Episode 15 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."

CRUNCHING 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 in Poole, a picky client keeps everyone on their toes.

Could you move that whole thing that way a bit?

Not for the size of the fire that you want at the moment.

How do you know your calculations are right?

Because sometimes people say, "Well, this is what the computer says,

-"it must be right."

-Well...

And in Scotland, the pressures of living on site

risk driving client Jacqui to the brink.

Definitely been disruptive to the family.

The clutter, being squashed in,

little things like not sitting at the table having meals together any more.

But a last-minute hitch with the project threatens to keep her

from the house she so desperately needs.

There's a final payment which he's not going to get until he's done it.

Sunny Poole, on the Dorset coast, is home to some of the most

expensive and exclusive properties in the world.

For the past three years, managing director Keith Riley

and his wife Myrika have lived on one of its many leafy streets

in this 1960s three-bedroom house.

They love their location but a desire for more space has led them

in a radical and unexpected direction.

We've decided to put an extra floor on top of the house,

so a refurbishment and an extension,

and so I decided that the one thing that was definitely

going to be staying was going to be the family bathroom.

I mean, it was a beautiful job, it was a work of art.

I even got the hang of the silicone masticing.

And literally on the day that I finished the bathroom

after five months of really quite hard graft -

all my spare time went into it -

we met with a builder who sort of said,

"Really, to do this extension on top,

"considering you're going to have to pay VAT on everything,

"really, if you knock the whole house down, you won't need to pay."

The man Keith has entrusted to knock down his old home

and design his new one is Poole-based architect

Laurence Bowen.

He and his partner, Paul Robinson,

have been practising in this millionaires' playground

for the past seven years and are responsible for

a number of impressive buildings.

The architecture in Poole is very varied.

You're talking millions this side.

I think there's a couple of Russian billionaires.

Sandbanks is meant to the second most expensive piece of land

in the world.

It's more Miami Vice than sustainable.

Keith's brief was to replace his 1960s home

with a brand-new contemporary design.

There's not any kind of great views in terms of distance views,

but there's some great views of the trees

and feeling like you're kind of within a woodland area.

So we sort of lifted the main living accommodation

up onto the first floor

and that you come up onto that middle floor and then

the kind of space for the main bedrooms is on the floor above that.

And one of the key elements of the design is to link all those

spaces together, and that's what this kind of effect is,

this three-storey atrium space that runs all the way through

the building, so once you enter into the space,

there's a real kind of wow-factor about that.

Keith has a budget of £852,000, which will cover everything from

build costs to fixtures, fittings and architects' fees,

but doesn't include the price of the original plot.

He's set a schedule of 15 months to construct this impressive new

5,500 square foot six-bedroom home,

complete with its own gym, cinema room and sauna.

It is actually quite a large house for the site and the context.

I mean, I did mention a couple of times to the client that,

potentially, in this house when they live here, they may be able

to walk around for a couple of days and not see each other.

With Keith ploughing such a large lump of his savings into the build,

he's determined to get his new home just the way he wants it

and he's a man that knows what he likes.

I'd like to think that I'm overseeing it all

but I am expecting my main contractor

and I'm expecting the architects to take responsibility for their work.

But am I somebody who's going to sit down and say,

"There's a cheque, please build my house,

"I'm off for a year and I'll see you when it's done"?

That's certainly not me, no.

Today, Keith is meeting Laurence and builder Dave on site.

So gentlemen, progress has been made, I see.

-How are you doing, Keith?

-Very good.

Laurence, hi.

It's 30 weeks since the old house was knocked down

and the build started and Keith is keen to inspect the work.

One of things, maybe, that's troubled me, I sort of...

As I go along and I visualise the whole place... So if you go along

and you think of the lounge over here

and the kitchen area here...

..we come up the steps here then we've got our fire in front of us.

The fire is nicely positioned for sitting in the lounge over here.

Actually, nicely positioned for sitting in the kitchen over here

but I wonder if we need more room here in this sort of area?

So could you move that whole thing that way a bit?

Not for the size of fire that you want at the moment.

It's nice to work with a client that, you know,

is passionate about ideas and what they want to be

and what they want to see themselves living in, I guess.

-So it could be cut back to there?

-Yeah.

-Because it looks a little more

-cramped there than I had envisaged.

-Yeah.

He is very vocal and actually, to some degree,

that makes our jobs easier because we're not second-guessing

about how they live their lives

or how they aspire to live their lives in this space.

Actually, it's great to have a client that,

you know, really speaks his mind.

It's great to see the progress and, you know, it's not exactly

a relaxing experience but it's better than I thought, I have to say.

But, just two weeks later,

Keith has a serious concern about the structure of the house.

Here's our issue.

You can see that we have these windows,

it's got to be frameless on the corners so this steel which is here

will get removed, so you'll have a normal window frame going round

but actually, on the corner, it'll just be glass to glass

with perhaps a bit of mastic or something in-between

so it should look really rather good.

And my concern is that, while I can see that this beam

is largely sitting over the wall here, leaving this bit floating,

in the case of this bit here, there's only a little bit actually

over the wall and a lot of it's floating, so it's dependent

on the anchoring of here to avoid the whole thing really falling down.

Keith's called a meeting with architect Laurence

and structural engineer Matt to try and allay his fears.

With only one of them wearing a hard hat,

they'd better hope Keith's worries don't come to fruition.

