Episode 1 Building Dream Homes


Episode 1

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Have you ever dreamed of living in a house built specially for you,

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or of renovating the house you already live in?

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Then the chances are, you'll need an architect

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to design, build and transform your home.

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My own interior style is just coolness.

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We're following some of the nation's architects

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leading the way in ground-breaking design and innovation.

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Oh, yes.

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We'll be with them every step of the way, as they battle with builders...

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Quick word in his ear, make sure there's no more mishaps.

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-That's not good!

-..and blueprints...

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This is the classic sleepless-night project, if I'm being honest.

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..and the clients who hire them...

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-It's like working with the Chuckle Brothers.

-Ho-ho-ho!

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You've got a very strange understanding of the word "today".

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How do you know your calculations are right?

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..and draw on their seven years of study...

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I'll go with the architect's opinion, I'm afraid.

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..to solve everyday problems...

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Seriously, this is a serious bad day.

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..all in the name of making the properties

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we dream of become a reality.

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Today, architect Chris Loyn gets to grips with a budget-busting

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upside-down house near Cardiff.

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One day, I'm going to live in a house like this

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and not just do it for others.

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We'll see the highs...

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This is amazing. Oh, I can't believe it.

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..and the lows...

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Whoa, whoa, whoa! That sounded like there was some cracking noises.

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..in its transformation from drawing to dream home.

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And architect David Blaikie is working with a family

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whose house just doesn't work for them any more.

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I'll get my thermal hard hat on and we'll have a quick look.

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But will their high expectations be achievable on their tight budget?

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This is definitely something we didn't expect,

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and we will have to pay the extra.

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In Wales, in the Vale of Glamorgan, husband and wife, Jon and Marianne,

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have lived in this beautiful long house for the past 20 years.

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The house we've got now is a bit quirky, isn't it?

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It's evolved over the years

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because the oldest part of the house is actually the extension.

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-Yep.

-But this is 18th...

-Cos that's 16th or 17th century

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like an old shack, really, wasn't it?

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-Yeah.

-With every improvement, I think we've made it better.

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They love their home,

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but it's the wonderful location that has kept them here for so long.

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-And this is the best view.

-I think this is the best view.

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And it's south facing so we get the sun from here all day.

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Yeah. Yeah, it's hard to beat.

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The view may be everything they want,

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but having raised their family,

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Marianne, a self-employed education consultant,

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and Jon, Director of Post-Graduate Dental Education in Wales,

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have decided it's time to plan for the future.

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My background is nursing and health visiting and I've noticed,

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even with our own parents, they don't move when they can move.

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And then things become difficult for them,

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so I didn't want to be in that.

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I wanted to move before things became difficult.

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Somewhere that was easy to maintain and was on the flat

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and would have the capabilities, if necessary,

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to handle a wheelchair.

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You know, it didn't have little corners and things like that.

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I suppose doing your own build, it gives you an opportunity

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-to do exactly what you want.

-That's right.

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Faced with the dilemma of what to do if you love your view,

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but want a new, cutting-edge house,

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Marianne and Jon decided to think laterally.

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They're building a brand-new home next door to their old one.

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They've chosen architect Chris Loyn to design it.

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His practice is responsible for some of the most innovative,

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impressive and expensive homes in Wales.

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It's up to Chris to draw up

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exactly what Marianne and Jon are looking for.

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Very early on we came up with a diagram because the client,

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it's got beautiful views, stunning views of open countryside,

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and the client wanted an upside-down house

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with living accommodation on the first floor

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and bedrooms down at ground floor,

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which was the opposite to the existing house.

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Marianne and Jon have asked for a large reception room

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and three bedrooms on the ground floor.

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On the first floor, there will be an expansive living room

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and an open-plan kitchen-diner.

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There's a sense of openness to, and an interaction with, the outside.

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It's heavily glazed on the southern facade,

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shaded so it doesn't overheat, and also creating a balcony space

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so you can sit when the Welsh drizzle comes down,

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but it still might be balmy and warm,

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so it's got these degrees of inside-outside space.

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And the design features don't stop there...

