Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Grand Designs - "Customised German Kit House" (SE04E02)


Walton on Thames (Surrey), 28 January 2004
David and Greta Iredale loved their home, a modernist structure in Surrey that they had built themselves almost 40 years ago. It was filled with things they'd chosen over the years – design classics, mementoes, David's paintings. But that house was falling apart and had to come down. Meanwhile, they had lost their hearts to a German post-and-beam house, designed by architect Peter Huf and available as a customised kit (Huf Haus).


Grand Designs - "The Curved House" (SE04E05)

Clapham South (London), 18 February 2004
David and Anjana Devoy's tiny coach house was proving too small for them and their two children. So they decided to build a new house in their own garden, which was big by London standards. But this particular grassy plot came with problems. It was overlooked by huge blocks of flats, and in the middle of it stood a chestnut tree they weren't allowed to cut down. They came up with an inspired solution: they would build a curving house along the borders of their plot. What's more, they would do a lot of the work themselves.

Grand Designs - "19th Century Sandstone House" (SE04E04)

Leith (Edinburgh), 11 February 2004
When Reuben Welch and April Marr came across a ruined 19th-century house amid the tower blocks of Leith, Edinburgh, they saw it as their future home. They had no clear idea of how to restore it, and precious little building experience. Still, they were young and fit (they had met on Reuben's climbing wall) and they liked a challenge. So they bought the crumbling shell and set about transforming it with their own hands.

Grand Designs - "The Glass & Timber House: Revisited" (from series 7) (S10E10)

Dulwich (London), 17 November 2010
Kevin returns to see whether Bill Bradley has completed the work on his two timber houses in south London.

Grand Designs - Loch House Glasgow (S06E01)

Killearn (Scotland), 5 April 2006
Jim Fairfull considers himself a very lucky guy. He was out fishing with a friend when he came across a beautiful, secluded loch. It's a magical place with stunning views over the nearby hills. He got chatting to the farmer who owned it and discovered the site was for sale. Within a week, he'd done a deal and bought the land. Jim runs a successful wholesale fruit and vegetable company in Glasgow and his wife, Simone, looks after their two girls, aged 11 and eight. Jim and Simone were not intending to self build. But they fell in love with this dramatic location and decided they wanted to live here.

Grand Designs - "The Brittany Groundhouse: Revisited" (from series 9) (S10E09)

Brittany (France), 10 November 2010
Kevin returns to see how Daren Howarth and Adi Nortje's project has fared four years after they decided to build an earth-sheltered home in Brittany.

Grand Designs - "The Radian House" (S10E05)

Ipswich, 13 October 2010
Lindsay and Jonathan Belsey hopes to build a house that aesthetically pleasing, cheap to run and ecologically sound.