Adventure Den The Dengineers

-I'm Mark.

-And I'm Lauren.

-And this is The Dengineers.

The show that puts you in charge of building your very own dream den.

-Oh!

-'Dens for adventure.'

Hello, trap door.

'Hanging out with your friends and family.'

This den is the best thing ever.

'And dens built to fulfil your dreams.'

It's more than he could ever want.

-Aw, Mum!

-Aw!

'Whatever your ideas,

'the Dengineers team are here to transform your inspiration

'into amazing spaces.'

'Built especially for you.'

-This...

-Den...

-Is...

-Done!

Hello!

Yes, you, Lola.

Let's do it.

That is epic.

-Really happy.

-It's amazing.

Hello and welcome to The Dengineers. Today, we're in south London

to surprise a nine-year-old boy called Rufus

with the news that he's going to build his very own adventure den.

Very shortly, he's going to be arriving to his karate lesson.

Taught him everything he knows.

And we're going to be hidden outside.

He has no idea that this is going to happen.

-Neither do you.

-Aargh!

Yes, brother.

Today's Dengineer is Rufus from Wimbledon in south London.

I really want a den because I love having adventures.

Rufus is into football, hanging out with his sister Dixie and climbing.

He's like any other nine-year-old boy, except for one thing.

Rufus has leukaemia.

It's a form of cancer that means he spends a lot of time

at the hospital with his mum.

I have acute lymphoblastic leukaemia,

which is cancer of the blood, and I was six when I got it.

I've had steroids and chemotherapy,

which both make me feel really poorly,

and I've had lots of different types of operations.

Rufus has coped really well throughout his condition.

It's really not been easy for him at all.

Lovely, that looks good.

He's been receiving treatment for three years and being so poorly

has meant that he's often had to miss out on things.

His immune system can't really cope with any kind of infection at all,

so we wouldn't take him to a football match and,

certainly, birthday parties, they're out as well.

The good news is that in a few months' time,

his treatment will come to an end and life can start

to get back to normal.

This den will be a place for him to play with his friends and forget

all about the treatment that he's had and forget about

all the hospital admissions and visits.

He will be known as the boy in his school that has a den

that all of his friends can play in,

as opposed to the boy in school that has to come to hospital a lot.

I can't wait to have my very own den where I can do whatever I want.

No grown-ups allowed.

Rufus has no idea that we're here to surprise him

at his school karate lesson.

Right now, him and his classmates are getting into their karate gear,

so the Dengineers team have sprung into action

to rig our hidden cameras.

We're pretending to be a local news crew doing a story

on karate in schools.

The boys enter the hall, which is our signal to get into position.

Quick, quick. Stay low, stay low.

Rufus is completely unaware that we're here and about to surprise him

with the news that he's going to get the den of his dreams.

Hello. My name is Lauren.

This is Mark and we are from CBBC's The Dengineers.

We're here to tell you that you're going to be building

your very own dream den.

Why have you gone so quiet?

Because I'm very excited.

-Are you shocked?

-Yes.

Come in, Mum and Dad.

Surprise. Gotcha.

-ALL:

-Aw!

Well, Rufus, if you want to build this dream den,

you need to start talking to us and come out of shock mode.

-High five.

-Yes, high five.

See you later, guys.

Well done.

I never thought this was going to happen.

I've got butterflies.

Well, there's no time for butterflies,

there's a den to design.

We head straight to the Dengineers' mobile HQ,

which has some cutting edge tech that can bring

Rufus' adventure den to life.

So, Rufus, welcome to the Dengineers' mobile HQ.

In here is where we get all of your ideas together

and get ready to start making your den.

Rufus, remember, this is your den,

so anything that's in your head, if you see it at the bottom,

just drag it up. Are you ready?

-Yes.

-Come on, then, let's start.

So, no grown-ups allowed because I want it to be private.

Straight away, there's no pictures, no colours yet,

it's just no grown-ups allowed.

What about us two? Are we grown-ups?

You don't really act like grown-ups.

-Thank you very much.

-We're not really.

-Climbing.

-OK, so what do you imagine it might look like from the outside?

-High up.

-OK.

And is this the sort of look that you want?

-So, like, kind of hidden?

-Yes.

-Nice.

Well, dive in.

-Equipment.

-Climbing equipment, yes.

Oh! Some kind of trap door, type of thing?