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One important element of the brief was future proofing,

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if you like, we're all growing older,

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they wanted a house that they could live in for the rest of their days,

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come what may, so movement through the house was a key aspect.

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We've made provision for a lift, in fact,

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to take you up to the first floor.

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It's not in at the moment, because it's not needed,

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and we find this more and more with our one-off housing,

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that people are looking for the long term and for a lifetime home.

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Building in their garden has saved Marianne and Jon

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around £250,000 on the cost of a plot.

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They have a total budget of £842,000.

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£660,000 for build costs

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and a further £182,000 in the pot to split between paying

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for their new kitchen and bathrooms, and fees, including the services

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of Chris and his team to oversee the entire build from start to finish.

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The steel beam and wood design of this upside-down house

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means that the whole thing should go up

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in just ten months. The trouble is,

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this build has so many cutting-edge features,

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keeping it on schedule and on budget will take enormous expertise,

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as lead contractor John knows only too well.

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Well, it's really the detail. Steel frame, timber frame,

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external timber cladding, flat roof, balcony details,

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external terraces. All these add up to an extraordinary build,

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but also needs a bit of thinking in terms of the design and construction.

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John may be in charge of the running of the build,

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but Marianne is determined to be hands on.

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She's a woman who knows what she wants and how she wants it.

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OK.

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It's always been her real project, I think that's fair to say.

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I'm just dragged along behind.

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Better weather today. Yeah?

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-Lovely.

-Really nice.

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It IS my project and the architects have drawn to my brief,

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but we do obviously discuss everything, and the thing is,

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you know, it was a joint decision to go ahead on it.

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I mean, I'm excited about it, but I'm nervous about it at this point,

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because between now and Christmas, a lot of decisions have to be made

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and those decisions have to be the right decisions,

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and essentially, to a large extent,

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it will be me making those decisions.

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I was just going to say that. It WILL be her decision.

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-Yeah, exactly.

-And I'll be right behind her.

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And if it goes wrong, if it doesn't look right,

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then it will be largely my fault.

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400 miles away in Edinburgh,

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the McFadden family have outgrown their house.

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We moved into this house five or six years ago

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and just since then, we've had twins and the family's grown,

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so we felt we just wanted to extend the house.

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Mhairi and Peter looked into moving,

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but with the cost of buying the extra space they needed,

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combined with the price of moving, it was out of their budget.

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So, for them, extending rather than upping sticks makes perfect sense.

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So Mhairi took it upon herself

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to find the architect who could realise her dream.

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I spent many weeks driving around different streets in Edinburgh

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checking out other people's house extensions

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and one day I came across an extension I really liked and it was

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exactly what we wanted, so I checked that out online and found out it was

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David Blaikie who was the architect, so I contacted him because of that.

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David is an award-winning Edinburgh architect

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who's known for designing light-filled, modern extensions.

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But getting this simple design off the ground wasn't straightforward.

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We had difficulties with the planning process on this one.

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The client wanted us to propose something which gave them

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two extra bedrooms upstairs and we came up with a scheme for that

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and the planning department just didn't think it was appropriate.

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So we had to modify the design

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which meant there was only one bedroom upstairs

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and a much bigger and brighter sitting area downstairs.

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The original roofline of the bungalow came like that,

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so we've extended this roof slope out.

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It meant we could put a pretty big dormer window up here.

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With their budget set at £90,000,

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to cover everything from build costs, to VAT and architects' fees,

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Mhairi and Peter want to say goodbye to their impractical home.

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They've employed David to design a brand-new two storey extension,

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with a spacious bedroom for their boys, complete with en suite

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and a large new family room below.

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It's an extension that should change their home and lives for the better

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and they're hoping to get the whole thing built in just four months.

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Today, after months of planning, work starts on the house...

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Is this the right house?

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Unlike the build in Wales where Marianne is across every detail,

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Mhairi and Peter are leaving their project in the hands of David.

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He's going to regularly inspect the build as well as design it,

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and is well aware he'll need to look after Peter and Mhairi

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as much as the bricks and mortar.

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Because we're doing it all the time, we often do forget

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that the client doesn't understand it

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in the same sort of detail that we do.

