Episode 10 Building Dream Homes

Across the nation architects are building,

designing and transforming the homes we live in.

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

and not just do it for others.

We're following some of those leading the way

in ground-breaking design.

Their jaw would drop if they saw that.

I can't believe it.

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

builders, blueprints and the clients who hire them.

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

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

That's not good.

-It's like working with the Chuckle Brothers.

-Ho, ho, ho!

We're with them as they draw on their seven years of training

to solve everyday problems.

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

He's come in on an angle and ripped up the road

but he's now ripped his exhaust pipe off.

Oh, man!

I've said many prayers.

That's amazing!

That's a pretty incredible difference, isn't it?

The fixings alone cost £17,000.

All in the name of making the properties we dream of a reality.

Today in the New Forest, architect Wendy tackles a small

but clever build that needs to be more than just a house

to its new owner.

As my health has deteriorated and as things have got more difficult

with regards to space, imagining this has been

what has kept us going.

And in Dorset, architects Paul and Laurence's

amazing factory-built house is nearly complete,

but will they get it finished without a hitch?

It's the sort of project that they're only going to do

once in their lifetime, and I think Marcus really acknowledges this

and he wants to get it spot on.

Nestled in the wilds of the beautiful New Forest National Park,

husband and wife Cheryl and Ciaran Maher

have opened their home to bed and breakfast guests.

So how was the golf yesterday?

Yeah, not too bad, actually.

With their two children, Alan and Kelly, both at university,

it made perfect sense to use their old rooms for paying guests

and when either of the children came home

they could stay in this old gardener's cottage behind the house.

But recently, due to health problems,

Kelly's had to spend less time on her studies and more time at home

than she'd like, throwing the family's new life into disarray.

Kelly has been known to collapse up to 20 times a day.

Any bit of exercise, extra work to do normal things

like read a book, like to walk across the room,

takes a lot more out of her

and she is an absolute star. She never complains.

She has always kept fighting to get better. It's beyond...

I'll get upset.

Kelly's been diagnosed with Chronic Lyme disease,

an illness that causes, amongst other things, muscle pain,

tiredness, and swelling of the joints.

Last year was my third year.

Unfortunately, it coincided with a deterioration in my health

and I made the decision that it was... Now was the best time

to take the time off to properly focus on getting better.

The family are hoping that an intense but tough treatment

in Brussels will help rid Kelly of the disease.

When she returns, she'll need complete rest,

so recuperating in a busy B&B is not an option.

So her parents have decided to demolish the old gardener's cottage

behind the house, and plan to build an amazing two-bed structure

in its place - a haven for Kelly to recover in

and her brother Alan to stay in when he comes home.

Being involved with something like this has kept my mind off

all those other things, and it's very exciting to think

that around the same time as I'll have completed going through

that tough treatment, this project will hopefully be ready to enjoy.

They've chosen local, award-winning architect, Wendy Perring,

to design their new house.

She's well known for her beautiful and sympathetic designs

and her ability to make the most of every inch of space in a build.

And she'll need to use all of her imagination and talent

to meet the brief for this project.

The footprint for the new home is only 70m squared,

but the Mahers want to squeeze in a lot.

This is going to be a very compact little building

but it has everything within it that a house would have.

It's got two bedrooms, it's got a living space,

it's got its own little garden space, and it's got...

Each bedroom has an en-suite bathroom, but it will also, I think,

have a degree of unusualness in that it does have a double-height space.

Wood-burning stove, kitchenette so that they can make breakfast,

so it's very, very self-contained,

and I think will be quite an interesting little building.

The Mahers have a budget of £100,000 to spend

on their new space-saving house, including architect's fees,

build costs, and fixtures and fittings.

Ideally, they'd like it finished before

their bed and breakfast business reaches its busy period

in four months' time,

and for Kelly's return from her treatment in Brussels.

Overseeing the build is head contractor, Kevin Kilford.

He's worked with Wendy before and is used to dealing

with some of her more unusual requests.

The main structure was the gable outbuilding

of the gardener's cottage

which we're trying to preserve the look of that at that moment,

so that's all quite simple.

But all the original gardener's cottage is going to be clad

in corrugated cladding.

And it's not a product we've worked with extensively before.

By using materials that mirror the ones from the old gardener's cottage

and only slightly increasing the footprint

of the demolished building, Wendy ensures that the design

gets through planning without a hitch.

