Episode 11 Building Dream Homes

Across the nation, architects are 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 groundbreaking 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 grand.

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

Today, architect Bobby Halliday gets to grips with designing and building not one,

but ten bespoke houses in Stirling.

One couple has to be in their new home by Christmas.

They have to move in. Failure is no option.

But an inspection threatens to derail their plans.

If I can't get it done tomorrow, the house won't get a completion certificate.

We can't issue the completion until that's done.

Architect Dan Benham is designing a £1.5 million family home.

If I look at this house and I look 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.

Bobby Halliday has been an architect for over 35 years.

There's kind of one thing that is really important

and you need an ideas hat.

He's a familiar face on building sites.

Oh, boy!

From site-walking architect to trendy architect,

that's it, quick change!

Bobby has spearheaded countless projects across rural Stirlingshire,

from extensions and conversions to new builds.

But his latest development is much bigger than that.

He's converting a group of old farm buildings

into ten residential properties.

Well, the site is a former farmsteading.

It was built probably about 160 years ago

and it fell into complete disrepair 20 years ago.

The project here is to renovate, where possible,

but, in actual fact, all of the steading has had to be demolished

and we obviously obtained planning approval to do that.

Bobby specialises in farmsteading conversions.

Having driven past the site for years,

he saw its potential and approached the farmer about selling the land.

It was the location that was the main attraction.

We can see Stirling Castle in the background

on the eastern side of the steading.

You can see the Wallace Monument.

It's a really nice location.

Bobby drew up plans for ten dwellings

and then convinced an investor to come on board.

They stumped up £400,000 to buy the land

and pay the £2 million construction costs.

They're hoping to make a profit of £500,000.

In order to achieve that, Bobby, who is also project managing,

has to keep the build on schedule. They have 18 months to complete it.

So the programme really is to get these houses,

get the purchasers in really every three weeks.

This is a lot of pressure to do this.

We give the client a service that if they want to move a partition,

or they want to have a different bathroom or kitchen,

then we will organise that for them.

So that has its own problems

in that sometimes the kitchen doesn't arrive on time,

sometimes the concrete floor doesn't dry on time.

So the pressure is on everybody to try and get this finished.

But a brutal Scottish winter is doing its best to scupper

Bobby's plans to get it finished on time.

Whoa!

There you go.

The exposed site, freezing temperatures, wind and rain

are causing major problems for site manager Stuart McFarlane.

The constant battle with the elements is badly affecting every part of the build

and, with a move-in deadline looming, Bobby needs to keep things on track.

In just three weeks, only five days before Christmas,

Sheila and Gerry Dowds are due to move in.

I tell you what's going to happen, we're going to run out of sellotape.

Right, well, you fire on with that.

-I've got bags of sellotape in here.

-I know my place!

They've sold their cottage and bought Plot 8,

a three-bed end of terrace property on Bobby's development,

costing £210,000.

Sheila was driving back from the school where she works one day

and said, "Look, I've seen this property down,

"just under Stirling Castle on the carse",

and I thought "Oh no. We've only been here about three years".

So, anyway, we went to see it

and we just fell in love with it immediately together.

The house wasn't built at that point but it was the area.

Bobby worked with the Dowds,

adapting the original plans to create their perfect home.

Mr and Mrs Dowds were downsizing from a larger house.

They now have this cute single-storey cottage-style steading conversion.

We have the main bathroom, we have three bedrooms

and we have a nice open plan dining, lounge and kitchen.

The house works really, really well.

The problem is the whole steadings, including the Dowds' new house,

is still a building site.

If the client doesn't move in five days before Christmas

we have a big problem.

I don't know where that client is going to go.

I can't phone up a hotel and put them in a hotel,

but we have to get...

There's no escape. We have to get that client in before Christmas.

But, it's not just the client that needs to be in for the festive season.

The family's coming back.

They're all looking forward to a lovely Christmas.

Let's hope that we're not going to be having it on Stirling roundabout.

There's a lot riding on Bobby hitting the deadline.

Christmas time I suppose does have all that emotional charge round it,

so it's, "Please can we get in and have the family around

"and begin to make those new memories in that new setting."

2013's festive month saw over 328,000 Brits moving home.