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And sometimes the client has got to say,

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"No David, you know, explain that to me again.

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"What was that?" "Oh, right, sure. OK."

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It's only a couple of weeks into the build

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and David hits a potentially major problem.

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He's on site and has some explaining to do.

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The structural engineer has come back to say

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that the extension is going to need an additional six

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heavy and expensive steel beams to make the structure secure.

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For the head contractor, Steven Gillis,

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it will mean a lot more work.

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I think we'll have to lose the ceiling myself.

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I can't see us keeping it, because there's triples

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and doubles going in there.

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Mhairi and Peter's £90,000 budget is already at its limit.

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Any unexpected costs so early in the build

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could seriously compromise the final finish.

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Well, obviously you don't like surprises.

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It's definitely something we didn't expect

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and we will have to pay the extra.

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My husband is just worried about the cost

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and what it's going to do as well.

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It might push, because we're having to order more steel,

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it might push the length of the build out.

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Extra time, extra materials and extra labour all add more expense

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so Mhairi's really hoping that this is the last of the surprises.

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But as David's inspection continues,

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he spots something else to add to the slate...

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Look at this. I think these have been painted.

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-They have.

-Now that's a new one. I've never...

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-No?

-I've never come across that before.

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-It's quite common.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-What is it meant to...?

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-It just makes the house look better.

-Oh, right.

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It's going to be an issue, isn't it?

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To actually match a concrete tile to that is going to be impossible

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so the client's got a decision to make,

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but the roof is either going to be two different tones of colour or...

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I'll get samples. You can get red, I think.

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-I hope.

-Yeah.

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It's another bit of bad news for Mhairi.

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-Your roof has been painted in the past.

-It has, yes.

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It gives us trouble in terms of matching up.

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I just wonder whether we need to actually think about replacing

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-all of the tiles on that roof slope.

-I thought you might say that.

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-Otherwise we'll have a patchy looking roof.

-OK.

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I'll get Steve to give us a cost for doing that.

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The other thing that Steve has got a concern about is

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-the ceiling above the sitting room through there...

-Yes.

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..has got an artex finish to it,

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but Steve thinks that once we've done the trebling up and doubling up

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of the joists up above it, it's going to be a bit of a mess, so...

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-New ceiling.

-It might have to be a new ceiling up there as well.

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-OK.

-An opportunity to get a smooth ceiling.

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Yes, but at extra cost!

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It might be extra cost,

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but in the case of the painted tiles, David thinks it's worth it.

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Paint finish...it's a temporary measure. There's nothing permanent

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about it and that's what we're trying to achieve.

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You know, whatever we do, if we're doing some new building work,

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it's got to be something that is going to last the test of time

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and painting new concrete tiles just doesn't feel right.

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Come on then.

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It's a tricky situation. David is balancing the demands

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of a challenging budget,

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unexpected build costs and his creative integrity.

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It's just the unknown going forward, isn't it?

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You just don't know what other things you're going to find.

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Exciting, but also a bit nervous about what's still to come.

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Two weeks later and problems are mounting.

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The thing is, the dormer looks fantastic from the outside,

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it's actually just when you're inside it and you realise,

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you know, how low the ceiling feels.

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The one issue that we've had is that the height of this dormer,

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we're just a bit frustrated,

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because there is still a lot of roof space here, and we didn't see

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why there was any reason this had to be as low as it is.

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Peter had spoken to David last week about the ceiling height

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and I actually sat down and wrote a bit of a stroppy e-mail

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on Saturday morning to him

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but, you know, I was getting really annoyed and I just wanted somebody

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to explain that it was going to be OK and they could fix it.

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With unhappy clients, the window structure already built,

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and no room left in the budget, David will need to draw on all

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his architectural and diplomatic skills to solve the problem.

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In Wales, architect Chris Loyn is working on an upside-down house

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for Marianne and Jon Cowpe.

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I suppose, doing your own build, it gives you an opportunity

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-to do exactly what you want.

-That's right.

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Today, Chris and his project designer, James Stroud,

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are taking the other colleagues from their practice to see

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an example of an upside-down house they've just completed.