And with the plans approved, Kevin and his team spring into action.

Their impressive woodworking skills mean that the bespoke wooden frame

goes up in just five days.

I'd love to be able to study with a desk area just here,

and this would be the big window to let in the light in the summer.

It would be beautiful.

But it's December.

Working with new materials and with winter here,

Kevin's getting anxious about the four-month deadline he's been given.

This is the corrugated sheeting that we're using

for the cladding of the roof.

The lead time I've just discovered is a bit long...

Six weeks.

Plus they shut down for Christmas,

so it's going to be a bit tight for time.

Kevin's fears are a big concern,

especially as Cheryl and Kelly are about to depart to Brussels

for Kelly's treatment and won't be around to supervise.

Architect Wendy has come to say her goodbyes.

-Bye-bye.

-Good luck.

-Thank you. Thanks for everything.

-I'll be thinking of you.

I know, and help John out, will you?

Thanks very much. It's exciting now.

-It is.

-I'm feeling good now.

-Yeah.

I'm feeling emotional. I know. I'm sorry.

I'm feeling quite emotional that we've got to this stage.

Well, there will be something great for you to come back to look at.

With mother and daughter gone, it's up to Ciaran and Wendy

to hold the fort and things don't go to plan.

It's thousands of pounds worth of damage.

In Dorset, Marcus Grazziano and his family

have been working on a huge house building project.

They've demolished their old 1930s bungalow

and are putting a four bedroom

contemporary factory-built kit house in its place.

With a budget of £600,000,

they hired architects Paul Robinson and Laurence Bowen to design it.

The foundations have gone in.

The house was built over 500 miles away in Germany,

brought to site,

and put up in just six days.

The project may be nearing completion,

but there are still some major finishing touches

before the Grazziano family can move out of their rented accommodation

and into their new home.

After a speedy start,

client Marcus has seen his schedule slowly slipping.

Obviously at the beginning of the year

we got held up with the bad weather,

and also when we placed our order for the frame

it was coming closer to Christmas,

and the glazing factory who supplies all the windows into the frame,

they went on holiday for three weeks over Christmas.

And then that's been compounded by the worst weather in 250 years

or something like that.

But still, against that, we wanted to do it in six months.

We'll do it in eight months.

Today is a big day on site.

The three massive 360kg bespoke glass doors

architect Paul imagined and designed on his computer

all those months ago are about to be installed.

Big ticket item arriving to site today.

£20,000 these doors cost, so, yeah, they'd better fit.

We've only got 2mm tolerance,

so later on today there could to be some people crying.

If, for some reason, something is slightly out,

we've got nothing to play with.

2mm, that's it.

Using a hoist,

the first sheet of glass is very carefully lifted off the lorry.

With a combined value of £20,000,

the three panes of glass have to be handled with extreme care.

You only have to just catch the corner,

for something that is as strong as that, you know,

you can hit it with a lump hammer.

but you only have to catch it wrong and poof, it's gone.

It'll take two months to replace it.

This is going to be the interesting bit here.

They're going to have to put it down on there and then we'll see

if they're strong enough chaps to move it.

Getting the door into place cannot be rushed.

Whoa, whoa!

He's good, He's good. Pull.

I probably didn't realise when I drew this

how much of a challenge it would be.

It's definitely the biggest doors we've put in on a project.

It looks like the first one is in.

It's sliding OK.

Right on the end. Push it on.

Worth...worth the hard work.

Look at that. It's awesome.

The next pane is given as much care and attention as the first.

For Paul and Barry, it's a chance to see first-hand

the results of months of hard work.

Imagine the weight. You've got how many people lifting it?

To think I can move it with just one arm...

is pretty impressive.

I'm more than happy.

Award winning architect, Wendy Perring,

has worked in the New Forest for the past eight years

designing both unique and sustainable buildings

as well as restoring and renovating the more traditional.

Today, she's off to see a new project - an old water tower.

This project has really grabbed me

because it is something... The building is very quirky.

I love dealing with extremely unusual and challenging situations.

Built in the 1930s,

the water tower would have been used to house the water tank

and supply the pressure needed to get water to the main house.

It was converted by its previous owners.

It's just beautiful.

It's very imposing

but it's...the most lovely thing is its courtyard setting.

It's incredibly romantic as a building and just very detailed.

Very exciting, indeed. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Sheryl bought the cottage and adjoining water tower

five years ago.