Sheila and Gerry are not alone.

Their property has the tightest deadline in the whole development.

Failure is no option.

I have to make sure that everything is in place for this house

to be passed for habitation on Friday the 20th.

There are just over two weeks before Sheila and Gerry are due to move in.

Bobby is on site to inspect.

This is Wednesday morning.

Do you think you'll be out of here by Friday?

-No.

-No.

-I've still got the alarms to do.

-Right.

I need to phone up the kitchen supplier, get the sink organised.

The bathrooms are a wee bit of a mess.

Fingers crossed. I know I shouldn't be doing that

but this house I'm hoping and banking on this house being ready.

With so much to do, it will take more than crossed fingers.

Did you have a good day at school?

In Lisvane, North Cardiff, Louise and Brian Hughes

and their three boys

have moved into a rental property, having outgrown their home.

We started to look around in Cardiff for another property

that would develop with us as the children are getting older

and we just couldn't find what we were looking for.

And then the opportunity arose that we found this

property on the market with this great plot,

and we had to decide whether or not we were going to take

the plunge and build a property, which we'd never done before.

The thought of doing a complete house to me was too daunting.

My husband said he had always thought about doing it

and he finally won me round saying, "Well, we'd be able to get exactly what we want".

So, yes, we took the plunge and yes, we're now in the middle

of a huge project and, hopefully, it will be a fantastic family home.

The Hughes spent £680,000 on a plot with an existing house.

They then put architect Dan Benham in charge of their ambitious plans

to knock that house down and build the family's dream home.

Dan has been part of the team at Loyn and Co for ten years.

It's a project where the client asked us

to take their existing property, which they had,

and do a crazy thing and devalue the site by demolishing

the existing building and putting up one single family house

and it's an exciting project.

It's a modern twist on the 1900s Arts and Crafts movement

which we've never done in the office before, and so I'm really excited about it.

Including the plot, the Hughes have a budget of £1,440,000.

It will cost £40,000 to demolish the existing property

and £720,000 to build a five-bed home with gym and cinema room.

They have a 13-month schedule and the budget also covers

the architects' fees to design and oversee the build.

As with all modern homes, you have big, open spaces.

This is our kind of living area, this is our dining kitchen

so the idea of cooking and dining are celebrated.

You can see the majority of the kind of south area here is glazing

so we get lots of sunlight coming through.

What's great is, obviously, when people think of modern architecture

they think of a rendered box and this has got no render whatsoever

and so all the joints, all the structure is exposed

and doing that is really, really exciting.

You can see how the building's made, how the building is put together,

so all the roof rafters are exposed,

all the folding elements of the zinc are exposed

and, I think, that just makes for a great building.

It's June, ten months into the build.

The family are planning to move in in September

so Dan is on-site to check on progress.

-Talk us through what you've done.

-OK.

Well, we're just finishing off the last bit of brickwork on the site

and they just installed the gutters in yesterday.

Are they putting this window in tomorrow?

-No, they've not going in tomorrow.

-Have they put any windows in at all?

No, they've just got on cutting all the sills.

When do they plan on putting them in, then?

-Those ones there?

-No, just generally the frames.

Well, it's ongoing. They've started.

They've got one in there, they've got one upstairs.

Do I need to kick them up the backside?

-Well, it might help, yeah.

-Right.

-And glass?

-Glass. I'm not sure what day the glass is coming.

So I'll give them another kick up the backside.

With the windows still not fitted,

Dan is worried the schedule is slipping

and, with the tight deadline looming, he needs to act.

I think the client is quite excited by the house

but she's concerned about the programme.

They're desperately trying to get in before September,

and we've got some issues with the glazing people.

They've delivered the frames but they've still not been installed,

I think an email from me to kick them up the backside is going to be needed, really

and, hopefully, that will push them into starting to get more people

here on site and, hopefully, some windows in by the end of the week.

But even with Dan on the case, the windows are delayed

and the schedule lags further and further behind.

Three months later it's mid-September,

the Hughes were supposed to be in, but the house is still a building site.

I just can't wait to get in now.

It seems like it's been going on forever.

Architect Bobby Halliday is well known for his farm steading conversions.