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This extraordinary celebration of concrete and metal

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is buried into the Welsh hills.

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Shall we go in?

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This breathtaking house has taken five years to complete.

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All the living space is on the upper floor

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to make the most of the fantastic views, whilst the four bedrooms,

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each with an en-suite, are nestled underneath.

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And it's at this point when you come to the top of the stairs

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that you're presented with the view for the first time, really.

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I'm glad that you're actually surprised by the view.

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There'll be a lot of surprises here.

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We're just going to... suddenly get taken.

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I didn't think that was going to happen.

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-Chris, you do the honours.

-So down the long dark corridor.

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Every inch of this house has been carefully thought out

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by Chris and James.

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The idea is that rather than having a spare room that sits empty,

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you know, 300 nights of the year, if not more,

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this can be part of the space rather than a corridor.

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-And it can also...

-Aaaah...

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-..become a room.

-I'll get the second one.

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And there we are.

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With your own private water courtyard.

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As a studio-based group, we work very closely together.

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All schemes are critiqued by one another.

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We're only a small team, there's eight of us,

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but we all work effectively on the same project.

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This project has been basically my life

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for the last, well, certainly the last 18 months.

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So I think it's very hard to stay detached from any building

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and I think the job, you know, regardless of the size

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and the scale and the complexity, you're constantly switched on to it.

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But I think with this project it's been an absolute labour of love.

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In the Vale of Glamorgan James has a new upside-down love in his life -

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Marianne and Jon's new home.

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The steel frame is up and there's scaffolding to the first floor.

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Amongst other things,

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it's James's job to make sure the contractors are following drawings.

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These boots are amazing!

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First of all, they don't have laces

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so the laces don't drag in the mud, and then they're really warm,

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because if you're on site all day, your feet get cold,

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although I sound like a moaning pen pusher, to be honest!

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If the contractors hear me saying that!

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But James isn't here to see the contractors today, he's come

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to give client Marianne the benefit of his architectural vision.

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This is the best bit now,

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but it's been a project that I've wanted to do for about 20 years now.

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I feel very excited and very frightened, and very nervous,

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because I know what the plans look like, but I haven't got a real feel

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for how it looks, so, like making decisions on things, I'm not...

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you know, if you go into a room and say what colour should this room be

0:17:360:17:40

or what shall we do, you can see it because you're already in the room.

0:17:400:17:43

But I'm not really in the room

0:17:430:17:45

and I feel that the architect has got a good feel,

0:17:450:17:48

because they understand more about the plans and what it'll look like.

0:17:480:17:51

For example, I'm not really sure what the view will be like

0:17:510:17:54

on the first floor of this house, because I haven't been up there yet.

0:17:540:17:58

Although Marianne's always had a clear vision for her new home,

0:18:000:18:03

she's had to put her faith in Chris to interpret her ideas

0:18:030:18:06

and now she doesn't know what to expect.

0:18:060:18:08

It's up to James to show her just how stunning it will be.

0:18:080:18:12

-Let's climb up and have a look.

-OK.

0:18:120:18:13

Cos this will be the view from the kitchen.

0:18:130:18:15

-Yes, cos I've never seen that so that will be really good.

-Right.

0:18:150:18:18

By turning the house on its head and having the bedrooms downstairs

0:18:180:18:21

and reception rooms and kitchen above,

0:18:210:18:23

Marianne and Jon are hoping to make the most

0:18:230:18:26

of their incredible vantage point.

0:18:260:18:27

-It's going to be amazing.

-I think it's going to be really good.

0:18:270:18:30

You can definitely see the Channel really clearly, can't you?

0:18:300:18:34

Yeah, which was the whole point for flipping it, wasn't it?

0:18:340:18:36

-Yes.

-To make sure you get that view.

0:18:360:18:39

I'm in the kitchen.

0:18:390:18:42

I've just made my morning coffee,

0:18:430:18:45

or actually maybe I'd rather more think about

0:18:450:18:49

-my evening glass of wine.

-Yeah!