Yes, some beanbags to sit on.

Something like that.

Rope ladders.

-Yeah!

-We could have a lookout tower.

That would be incredible. Who are you looking out for?

Um... My sister, so she can't get in.

If you're high up, how are you going to get food and water?

Oh. I could have one of these.

-Yes!

-You could just be like, "Mum, I need, like, a hamburger,"

get it in the bucket. Are you happy?

-Yes.

-Are you sure you're leaving no stone unturned?

-Yes.

-Let's do it then.

'Rufus's mood board is packed with ideas for his adventure den.

'He wants to be able to do his favourite hobby - climbing.

'Use a pull-up snack bucket for supplies,

'and, to make sure there's no grown-ups allowed,

'he wants a lookout tower.'

But which of The Dengineers designers

will be building Rufus' den?

It's Sege.

He's been in the building business for over 30 years.

If anyone can make Rufus' adventure den dreams come true,

it's definitely Sege the ledge.

Who would you most like to build your den?

-Sege.

-Sege!

Who's that through there?

Oh, it's Sege.

Yes!

Let's go see Sege.

Hi, Rufus, pleased to meet you.

How are you?

-This is all very exciting, isn't it?

-Yes.

-I've seen your mood board,

so how about you start telling me all the sort of things

-you'd like in your den?

-So, I'd like to be able to climb up to it,

so, like, a rope ladder to get up to it.

So, perhaps on stilts, or something similar?

Yes, and a watchtower.

-A lookout tower.

-Sege, how excited are you about this?

-I'm really excited, this is the sort...

-He can't stop smiling.

I know! It's exactly the sort of thing I would have

-wanted when I was your age.

-Are you happy with what Sege

has said? Have you told him all your ideas? Are you happy

-with what he's had to say?

-Yes.

-So, you're ready to start.

-Shall we do it?

-Yes.

Rufus has given Sege and the Dengineers

a very clear brief for his adventure den.

Sege has designed the den to wrap around one of the trees.

There's a lookout tower and plenty of places for Rufus to climb

as the den will be raised off the ground on stilts.

He'll also have a pull-up snack bucket and parent-proof steps.

From now on, guys, it is Dengineers only and you guys,

you aren't Dengineers, I'm afraid.

So, you're going to have to sling your hook.

-I'll take you off.

-Wave goodbye, Rufus.

-Bye!

-See you later.

-What do you think?

-Good.

Excellent stuff. Stick it on here.

I'm feeling slightly anxious.

I don't know about everyone else.

Yeah, I am anxious, too.

-I'm excited.

-That's good, excited is good.

Anxiously excited.

It's day one, and the Dengineers have arrived to prepare the ground

for Rufus' adventure den.

Sege has left Rufus in charge, so he and Dengineer Dan go over the plans

before work gets under way.

That is what we're going to be digging.

And then the ground workers

have arrived and they've started to mark out

where my den's going to be.

-How are you getting on?

-We're almost there, ready to dig.

-Good.

They've dug out three wheelbarrows already

and they haven't even gone very far down.

So Rufus gets involved to speed things up.

That's it, up.

Everyone's working hard to make a solid base for the den.

Holes are dug for posts that will raise it off the ground.

Now the area of the den has been dug out and filled with hard-core,

it's time to bring out the whacker.

It's really cool,

but it makes you feel really tingly in your arms.

Concrete slabs are laid that will help take the weight of Rufus' den.

With the base of the den nearly done,

all that's left is for Rufus to sign off the work.

I think me and Dan have made a very good team

and the other guys have done a very good job as well.

High five.

The ground works are complete,

so Rufus can look forward to Sege

and the team starting on the main build tomorrow.

Fingers crossed the concrete dries in time.

It's day two and Sege has arrived to inspect the ground works.

It looks like the ground works have done a very good job and a neat job

most of all. First inspection, it looks pretty good.

Which means it's go, go, go for the Dengineers!

When I woke up this morning, I knew the Dengineers would come,

but now they're here,

there are so many people and lots of different things going on.

I think now they're going to start building the main bit of the den

and I can't wait to see what happens.

Everyone is pitching in to get the build under way, but where's Mark?

-What time do you call this?

-How early is this?

-What time did you lot start?

-We've been here two hours.

There is loads to do on this den, mate.

You're going to hold us up. Come on!