Things are looking good here today.

His latest project is ten new houses in the shadow of Stirling Castle.

A few miles away there's another conversion that Bobby's designed

and built that embodies all of his favourite ideas and inspirations.

He also happens to live there.

My own house was really designed by a collaboration,

I suppose, between my wife and myself.

Basically Bobby is Bobby, you know.

What you see it what you get and a spade is a spade.

I been married to Jacqueline, I think, for... Whoa!

I shouldn't really say, "I think".

I've been married to Jacqueline for close on 30 years.

Being married to an architect is great but everywhere you go,

every weekend, check this building, that looks great,

what about this, Jac, what about this bit here.

She is very good with colours, fabrics.

The vision for this house is really down to Bobby.

He's got great ideas but I'm lucky that I can get to do what

I want with the inside of it.

This home is a showcase for Bobby's work.

This converted farm has two floors of open plan living...

..mixing cutting edge, contemporary design

with more traditional elements.

Jacqueline's eye for light and colour,

mixing with Bobby's hard-edged architectural style.

Because this is open plan,

erm, we wanted to create a couple of split levels.

What that helps to do is differentiate

one space from the next

so we come down two steps from the dining area

and we're into this nice, relaxing lounge.

And the good thing about this fire is that we wanted

to have a dual aspect so you can see the fire from

either the hall, or the lounge.

Whilst Jacqueline's taken charge of the interior design,

there's one element of the house that Bobby's managed to drive through.

For my 50th birthday, Jacqueline bought me

this absolutely beautiful

Lambretta scooter.

It was a real surprise.

It was fantastic and this, in the whole house,

is the best piece of furniture anybody could ask for.

Everyone that comes in, sorry, Jacqueline,

-everybody that comes in...

-I love it.

..says the scooter is really cool.

It was Bobby's style and attention to detail that attracted

Sheila and Gerry Dowds to his new Stirling development.

They're due to move into their new home tomorrow,

just five days before Christmas.

This morning Bobby is meeting the building inspector.

Any issues could jeopardise the move.

This morning the building control officer will be coming to the site

to have a look at one of the houses, house number 8,

and, hopefully, it will be passed fit for habitation.

The client needs to move in tomorrow, which is

the last Friday before Christmas.

I don't anticipate any problems

but the building inspector is the building inspector.

It's a tense moment for Bobby.

He's just got time to check the house over before the inspector arrives.

The roof hatch has been left open, which is good.

The building inspector always likes to have a good look in there.

Heating is on.

Extractors...

Yep, extractors all work, that's cool.

Lights are all in operation. I checked all these yesterday.

Everything's looking good. Great, great. Right.

What a morning!

It's unbelievable! How are you doing?

-I'm great, it's good to see you!

-You too.

Building Inspector Ian Bowden works for the council,

making sure new buildings comply with regulations.

We've got these wee, snazzy trickle vents

that are seriously working today because it's really windy outside.

You don't have a smoke detector in here, do you?

-We have a heat detector and that's there.

-Mm-hm.

Do you need a smoke detector in this section here?

Normally if it's a lounge, in a combined lounge we'd normally ask for a smoke detector.

Right, OK.

Fitting a smoke detector is an easy problem to solve,

but Ian has discovered a much bigger one.

You don't have any of the plasterboard flanking to the inside of the timber frame.

-It should really be fire resistant from the inside.

-Right, OK.

So you can stop any fire coming down into this locality here.

Right, OK. Can I go up and have a wee look at that?

You can, that's not a problem.

The partition wall in the attic between this house

and the one next door doesn't have sufficient protection

to prevent fire spreading.

This could be disastrous for Bobby.

Oh, aye, right, OK.

Right, OK.

Do you want me to try and get that done by tomorrow?

It's up to yourself. If you can get it done by tomorrow that would be...

-That would be good.

-Good, uh-huh.

-But if I can't get it done tomorrow?

-If you can't get it done tomorrow...

-The house won't get a completion certificate?

Well, we can't issue the completion until that's done.

It's a serious blow.

Bobby is going to have to break the news to Sheila and Gerry that they can't move in tomorrow...

..unless Ian can help him out.