The family have stamped their mark on the main house and garden,

but up until now the water tower has remained untouched.

Oh, just beautiful.

It currently has a bedroom on the first floor,

a living room on the second, and a bathroom at the top.

But it'll need a lot of work to bring it up to the standard

of the rest of the house.

It's incredibly cold.

It's cold.

As you can see it gets a little bit damp.

There's even mushrooms growing on some of the window sills

where there's a little bit of leakage.

Right. When do you use this?

Occasionally in the summer but really hardly at all.

-What a shame.

-I know.

I'd love to be able to have people to stay and say,

"Oh, you're staying in the tower?" Cos people find that novel.

It's kind of got a bit of a novelty factor to it

and I'd like to be able to sit up there and have some peaceful time.

But Wendy can already see the potential.

I think the lighting is having a really big effect,

actually, in this staircase.

Yeah. I mean when you rub that...

The shape of this is beautiful.

Even just handling, you know, that's lovely.

It is.

You know, I love that and you've got cracks and things in it,

so that type of thing is great.

Fabulous. Look at that.

That is amazing.

The tree...

just beautiful, isn't it?

It's just fantastic.

Sheryl hopes to spend no more than £40,000 transforming

the water tower into a unique addition to her home.

Oh, I love it.

It's absolutely fantastic.

It's just... It's one of those projects that you, as an architect...

I think you dream of and you're absolutely dying

to get your hands on. So I think we'll have lots of fun here.

I'm really excited about it.

At Wendy's current project in the New Forest,

the build of Cheryl and Ciaran's new house has been moving on apace.

The plan is to create a small haven for their two grown-up children,

Kelly and Alan, to stay in, and a place for Kelly to recover

from her intense course of treatment.

Architect Wendy's drawn inspiration from the original iron roof,

making the bold decision to clad part of the house

in a material more commonly seen on agricultural buildings.

What we have is a modern day equivalent of the corrugated tin.

It's not built of tin.

It's built of a fibrous cement board,

so it's a good material to use

but not normally used in a domestic setting.

Builder Kevin's not so sure...

This is designed for agricultural buildings at the end of the day.

And any pitch, it's usually used for massive, massive, massive barns...

Hay barns, or machinery barns and stuff, so it's a bit utilitarian,

really, but it's the look that, you know, Wendy is trying to get.

The cladding will be topped by a matching ridge.

The sections have just arrived on site and Kevin's having doubts.

These ridges are preformed and they suit any angle on the ridge,

but they just look quite bulky, and I just wanted to get Wendy

to sort of say they're OK, really.

Cos when they're actually held up on them

they do kick up quite a bit higher.

-Hey, Wendy, how you doing?

-Good, you?

The ridges are a key part of the look of the exterior.

The ridges are being held for your viewing pleasure.

And if they don't meet Wendy's vision,

then she might have to rethink her use of this unorthodox material.

And what's the return policy on it?

I'm not saying no, I'm just bringing it up for discussion.

-No, because it's a special order painted...

-Yeah.

Actually, when you stand back and look at it and you see the...

I think this helps, doesn't it?

-If it was just that section which is just a short section.

-Yeah.

I think once it's all clad and you see it as a complete entity,

I think it will be fine.

Yeah, thanks, guys.

With the build nearing completion, it's reached a critical stage.

To bring as much light into the house as possible,

Wendy's ordered large and expensive bespoke glass doors and windows.

It's taken nine weeks for them to be built

and today they're finally being delivered.

All the builders have to do is make sure

they get from the bottom of the garden to site.

Each door costs £6,000 and is over 7ft tall,

and so needs to be handled with care.

Client Ciaran has just been given some devastating news.

There's some damage to the doors.

The way the actual pallet was stacked was the four doors

were sitting on top of each other and as one came off

it just cascaded down, hit the ground,

and two of the four have been damaged.

The damage is potentially disastrous.

Just what you needed at the moment(!)

Architect Wendy is equally distraught.

I think it's a case of having to get them re-made

and waiting another ten weeks for them to arrive.

Without the windows, the building can't be made watertight,

putting a halt to progress.

The B&B is starting to get busy, and daughter Kelly

will soon be back from Brussels and needs the house to be ready.

Under pressure, Kevin comes up with a stop gap solution.

The external leaf is all fine, seals are fine, glass is fine,

everything else is fine.