-I don't know.

-'No slacking, Mr Wright.'

Let's get that out, Pete.

One down, nine more to go.

-What? Nine?!

-Easy, easy!

Come on, let's get cracking.

It's the biggest thing I've ever carried.

It's a house.

The thing is, they've all been helping each other,

I'm here on my own. Where are they?

-What am I going to do?

-I don't know, Mark, it's broken, mate.

Sege, Sege!

-What's Mark actually done?

-He snapped it off there, mate.

Oh, what a bloke.

We'll get over that, we can fix anything.

Whatever happens, lads,

no more breakages otherwise we're going to be really behind.

With the den in more bits than when it started,

at least electrician Matt is doing a good job running power

from the house to the site of the den.

We're going to run in the armoured cable all the way

down the garden to the den. It's called SWA - steel wired armoured.

It's got a protective steel wire on the outside

so you can't damage it and get electrocuted.

There are some jobs that I think you're going to be

good to help with, so what sort of jobs do you think

-you would like to do?

-Putting up the stilts.

-You would like to help putting up the stilts?

-Yeah.

The Dengineers are hard at work getting the stilts of the den

into position.

Right, this is the thing you have been waiting for, isn't it,

Rufus? Putting the stilts in, OK. Pete's going to guide you in.

Once we've got it in position, we're going to brace it up.

Let's go. Yep.

If you would like to hold this brace.

Down there.

DRILLING

'While Rufus gets hands-on bracing the stilts,

'I want to find out more about how this technique works.'

So, as you can see, this is a scale model of what we're building there.

So what you're doing, in effect, is you're building triangles.

Can you see those triangles here?

Lots of little triangles that helps keep these posts stable.

They're a type of foundation

and they also stop these plates from bending.

So what happens if you forgot to put one of these in?

If I take a couple out..

..you help as well, that's it.

What starts to happen very quickly is that.

-It starts moving and wobbling.

-Everything starts to wobble.

-A bit of wind...

-A bit of wind, wobble and collapse.

Yes, he had to do that.

The weight of Rufus' den is pushing down on to the stilts.

The weight could cause the stilts to move outwards

and the den to topple over.

But, by bracing the posts like he has,

Sege has made sure they won't move and so the den is secure.

'We're making really good progress with the den,

'so I'm off for a nice cup of coffee and a chat with Rufus' mum and dad.

'Keep up the good work, you lot!'

So, the den is under way.

How do you think Rufus feels about it?

I mean, he's so excited, isn't he?

He's beyond buzzing. It's a good job he's got heavy shoes on,

keeping him down.

What's it going to mean to Rufus?

A huge amount, cos it's his thing.

For the last three years, with all the treatment,

all the other things he's gone through,

he's relied on other people and this is his thing.

It's his idea. He wanted to do it.

18 months ago, there was no way

that he could have thought about climbing.

I think he's really started to feel the loss of the things he could do.

Roger, when we surprised Rufus, I saw you get quite upset...

Because it was special to him.

It's very moving for us to see him so happy.

Rufus really does deserve the den of his dreams.

The Dengineers are working flat out

to make that happen, and it's hungry work.

Seeing as you're not doing anything, Mark,

how about making some chips for the lads?

-Have they not had lunch?

-No, they're starving.

Go on, Sege, you leave them there and we'll get it sorted.

-Don't forget the sack.

-All right, cool. Could I order

ten portions of home-made chips, please?

-Ten?

-Yeah.

Yes, thank you very much.

Quick!

Cheers, mate. Cheers. Thank you, see ya.

-Here you go, lads.

-Oh, chips, Mark.

There you go, nice home-made chips.

-Really?

-See you in a bit, guys.

Go and have a lie down.

Refuelled and ready to go,

the team put in one last push to get the main structure up

-before the end of the day.

-It's been brilliant.

We've all chipped in. The lads have all worked really hard.

We even got Mark helping us this time,

so it's been really, really good.

Come over here, Ruf.

I tell you what, the outside is looking amazing, isn't it?

Yeah. I think it will be the only thing I ever clean.

Clean? Don't you clean your bedroom?

-No.

-But you are proud of this, so you will?

-Yeah.

Love it. Dens come first.

It's a peaceful morning in Wimbledon.

Until the Dengineers turn up,

ready for day three of the build.

And Rufus has got plans for Sege and the team.