Given the fact that there's nobody in next door,

we could possibly look at issuing a temporary habitation,

-in the meantime, till you get that done.

-Right, great.

OK, that's good news, that's good news. That takes the heat off a wee bit.

Ian agrees to sign a temporary habitation certificate.

It's great news for Bobby.

Thank you. Cheers, Ian, thanks very much. Cheers.

But he's kicking himself.

I should be ecstatic but I'm a wee bit deflated because of that party wall.

I like a clean bill of health when the building inspector inspects a house.

Gerry, it's Bobby. How are you?

Good, good.

Well, good news Gerry, you can move in any time you want.

Bobby has just 24 hours to bring the house up to spec.

Luckily, there's an army of contractors on site

so a new smoke alarm is soon fitted.

The timber partition in the attic has been upgraded

and Gerry and Sheila are finally able to get the keys to their home.

Thank you, Bobby, that's great.

How do you manage to remain calm in all the little crises that happen?

It's a trick! Trust me!

Just in time for Christmas.

Most people have boxes of shoes, we have buckets!

Being here, it's the first sort of time it's sinking in.

This is feeling good. I really want to get the place sorted

and get the Christmas decs up now.

It's great. I'm loving it, really loving it.

We look forward to really settling into a new home.

In Cardiff, work is continuing on the Hughes family's £1.5 million house build.

After delays, and additional work requests from the family,

the build of this five-bed home with gym and cinema room

is running two months behind its original schedule.

Louise and her family must move out of their rental home in a month.

Dan has come to check on progress...

..and on standards.

You can see, it's not straight to the tiles.

-It sounds petty but if you add a lot of those around the build...

-OK.

..and sockets that are not straight and things like that,

you do notice, you do notice.

It's all about the lines, it's all about the lines. I told you!

They may be laughing but the delay has put huge pressure

on architect Dan and Louise's relationship.

I keep telling Dan it's not his home

and that he's never going to be able to set foot over the doorstep again,

but I say that in jest, you know, it's all friendly banter!

But yeah, very much he thinks it's his home.

Initially, the staircase was going to be made out of solid concrete

and I said, "Well, I don't want a solid concrete staircase,

"I want these timber treads with the glass,"

so I put my foot down. That was one of my stamp your feet moments.

Two weeks later, progress has been made.

The painting's nearly finished.

The bathrooms and kitchen almost complete.

This is my area, my room.

But it's only two weeks until the Hughes family move in.

This is the room we're calling the snug.

Both of my sons play electric guitar and my youngest plays the drums

so I've decided this is where this is going.

It's a fab room. I am beginning to wonder whether I've over-spoilt them

because they've got this fantastic view out over the garden.

Dan is back to check that main contractor Martin will be ready in time.

-Morning.

-Morning. Are you all right?

-Yeah, good, thank you.

-How are we doing?

-Not too bad. Late again, as always!

-Have you ever been early in your life?

-Of course I have, mate.

-Are you going to be on time?

-Exactly, I will be on time.

What have we got left to do out here?

It's taken 14 months to get from the drawing board to here.

-It looks nice, doesn't it?

-Yeah, great.

-Really nice.

Today Dan will also flag up any snags he wants addressed.

It just needs a tidy.

If Dan is not happy with the work, Martin may have trouble finishing in time for the move-in date.

It sounds really sad but that has just made it for me.

That's, literally, gone whoop.

Dan and Louise haven't always seen eye-to-eye on this project,

and, even in the final stages, there are differences of opinion.

-That steels stays grey.

-Yeah, that's the downstairs.

No, it stands out too much.

Whereas if it was the colour of the wall I wouldn't see it.

From the outside you'll see it, when you're in the garden.

I'm concerned about how it looks from the inside.

We've got a bit of an issue with the post.

Dan wants to keep them grey and I'd like to have them my colour to suit my walls

so that they don't stand out like big enormous eyesores at you

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

It definitely works out better in the grey.

You've got plenty of paint, Louise!

We'll even give you a brush!

It's like working with the Chuckle Brothers!

With a keen eye for the smallest detail, Dan often picks up on errors

that, in the grander scheme of things, seem trivial to Louise.

See the skirting boards, they don't line up.