It's just this timber split here so we're going to look at doing

a minor repair for now.

Fix the frame in for security

because whatever we do isn't going to happen overnight,

so we need to press on.

It's the only bit that will be left but at least it's secure and dry

so we can carry on with the second fix, and finishing off

and fitting out the bathrooms, and all the expensive items can come in.

Wendy has come to site to meet Cheryl...

Hello.

..who's on a rare visit home from Belgium

where Kelly is receiving her specialist treatment.

-How are you keeping?

-I'm fine. How are you?

Great, yeah. Good. Coffee?

It's a chance for Wendy to catch up with her client

about how things are going.

Is your head so much in Kelly's treatment or do you feel

you have enough head space to be able to make decisions

about what's going on?

Well, it's a mix of the medical treatment on one hand,

but keeping life a little bit sane on the other side

because this is the future.

The future is Kelly being better.

The future is this building and moving forward.

That's actually quite nice, isn't it?

To have a focus on something that's other than on Kelly's treatment.

-It's keeping us all sane. It's keeping us all going.

-Yeah.

Whilst Wendy is here, she's keen to check on progress.

Oh, look at this.

Yes. Do you like the floor?

I do. Yeah, I do.

-Oh, wow!

-Good?

Wow. It's a little man cave.

You've got a transition zone here.

Sorry, excuse me.

That's wonderful!

Mother and daughter are heading back to Belgium in a couple of days

to complete Kelly's treatment.

Knowing the house will be waiting for them on their return

has always been a real motivator for Kelly.

It's very exciting to think that they're both on the same time frame,

and it has definitely been something to keep me positive.

Two months later, the damaged doors are still not replaced

but the rest of the work is finally complete.

The old building was a draughty shed with little use or function.

It's now a cool, contemporary building.

Wendy has come round to see the finished cottage

she designed for brother and sister Kelly and Alan.

Thank you very much. Oh, look at these coat hooks.

Wow. It looks fabulous.

Oh, my goodness!

Wendy's challenge was always to make the most

of the tiny 70m squared space she had available,

and by using clever features like sliding doors,

stunning mezzanine sleeping areas with access out onto the roof

and Kelly's bold colours,

the new building feels spacious enough to be a proper home.

Oh, it's fabulous. Gosh, Kelly must be delighted.

It's absolutely... It's perfect.

It feels really big.

That's what I can't believe with all the rooms.

All along we've known it's a small building,

but when you come in, it's just...

It doesn't feel small at all.

There's a bed, a wardrobe...

there's a desk, and there's still room, you know, one day for her

to spread out her yoga mat.

Well, that's... Cos she loves yoga.

The room is a triumph and exactly as Kelly imagined it would be.

I'd love to be able to study with a desk area just here

and this would be the big window to let in the light

so in the summer it would be beautiful.

-Here the beauty of this is that she can look out over the garden.

-Yeah.

-Well, I hope you like it.

-I do.

Cos I love it.

It's just great. Yeah, everything I'd hoped for.

More than what I'd hoped for. Thank you very, very much.

-Really, thank you.

-You're welcome.

What we've managed to achieve in a very small space is fantastic.

It feels really...it feels like a much larger building

than it looks like on the outside.

It feels quite quirky and therefore it suits them as a family.

It suits their characters, so...

And I think most importantly they seem to be happy.

Kelly is back from treatment.

She's not yet able to move in but has had a lot of input

into how her new room looks.

As mum Cheryl knows, having the cottage to look forward to

has been, and will continue to be, an important part of Kelly's recovery.

That room is totally and utterly vital.

Her sanctuary... it's where she's going to start

to bring her life back again.

And hopefully, as she starts getting well enough

to read a bit more again,

life will start taking off and she will start seeing light

-at the end of the tunnel, won't she?

-Yeah.

In Dorset, Marcus Grazziano and his family

are into the final stage of building

before they can move into their incredible factory built,

two-storey, £600,000 house.

Over its six month schedule,

the project has delivered drama after drama

for architects Paul and Laurence and head contractor Barry Bacon.

From extreme weather jeopardising the work...

We're going to call the pour off now.

It's causing too much damage.

A visit to the factory in Germany that went with a bang...

That's not good.

..to the impressive spectacle of an entire house

being erected in a blistering six days.

The schedule for the build is running nearly two months behind,

but it's very nearly finished.