I want everyone to work really hard today so the den comes on well.

This is the bucket for Rufus' supplies.

So that he can pull his supplies indoors.

Push it right up tight.

Forget about three men to change a light bulb!

Three men to tie a bucket handle.

Ta-da!

There's only one day left

for the team to finish the den, and there's still loads to do,

including one last job for Rufus.

OK, Rufus, what I've got for you now is a really cool upcycle idea.

-OK.

-I've bought a very cheap hammock made of rope string.

-OK.

-And it's all tied together with lots and lots of knots.

These knots, when you lie on them, more than likely,

are going to be very uncomfortable,

-which is one thing we don't want, do we?

-Uh-huh.

-So, remember those

-potato sacks yesterday?

-Yes.

-So what we are going to do is create

a type of mattress lining over the hammock.

Sege and Rufus tie the potato sacks to the hammock,

before bringing out some material to create a lining.

You could pick the words that you'd like to print on it.

They're going to stencil it using black paint.

This is the good bit, the dirty bit.

Stipple the brush like this, very hard.

Don't worry about my fingers, just go for it.

-OK. What do you think of that then, Rufus?

-That looks really cool.

It looks such good fun that the whole team want to get involved.

-ALL:

-Ahhh!

Er, guys, shouldn't you be building a den?

And it's not just the Dengineers getting covered in paint,

Sege wants Rufus to create paint splatters on the material.

I'm lovin this!

So let's leave this to dry now and I'll attach it to the hammock later.

Let's go.

Now the hammock is finished,

the den is off-limits to Rufus until the big reveal.

So, to keep him occupied, I've got a seriously cool treat in store.

Rufus is a man after my own heart.

He loves adventures, so I've set up something pretty cool

that I know he's going to love. And it all happens right in there.

-Rufus, how are you doing?

-Good.

Now, I thought we should do something really fun,

something I've always wanted to do and something I think

you're going to love. We're going to have a go at indoor skydiving.

-What do you think at that?

-Really cool.

-Are you excited?

-Yeah.

Shall we go and meet our instructor and get this show on the road?

-Yes.

-Yeah, come on.

Meet Ged,

our instructor and the man who's got all the moves.

Ged shows us how to get into the perfect body position for skydiving.

I call it the happy, smiling banana.

There's my banana shape.

And what hand signals to use to communicate.

So, if you want to come out of the tunnel, put both of your thumbs down

and you keep shaking your head.

But you won't want to get out, I promise you.

After a bit of practice, we're ready to go.

You want to look up. Look up here, look.

TURBINES HUM LOUDLY

The noise is incredible.

The wind tunnel can get up to speeds of 180 miles per hour.

I can see why we need those hand signals now.

It's a bit scary on your first go.

But such an amazing feeling.

I can tell Rufus is nervous.

But he gives it a go straight away.

Good man!

It feels cool, but scary.

And you can't really breathe at first.

It's quite nice, actually, when you get used to it.

Once we've got the hang of it, there's no stopping us.

But something very funny happens to your face

when you're flying at a high speed.

Mark looks like a scared fish.

A massive thank you to Ged and his team.

It's been an amazing day and this is one adventure

Rufus will never forget.

This has made me really excited about my adventure den.

While they've been flying high,

the Dengineers have gone all-out to get Rufus' den

finished before the big reveal tomorrow.

In just a few hours,

Rufus will get to see his den for the very first time.

And the team have been up early, preparing for the big reveal.

Wow. This is incredible!

-Segola!

-Hiya.

-How are you doing?

-Very well, how are you?

-It looks incredible.

-It looks amazing. Are you chuffed?

-I'm absolutely chuffed. Been camping.

-Can we come up?

-Yeah, please do, yeah.

-Here we go.

-It's a bit steep.

-OK.

Push yourself up there, that's it.

No, no, no, Mark, please, go back down, I'm going to show you a trick.

Lauren, if you could undo those flaps for me?

-What these? Yes.

-Thank you.

See those two pieces of cord, they are going to reveal...

-Wow!

-Sege is the man.

There's stairs. There's stairs!

Oh, this is incredible.

Right, Sege, what needs doing?

Start to dress it up now.

# Dress it up, dress it up

-ALL:

-# You've got to dress it up

# Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah

# You've got to dress it up, dress it up... #

Calm down, calm down...