0:18:490:18:51

You can come out of the glass doors here

0:18:510:18:54

and I would have a little chair just where you're stood, Marianne,

0:18:540:18:58

and this is the view I'd be considering.

0:18:580:19:01

-Yeah.

-Just here, this side.

-Yes. This is the terrace, isn't it?

0:19:010:19:05

-No, the terrace is beyond that.

-Oh, yes.

0:19:050:19:07

The terrace is actually from this steel to the next steel.

0:19:070:19:10

-Oh, yes. So what's here then?

-This is part of this lounge space.

0:19:100:19:14

-It's all part of that lounge.

-Yes.

0:19:140:19:16

It's very hard for me to totally visualise it, James,

0:19:160:19:18

even having sat down and planned it and everything.

0:19:180:19:21

It's very hard for me to sort of spatially see, but, yeah,

0:19:210:19:25

I can get a real feel for it up here now, how big this area is.

0:19:250:19:30

With £842,000 of Marianne and Jon's money invested in the build,

0:19:300:19:34

she needs to get her head around the plans fast to make sure

0:19:340:19:37

she gets exactly what she wants, especially

0:19:370:19:39

since the builders are forging ahead in an effort to beat the elements.

0:19:390:19:43

Now time is of the essence, so we can get sealed in

0:19:430:19:45

with the timber frame before the bad weather turns.

0:19:450:19:48

The coming few weeks are crucial for Marianne and the build

0:19:480:19:52

and she's only too aware that the buck stops with her.

0:19:520:19:56

I'm getting very nervous, actually, now.

0:19:560:19:58

When I go around, before I used to feel really excited,

0:19:580:20:01

but now I'm feeling really nervous because now it's...

0:20:010:20:06

Things I'm making decisions on now are things that I'm going to see

0:20:060:20:11

and that I'm going to be living with,

0:20:110:20:13

so it really is coming home to me now

0:20:130:20:16

that I've got to try and get this right.

0:20:160:20:19

Back in Edinburgh,

0:20:260:20:28

unexpected costs on their two-storey extension

0:20:280:20:30

have stretched Mhairi and Peter's absolute maximum budget of £90,000

0:20:300:20:34

and, with the project past the halfway mark,

0:20:340:20:37

there is something else cramping the build for them.

0:20:370:20:41

The one issue that we've had is the height of this dormer

0:20:410:20:44

so we're hoping to get another six inches out of this.

0:20:440:20:47

You know, when we're going to all this effort, it is frustrating

0:20:470:20:50

when there's an issue here

0:20:500:20:52

that it shouldn't really have been an issue, we don't think,

0:20:520:20:56

because there is enough space there

0:20:560:20:58

to make it that little bit extra higher.

0:20:580:21:01

Their architect, David, designed the roof the way he did

0:21:010:21:04

in order to comply with planning regulations,

0:21:040:21:07

but with his clients unhappy, he's heading back to site

0:21:070:21:10

to take another look and see if he can find a solution

0:21:100:21:13

to their problems that will please everybody.

0:21:130:21:16

There is good reason for the way that it is.

0:21:160:21:18

The client has had the information since we designed it.

0:21:200:21:23

It's only become apparent in their heads

0:21:230:21:26

that there's an issue here that needs to be solved,

0:21:260:21:28

so, no, it's a challenge, it's something

0:21:280:21:31

that we need to have a look at and we need to do our best to sort it out

0:21:310:21:34

so the client gets what they actually want at the end of the day.

0:21:340:21:38

This was drawn as being a sort of framed dormer.

0:21:390:21:42

That's the way I've done it.

0:21:420:21:44

Right, so the same at the sides as it is at the top.

0:21:440:21:47

Right, OK. Yeah.

0:21:470:21:48

-150.

-Yeah. Any improvement on the roofline would be something

0:21:480:21:52

we ought to have a look at.

0:21:520:21:54

But Steven the builder thinks it might be a very big job.

0:21:540:21:58

It can slow the programme.

0:21:580:22:00

I have ordered the windows, so we might have to adjust

0:22:000:22:04

the size of them now, which could put a week or two onto it.

0:22:040:22:11

This could be disastrous for a budget that's already at its limit.