Paul and Laurence are back to meet contractor Barry and owner Marcus.

-It's looking good.

-Yeah. That's changed loads since we last saw it.

Yeah. I'm quite amazed, actually, how far they've come.

Eight months ago, a dilapidated 1930s bungalow stood in this spot.

Now, it's a stunning contemporary piece of architecture.

The treated Siberian larch cladding

and local Purbeck stone beneath soften this super modern exterior

and help to tie it back into the surrounding countryside.

The huge £20,000 glass doors at the front

make the most of the spectacular views.

-How are you doing?

-Good to see you.

-How are you doing, mate?

-How are you doing?

-Are you all right?

-Yeah.

-Looking good, eh?

It looks fantastic.

Work to the exterior dry stone walls

is still a few weeks away from completion.

I hadn't really taken on board the fact

that they have to dress every stone.

You kind of assume that you could pick some stone up

and be able to use it but they are going to the last person on site.

I think that's nice that the contrast of the build to go from, you know,

a kind of hi tech factory in Germany,

in terms of the basic system that's been put up,

and then you've just got this real kind of craftsmanship

with the finishes.

It's been quite a journey for Marcus.

Just the reality of standing here now is, um...

It kind of leaves you a little bit numb.

Is that just because of how much it's cost?!

But there are some people who know exactly how they feel about it.

I think it looks cool because it's got stairs

and it's got a laundry chute.

Inside, the house is starting to take shape.

The four bedrooms are split across the two floors

with the whole house designed to make the most of the natural light

and views from the moment you walk in.

There's a massive impact when you come in

because you see through there,

you've got this big opening,

you can see the kind of voided area going up

but you've got a big fenced off height up there.

-Yeah, it's a nice volume of space.

-Yeah.

What's nice is when you approach the house from the front...

-You can't see it.

-You can't see that, yeah.

Yeah, I think that's what...

So you do get this kind of...

This kind of awe that the massing of the building in front of you,

you can't see what's behind it.

It's like the private view when you get this bang,

it's a big kind of vista.

It's one of the old kind of cliches,

but everyone says you want to bring the outside in,

but it does, actually.

When you stand here now and you look out, it does do that.

Just as Paul imagined in his original computer-generated plans,

there'll be a lounge on the first floor

to make the most of the fantastic vistas

and a large kitchen/dining room below.

Amazed... When I first walked in and saw this,

I was like, "Oh, my God."

You know, you kind of just stand and stare.

The lounge above gives the family another area to relax.

This is the view, isn't it?

They're both awesome.

The view from downstairs and from up here.

It just seems nice that you've got the options

of different types of spaces

depending on what you guys are doing as a family, I think.

This house was fabricated on a factory line in Germany,

and yet it has delivered everything Paul and Laurence imagined

when they first designed it.

I think the other thing that's nice which is, you know,

we're starting to do now,

is that there's this sort of misconception that timber frame,

you know, people think that it's a kit system.

So it's kit parts and you can only get a certain house.

-You either get style A, B, or C.

-Yeah.

But you can still use it as a process to create a piece of architecture

which is bespoke to what you guys wanted.

The building has been a battle

against planners, time, and the elements,

but for Laurence, it's a worthy addition to the Dorset countryside.

Seeing it today, I think one of the big successes is that

it's a contemporary piece of architecture within a rural setting.

I think it's nice to kind of demonstrate that you can do something

that is progressive and doesn't have to hark back

to the kind of twee cottage, if you like,

or the kind of traditional barn.

And I think, you know, seeing it within its setting today,

I think that's really worked.

And for Marcus, it's finally given him the family home

he's been dreaming of.

It's exceeded what I thought it was going to be.

I couldn't actually see... I could see this bit.

I didn't know what was going to go on outside

and therefore how that was going to look.

But seeing it now, it's by far exceeded my expectations.

It's brilliant. I'm really pleased.

Next time...

In Scotland, architect Bobby battles to build

not one, but ten houses.

They have to move in. Failure is no option.

But a visit from the building inspector threatens to derail

his efforts at the last hurdle.

If I can't get it done tomorrow,

the house won't get a completion certificate.

We can't issue the completion certificate until that is done.

And in Wales, architect Dan is designing a £1,000,000 family home.

If I look at this house and I'm looking at the quality of the finish,

I'm always going to demand perfection.

But he and his client don't see eye to eye.

Dan has his view and I have mine and they don't meet.