting to hear that it may reduce overtime. Our gable end has some but it seems to be on hot days when the metal expands so hopefully it will reduce. Being matt rather than shiny also seems to help.

 

 

 

[Makeitstop]

Not convinced it'll settle and level out enough over time to be markedly better than it looked in the programme.

 

I appreciate the issues are many in "why" it happens, and also, that even the best installers cant necessarily say what (if any) single or combined reasons have lead to the effect on a specific job. My thinking was more that, on spending £500k on a cladding job, I'd be disappointed to see it as widespread and obvious across the entire structure. I'd have imagined the team behind the designing and installation could have considered a solution that reduced / removed the potential of such an unpleasant outcome.

[Makeitstop]

  On 03/09/2021 at 07:49, Ralph said:

Interesting to hear that it may reduce overtime. Our gable end has some but it seems to be on hot days when the metal expands so hopefully it will reduce. Being matt rather than shiny also seems to help.

 

 

 

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Is there much to see besides the gable end Ralph?

 

I notice the runs are shorter on that job, and as you say, a Matt finish reduces the glare effect.

 

Of course, seasonal shift and light conditions will play a part, but I'm not sure itll disappear over time.

 

Nice looking job though, as was GC100's when he posted images of it in the past.

[Lorenz]

Only thing I have seen in the way of settlement that I can remember is sagging at the bottom, a bit of a beer belly. They were either done right or not, but it should be the cheapest method, that is why it has been used in eastern europe etc. It is obviously a good waterproof finish, but where I was it was the cheapest option to cover a roof and seen as that. This seems to be the cheapest material they use and is mentioned in the info above, thicker material suffers less from it.

[Ralph]

  On 03/09/2021 at 07:58, Makeitstop said:

Is there much to see besides the gable end Ralph?

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Yeah there is some on the front. These photos were taken on a hot day and it's the worse we've seen it. The photo also seems to highlight it as it was not that bad in reality. 

 

We used SSAB Greencoat, it was not cheap but the installers were a nightmare and I don't think their finishing was as good as I would have liked. For £500k I would be expecting a much, much better. 

 

[Lorenz]

Your's is a world away from the canning on Grand Designs.

[Nickfromwales]

  On 02/09/2021 at 10:41, Andrew said:

 

 Have a look at the website linked further up by @Alfie if you want to see the mere essence of pretentiousness - https://www.huxshard.uk 

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“the project will significantly enhance its immediate setting and be sensitive to the defining characteristics of the local area”. 
 

My arse it will  

[Makeitstop]

  On 03/09/2021 at 08:39, Lorenz said:

Your's is a world away from the canning on Grand Designs.

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I agree, it does look considerably better than the GD house.

 

Greencoat has less thermal shift than zinc, athough it is a thinner material than the optimal type of zinc on facades. Zinc roofing material is usually thinner gauge than what's often used on facades, but only fractionally.

[patp]

Architects, in my opinion, only really care about the visual impact on the street scene. That comes first and they fit everything else into it.

 

Our architect placed our bungalow, on a plot with no restrictions to it, so that the rooms all faced North and East while the hallway windows faced South and West! He was more concerned with kerb appeal than giving us heat and light and views from our habitation spaces. When we pointed this out he said "oh you could turn it around but it would mean driving up to the rear of the house rather than the front". So? 

 

This goes for so many people that they design and build a home to impress other people.