0:22:120:22:16

Nice cake...one of my client's special ones.

0:22:160:22:21

But David has been working on a plan.

0:22:210:22:25

Rather than buying a whole new dormer, he's proposing

0:22:250:22:27

they jack up the existing roof panel with additional timber framing.

0:22:270:22:31

If Steven agrees it will work, it could just save the day.

0:22:310:22:35

Leave the cheats,

0:22:350:22:36

take the plywood off the outside, denail it

0:22:360:22:40

and lift it up.

0:22:400:22:43

What are we talking?

0:22:430:22:45

A day's work for the pair of you?

0:22:450:22:46

Half a day probably, if that.

0:22:460:22:49

Work starts straightaway.

0:22:510:22:54

For David, coming up with solutions for client concerns

0:22:540:22:56

is part and parcel of being an architect.

0:22:560:22:58

I think quite often, clients don't fully understand

0:22:580:23:02

the nature of the building industry and where there is flexibility

0:23:020:23:08

and where there isn't flexibility.

0:23:080:23:10

If they're concerned about something,

0:23:100:23:11

and it's not quite as they want it, and they're spending lots of money

0:23:110:23:15

on their house to get exactly what they want, then sometimes

0:23:150:23:18

clients do become quite upset, but that's where we bring our expertise.

0:23:180:23:22

An architect will bring their understanding

0:23:220:23:24

of the building industry to it and say,

0:23:240:23:26

"Look, there's no point getting upset about this. Let's see how we can sort this out."

0:23:260:23:30

With the roof raised, the rest of the build can carry on as planned.

0:23:310:23:36

It's a bit chilly.

0:23:360:23:38

Right, well, I'll get my thermal hard hat on and have a quick look.

0:23:380:23:41

Raising the roof of the dormer by 130mm has made

0:23:440:23:47

quite a bit of difference actually.

0:23:470:23:49

It just sort of feels much more generous.

0:23:490:23:53

David's experience and quick action seems to have averted

0:23:530:23:56

the looming crisis with his clients.

0:23:560:23:59

Yeah, very happy with it.

0:23:590:24:00

Thankfully, he did come up with a good solution.

0:24:000:24:02

I'm so glad we raised it though, because now it's sorted,

0:24:020:24:05

otherwise every time I walked into the room

0:24:050:24:07

I'd have been really unhappy with the way it was.

0:24:070:24:10

We've been getting updates every couple of weeks

0:24:100:24:12

from the architect, and the budget has gone over slightly thus far,

0:24:120:24:17

but we knew about obviously the dormer raising - that was another £500.

0:24:170:24:23

We're about £2,000 over at the moment from where we'd hoped.

0:24:230:24:26

One week later and David is making an early-morning house call.

0:24:260:24:30

Depending on how they're paid, an architect can provide

0:24:300:24:33

a number of services - from simply providing drawings, to choosing

0:24:330:24:36

the contractors and suppliers, and regularly inspecting the site.

0:24:360:24:40

The render, and obviously we're not going to be re-rendering

0:24:400:24:45

the whole of your house.

0:24:450:24:46

So take the original render right along to that...

0:24:460:24:49

To the right-hand side of this here.

0:24:490:24:51

That's fine for me, because then as well,

0:24:510:24:53

-when you're coming down the street it all looks the same.

-Yes.

0:24:530:24:58

Pete's spoken to him quite a lot by phone.

0:24:580:25:00

Erm, but to actually have him out on site,

0:25:000:25:03

it's nice to be able to chat through things.

0:25:030:25:05

I wondered about putting glass shelves

0:25:050:25:07

or some cookery books on it or something.

0:25:070:25:09

-I like it being open.

-No, absolutely.

0:25:090:25:11

I think it's important you're able to see through,

0:25:110:25:13

-especially with keeping an eye on these little people.

-Exactly.

0:25:130:25:16

Quite happy. Happy client for once!

0:25:160:25:19

Just six weeks later, after three and a half months living with brick

0:25:260:25:29

dust, noise and disruption,

0:25:290:25:31

Mhairi and Peter have finally moved into their newly modelled extension.