Time is ticking, so it's all hands on deck

to get Rufus' den ready as his friends and family arrive.

I cannot wait to see Rufus' den.

He's been talking about it for the last couple of weeks,

and I'm so excited.

I really hope Rufus will let me in the den.

Fingers crossed.

I do feel a bit emotional.

It's really, really, really special for them.

Got it.

-Hiya.

-Have a look at this.

I think we've nailed everything that he asked for.

It looks fantastic.

The weather's held out.

It's just going to be a great day and I can't wait for him to see it.

Having leukaemia has meant that Rufus has missed out

on lots of things over the past three years.

Now that his treatment is coming to an end,

Sege and the Dengineers have transformed

the bottom of his garden,

giving Rufus a den built for adventures.

Complete with lookout tower,

trap door,

pull-up snack bucket,

and rope ladder...

..this den is definitely no grown-ups allowed.

Rufus and friends and family, are you ready to see the completed den?

-ALL:

-YES!

-BOTH:

-Five, four, three, two, one...

Wow. That is epic!

That's so cool.

That's fantastic.

Epic.

Is that what you dreamed of, Rufus?

-Yes.

-Rufus designed everything you can see here from scratch,

along with Sege, who made it all happen.

So I think they both deserve a round of applause. And all the Dengineers.

I bet you want to get in there now, don't you, mate?

-Yeah.

-Go on, then, mate, up you go.

Let's go for it. Let me just check these here.

Oh, do you want to pull those two little cords?

Wow, that's cool.

Those are actually parent-proof stairs, to stop you guys coming in.

Look at that, the king of the tower.

Wow, awesome.

How's that for a spy-out?

It's really fun.

Captain Rufus, I love it.

And look at this.

-Whoa.

-Whoa!

-Awesome!

-Constant hidden things in this den, go on, have a seat.

It's really comfy as well.

-You can sit and have your lunch in the sun.

-Yeah.

-Do your homework in the sun.

-No.

-No, just what I thought.

-Do you want to go inside?

-Yeah.

Ready for it?

Whoa!

That is epic.

So cool.

So many things in here.

Oh. Epic. It's so cool.

'And he hasn't even seen the best bits yet.'

Whoa.

ROPE SQUEAKS

-Oh, yeah!

-Yeah!

-Oh, that's cool.

I'll take a cheeseburger, please.

-And...

-Whoa!

A picture of you guys from when you went indoor skydiving.

Oh, yeah, that was so fun.

There is one more surprise in here that you haven't seen yet.

Can you guess where it is?

-Have a look around.

-He's not going to guess, so just...

-Any guesses?

-No.

What if I showed you under here?

Oh.

Hello, trap door.

And watch, watch.

Awesome.

-So good!

-I think Rufus is pretty happy.

-Are you happy, though, Rufus? Cos this is your den.

-Yeah!

So if there's anything you don't like, now's the time to tell us.

No, there's nothing I don't like.

So, you're over the moon and you're ready to show Mum,

-Dad and the family?

-Yes.

-Enjoy, guys.

-It's so cool.

-Oh, my goodness!

Oh, it's so gorgeous.

A bed. Wow.

Look at the mugs, look at the mugs!

And look, pictures.

-SEGE:

-It's really, really wonderful to see him enjoying the den.

It looks fantastic. He's having a great time.

It makes me feel so happy.

I went indoor skydiving.

Rufus wanted an adventure den

and that's just what Sege and the Dengineers has delivered.

He's got all the equipment he needs and plenty of places to climb,

as well as somewhere to chill out with his mates.

-MUM:

-Ah, fantastic. I mean, it's extraordinary.

It's so organic. It's like it's grown out of the floor.

-Thank you.

-My pleasure, Ruf.

-Thank you so much.

My pleasure. Are you really happy?

-Yeah.

-Is it everything that you wanted?

-Better.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

Rufus can now start to have all the adventures he's really wanted

and there'll be no stopping him.

I think it's amazing.

It's, like, way better than we expected. It's really cool.

This den means a lot to me,

because he's missed out on a lot of stuff.

Like just doing the lad thing, building the den.

And we've managed to bring that together for him,

as if he'd built it himself.

My den is the only place I'm going to be in all my free time

and there's going to be no grown-ups allowed.

ALL: THIS DEN IS DONE!

CHEERING