Now that's how fussy we are.

Same with that switch, that's how fussy we are.

-That doesn't bother me, Dan.

-That's fine but we have to.

Yeah, yeah, OK. I get you.

Because here it's better, see.

-They've done a better job here.

-That one is better, yes.

In terms of my relationship with Dan, it's not always been fun

but now he just makes me laugh.

I mean when he mentions things about the timbers not lining up

by a millimetre, I just shrug

and say, "There he goes again!"

In terms of the way Dan thinks about everything and the finish of everything,

I think he's both, erm...

He wants to be proud of the project, he wants it to look perfect.

-They're beluga lights.

-Yeah, I know. They're nice.

-Was that a seal of approval, Dan?

-Mmm, mmm.

I know it's a shock. I know, I know!

It looks perfect to me. So as long as I'm happy then, maybe, he should be happy too.

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

I'm always going to demand perfection. Why?

Because if you go to Europe, if you go to Scandinavia,

their level of minimum expectation of quality

far exceeds us, absolutely far exceeds us

and we're saying to the construction industry here,

"Why can't you raise your game to that level?"

Sloppy finishes also lead to sloppy buildings,

also lead, I think, to accepting sloppy design.

It's going to be tough to get the building finished in time

and to Dan's standards.

Martin now is relying on other people, not his main company to get this job finished.

Now if they left him down, he's going to be in trouble.

There's no slack in this programme whatsoever.

But delay is not an option for Louise.

Even if things do go wrong,

we've given our notice in to our landlord so it's...

Yeah, we've moving, whether it's finished or not.

It's been three months since Louise and her family moved into their new home.

Today, architect Dan Benham is back to take a look at the fully furnished and finished house.

Hello. Hiya. How are you? Are you all right? Good.

-Come on in.

-How are things?

-Yeah, really good.

-Enjoying it?

-Absolutely, yeah.

-Superb.

The house is a triumph.

The exterior is striking, a tribute to Dan's design skills

and attention to detail.

Inside, its clean lines and light open rooms

look fantastic.

The kitchen is at the heart of the home.

I'm really enjoying this space. I mean, this is my space

and it's working really well for the family, as well.

-And does it feel it's the right size?

-Oh, absolutely, yeah.

Whilst I love my floor, the only downside is I seem to spend half my life cleaning

and chasing people round with brooms and mops.

I think that's the downside of modern architecture, constantly cleaning.

-That's something I'm prepared to live with.

-Yeah, good.

It's also Dan's first glimpse of the finished cinema room.

I normally wouldn't go with a red.

I mean, I'm being honest now but I actually really like it.

-It's working well.

-It's cosy as well.

-Yep.

The design of the staircase was an issue that divided Dan and Louise.

-The stairs are fantastic.

-I think they work well.

-Yeah.

-I really like the stairs.

-They cantilever out...the glass.

-That was good because that actually came from you guys.

-It did.

-Brick wall came from us.

-It did.

-I'm glad.

Are you happy we kept the brick wall?

I am happy we kept the brick wall just here.

-Not the return.

-Yeah.

-I did something right, Dan.

-No, no, you... We agree!

Another point of contention was what colour to paint

the poles in the front room.

-I've got my white pole here.

-I thought it was going to be red.

No, I do not want a fireman's pole in my living room.

-Feature colour, any colour you want.

-No, no, it's to blend. I don't want to see it.

-Are you sure now?

-Yeah, yeah. I mean, Brian has bumped into it a few times

but I see that as comedic value, so.

-And the other ones, are you going to keep them as grey?

-I'm not sure. Not sure.

It's under discussion.

They may have had their differences of opinion,

but the new house is a perfect combination of Dan's architectural vision

and Louise's flair for interior design.

-We're really happy with it.

-I'm really glad you like it.

-You can sleep well at night.

-Good! Good!

It's going to be a fantastic home for Louise and her family for years to come.

Next time...

Bobby battles to deliver dream homes to his discerning clients.

Yesterday this was built.

It was looking fantastic.

Unfortunately, there was an issue.

And an Edwardian town house extension in Edinburgh

proves overwhelming for the family involved.

I'm absolutely terrified of living in this house

for the next six months.