MikeSharp01 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 What did we think if that then? Can't quite get my head around it - don't know what I think. Obviously the concrete company were all over it. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSS Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 As I said on the other thread, each to their own but I think I preferred the Tricorn car park. I know it wasn't finished, but the trouble is it will (to me at least) never look finished. Oh, and having grown up in Portsmouth I actually hated the Tricorn. Guess that's me off the fence on this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tennentslager Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Just plain awful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 I think it was a case of trying to be different Some of these builds look too commercial This one was surely an acquired taste Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 10 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said: What did we think if that then? Can't quite get my head around it - don't know what I think. Obviously the concrete company were all over it. . In a word, grim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvincentd Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 I don't blame the concrete...it's just used too relentlessly.....a bit like white rendered houses with white painted interiors only accented by grey framed windows and grey roof tiles. Taking all the colours of the world and rubbing them out to near nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 11 minutes ago, mvincentd said: I don't blame the concrete...it's just used too relentlessly Exactly this, in my opinion. As it happens, my wife and I were talking just last week about what we'd do if we were ever to build again, and one of the things I said I wanted was cast concrete. The problem with what they've done here (I've only seen photos, not the show) is that the design itself isn't special enough for it to get away with such a bleak material, and it's used without any sort of break. It's just brutalist without more. Concrete houses can look spectacular in my opinion: Part of my love of concrete is driven by the South Bank. I used to walk over Waterloo Bridge on the way to and from work and got a bit obsessed with the Royal National Theatre and the way it catches the sun at different times of the day and year. I have far too many photos like this on my phone from around that time: In fact, the external design for our house was very much inspired by that building (not that they look at all similar!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 11 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said: What did we think if that then? Can't quite get my head around it - don't know what I think. Obviously the concrete company were all over it. Mike, if you don't mind, I might merge this with the main Grand Designs thread so it's all in one place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 2 hours ago, jack said: In fact, the external design for our house was very much inspired by that building (not that they look at all similar!) This one reminds of the pictures that the Americans put out Showing their missile strikes 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 1 hour ago, nod said: This one reminds of the pictures that the Americans put out Showing their missile strikes Well the inside of my house regularly looks like a bomb's gone off, so maybe you're onto something. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeSharp01 Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 6 hours ago, jack said: Mike, if you don't mind, I might merge this with the main Grand Designs thread so Sorry of course I don't mind. I was so freaked out by it I didn't think to bump the other thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 By the time they bought the plot (£500K) and spent £450K building it, then I suspect this is the first GD house in the SE that would not be worth it's construction cost. I most certainly would not pay almost a a £million for that (even if I could afford to do so) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 1 minute ago, ProDave said: By the time they bought the plot (£500K) and spent £450K building it, then I suspect this is the first GD house in the SE that would not be worth it's construction cost. I most certainly would not pay almost a a £million for that (even if I could afford to do so) To be fair, you aren't the target market. Modern house are funny things. They exclude a large portion of the population, but those they don't exclude are often willing to pay a premium. Whether this is the case here isn't clear - I love modern houses, and even concrete houses, but this is missing a little something for me. It could be that adding in another texture might take it over the line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 23 hours ago, jack said: Something desperately wrong there. No pedestrian door from the garage to the house. No "stuff" in the garage, not a workbench, shelves or anything. Not even a SOCKET on the wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 you're just not the target market, Dave. Me neither. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 54 minutes ago, dpmiller said: you're just not the target market, Dave. Me neither. I would not want to be that target market thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 12 hours ago, ProDave said: Something desperately wrong there. No pedestrian door from the garage to the house. No "stuff" in the garage, not a workbench, shelves or anything. Not even a SOCKET on the wall. What you really mean to say where it's all the crap everyone else has in their garages, 5 tins of paint, lawnmower, patio set, black bags filled with stuff for the dump etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSS Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 15 minutes ago, ProDave said: I would not want to be that target market thank you. I bet you'd love a Bentley Bentayga Dave ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 1 hour ago, ProDave said: No pedestrian door from the garage to the house. No "stuff" in the garage, not a workbench, shelves or anything. Not even a SOCKET on the wall. There's a pedestrian door at the back, and sockets on the left and right walls. I also think no-one had actually moved in when this photo was taken - there's zero furniture in the other pics in the photoshoot. But I take your general point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simplysimon Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 the house looked warm and cosy, could see someone with a heavy cold tucked up with a hot drink feeling a fuzzy warmth emanating from their new home. woudn't it look glorious at christmas, big family gathering, lots of decorations........... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triassic Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 We watched the shop last nigh, my first reaction was what about the cold bridging and my second, how the hell are they going to insulate that! At the start he was enthusing about curves and form in the skate park, he’d have probably been better walking the TV crew around the local multi storey car park! All in all, a nice idea poorly executed. The one good thing to come out of it was praise from my wife for my recent ICF pour, 26m3 into 3m tall basement walls and no leaks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvincentd Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 23 hours ago, jack said: Part of my love of concrete is driven by the South Bank. I guess you've been in the tank rooms at the Tate Modern Jack.....fabulous. 12 hours ago, jack said: It could be that adding in another texture might take it over the line. I think so...would probably suck up another £25k to make it more pleasing overall to my eye, but a fair bit more to elevate it beyond just getting 'over the line'. Meanwhile I suspect the owners love the fact that most conventionally minded people don't get it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 I think if the concrete had been better detailed and executed it would have looked OK, but that is very difficult and expensive to achieve. A feature wall or corridor internally may have worked better. The ceilings looked like those at @pocster's place! The finish from the shuttering was poor. I am not sure if the formwork contractor had used the system before but I was not impressed with them. I have seen some excellent concrete work. They could have had timber plank pattern or exposed aggregate. A fail. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 37 minutes ago, mvincentd said: Meanwhile I suspect the owners love the fact that most conventionally minded people don't get it. Given some of the frank feedback we had from random passers-by about our modern but not crazily so house, I can imagine that they're more than used to defending themselves. Most really liked it (surprisingly, even a lot of elderly people were happy to see someone building something different), but the odd one was happy to say that they hate modern buildings and don't know why the council allows them to be built. Can't imagine the comments these people must have had over the course of the build! Good on them for building what they want. I vastly prefer this house to a Barrett box covered in hung tile, in an estate of Barrett boxes covered in hung tile. It's shame how little there appears to be in the middle for people who just want to buy a house to live in. 11 minutes ago, Mr Punter said: I think if the concrete had been better detailed and executed it would have looked OK It does look a bit ropey in places, for sure. Some of the ceilings look like failing concrete in a very old building. I doubt that's what they were specifically after, but I do like their attitude of allowing the house to tell the story of its building. I need to make time to watch the episode this weekend. I'm intrigued to know how they insulated, in particular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 32 minutes ago, jack said: I need to make time to watch the episode this weekend. I'm intrigued to know how they insulated, in particular. Firstly they used this new fangled "insulated concrete" mix. When the form work went up, there was about 100mm thick slab of EPS in the middle with spacers to maintain a gap. It was arranged so there was a thin layer of concrete on the outside side of the insulation slab, and a thicker layer of concrete on the inside of the insulation slab. The tie holes that held the formwork together and the spacerrs for the insulation slab were plugged with concrete plugs when all set and formwork removed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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