0:25:310:25:35

By sticking to David's suggested plans and materials, and cleverly

0:25:370:25:40

re-using the painted roof tiles they took down to build the extension,

0:25:400:25:43

they've managed to bring the build in just a couple of thousand pounds

0:25:430:25:47

over budget, despite raising the dormer and adding extra steels.

0:25:470:25:51

Today, architect David is back to see the finished results.

0:25:510:25:55

-Peter, hi.

-David. Hi, how are you doing?

0:25:560:25:58

-Not too bad at all thanks.

-Good. Come on in.

-Cheers.

0:25:580:26:01

Their old conservatory has been replaced with a stunning new room

0:26:020:26:06

for the family to relax in.

0:26:060:26:07

It gives a big difference, doesn't it?

0:26:070:26:10

It's a massive difference, yes.

0:26:100:26:12

The light that is coming in on a relatively dark day like today

0:26:120:26:15

is quite a bit, isn't it?

0:26:150:26:17

It's one of my favourite things, is just the light

0:26:170:26:20

and the fact that it's coming from three or four different areas.

0:26:200:26:23

-Yeah.

-There's another room, but we've never used it at all

0:26:230:26:26

-since this has been done.

-We're not in the lounge as much.

0:26:260:26:29

And this is just so much nicer and brighter, and the downside

0:26:290:26:32

of having all this done is the rest of the house now looks tired!

0:26:320:26:36

The kitchen has taken on a new lease of life, with Mhairi

0:26:360:26:39

particularly liking one feature left over from the old building.

0:26:390:26:44

And I'm glad we've managed to keep my little space through

0:26:440:26:46

-to the kitchen.

-Well spotted!

0:26:460:26:48

-If the wee ones are sitting here, you can say...

-That's it exactly,

0:26:480:26:51

so when I'm at the sink, I can shout through to them.

0:26:510:26:55

Is this where the gin and tonic gets passed through?

0:26:550:26:58

-Yeah!

-Is it?!

0:26:580:26:59

Upstairs, the boys have swapped their old bedroom for this one,

0:27:010:27:05

complete with en suite.

0:27:050:27:07

What do you think of your rooms, guys?

0:27:070:27:09

-Do you like your bedroom?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

0:27:090:27:11

What do you like most about it?

0:27:110:27:13

-I think the bathroom.

-Oh, right, yes of course.

0:27:130:27:16

You've got your own bathroom, haven't you?

0:27:160:27:18

It was the biggest shower we could fit in there

0:27:180:27:20

in the space we've got and the existing roof space.

0:27:200:27:23

-Again it's just another quirky sort of design.

-Yeah.

0:27:230:27:27

I'm pleased that there are things about it which just lift it.

0:27:270:27:31

The natural light is great, the spaces are great.

0:27:310:27:34

The whole thing is a joint effort.

0:27:340:27:35

It's about, you know, us doing what we do, it's about the builder

0:27:350:27:39

doing what he does, and it's about the client wanting it all.

0:27:390:27:42

And then coming along and making it look great at the end.

0:27:420:27:44

By working closely with David, Mhairi and Peter have dealt quickly

0:27:440:27:47

with any problems that have come up.

0:27:470:27:49

They've brought it in almost on budget and most importantly,

0:27:490:27:52

they've created the home of their dreams.

0:27:520:27:56

Before we got the building done I was quite keen on moving

0:27:560:27:59

because the house just wasn't how I wanted it, but now I love it.

0:27:590:28:03

I love the space. I think it's going to make a big difference

0:28:030:28:07

to how we live as a family.

0:28:070:28:09

Next time on Building Dream Homes,

0:28:090:28:12

an extension causes tension for a growing family...

0:28:120:28:16

As you can understand, that wasn't what we agreed

0:28:160:28:19

when we placed the order, so...

0:28:190:28:20

But in Wales, Marianne is laying down the law...

0:28:200:28:23

Well, speak to me in language I can understand then and tell me.

0:28:230:28:27

I'm telling you what I want.

0:28:270:28:29

You tell me what I need to achieve what I want.

0:28:290:28:31

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