-What we've got here is this bit cantilevering out here.

-Yeah.

And then this bit, this steel,

just spans straight from here across to that one.

-OK.

-So this is the one that's doing all the cantilevering.

-OK.

How do you know your calculations are right? Because sometimes people say,

"Well, this is what the computer says, it must be right."

Well, no, we do go through a vetting process where someone else

checks what we've done, someone independent in our office

that has nothing to do with the job just goes through it.

OK, that makes sense.

For Keith, a little knowledge is a big source of worry.

I did an HNC a good number of years ago

and I've never practised engineering.

-They've got an uplift there of seven kilonewtons.

-OK.

If you have the knowledge, then that knowledge is going to

play on your mind and so I'm not sorry that I've got the knowledge

but clearly, yes, I might sleep better at night if I didn't have it.

In Scotland, near the Pentland Hills,

Kenny and Jacqui Lorraine's former railway house is being extended.

They love the rural setting but as their family grew,

they wanted to increase their living space.

I've got no love for this house as it is at the moment.

If I could have knocked it down and started again, I would have.

They've asked architect David Blaikie to design an extension.

We've converted what is currently their living room

into the master bedroom.

We're then coming into the kitchen, so a much bigger kitchen.

With a strict budget of £90,000,

Kenny is doing some of the work himself to save money.

As much as we can do, we're going to try and do ourselves.

Every penny we can save!

But whilst architect David was off site,

Kenny demolished an exterior wall and it didn't quite go to plan...

That's a bit of timber broken.

I'm going to have a word with Kenny and just make sure that,

when he does this final part, he's a bit more careful about it.

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

But, undeterred, he's decided to have a go at attaching the expensive

zinc sheeting to the outside of the house.

The zinc itself is malleable, it's soft and it's easy enough

to work with but you only get one shot at doing it and

if you get the cut wrong or an angle wrong, it'll ruin a whole section.

Kenny is an enthusiastic amateur

and working with some of David's designs is testing him.

When you have plans which show windows with funny angles that,

obviously, the intricacies of cutting that out and shaping that

and bending that and getting into position, so you can then

obviously attach other bits of zinc onto that, it takes forever.

It's a huge and complicated job

but Kenny is refusing to buckle under the pressure.

He's called on friend and professional zinc fitter Ewan

to help with some of the cladding.

It's just round the windowsills, everything being at an angle,

it's just taking a bit longer than we thought,

but we'll get there so no problem.

-KENNY:

-Who's to blame for that?!

Nobody's to blame for that, no.

It's just one of these things. We'll get on with it.

I'd say it's the architect, the design.

Architects - don't trust them.

Straight lines and squares are good

and jaunty angles cost time and money!

By taking on the work himself, Kenny has saved the couple nearly £13,000.

His hard graft may have made sense financially,

but emotionally it's taken its toll on the family.

Jacqui's OK. She said her stress levels are quite high at the moment

because I think, obviously, just the fact that our very small house

has been made smaller.

She's starting to talk about holidays and things like that,

which is OK, but I don't know how she thinks

we're going to pay for a holiday!

Stuck in an ever-shrinking house,

after two and a half months of tolerating the havoc around her,

Jacqui's struggling with the impact of the build on family life.

Oh, definitely been disruptive to the family as well as the house, yeah.

Because the clutter, being squashed in,

little things like not sitting at the table having meals together

any more and then at the weekends, you hope that it's family time

but it isn't, because of having to work on the house,

so that's been tough,

the fact that you've basically got the kids all week, all weekend

and no Dad, because Dad's busy.

In Poole, architect Laurence is working on Keith and Myrika Riley's

incredible six-bedroom contemporary home.

But for him and his partner, Paul,

architecture isn't always about million pound budgets.

Architecture isn't elitist,

it's not for the rich and famous,

it's for everyone.

Good design should be accessible to all.

A good example of where Paul and Laurence have used their skills

on a smaller scale is a project they completed three years ago.

-Hi, there.

-Come in.

How are you doing?

Yvette and Mark Sanders asked for their very ordinary two-up, two-down

mid-terrace property to be completely re-modelled

into a high impact home.

The brief, really, was to completely start again.

Just create a really sort of nice living space,

obviously taking into account the amazing views

they've got from every level, really.

So, right from the start, we were on the same wavelength.

Paul was one of six architects we interviewed

and almost immediately we knew Paul was the man.

He walked in with a John Pawson book,

which is kind of like super minimalist, and I thought, yes!

To transform what was a run-of-the-mill mid-terrace

into this unique and minimalist home,

every interior wall and floor was removed

and the living space was completely re-designed.

One of the nice things about this property is that,

from the outside, it kind of looks completely standard

and there's something kind of really exciting and nice

about coming to the front door and there's a kind of hint

that there's something going on, but it's not until you get inside

that the place opens up and it becomes something,

we think, quite special.

Originally, the property had two bedrooms.

As it was just Yvette and Mark living in the house,

it gave Paul and Laurence scope to be creative.

Above us we've got this nice sort of almost like double-height space

that leads up to the master bedroom,

which is galleried to this space, as well.

Obviously, architecturally, it creates quite a lot of interest

in terms of daylight and sound.

Big volume of space, as well.

The total cost of the build was £130,000

and it took eight months to complete.

The thing that's nice with this project is that it is

a smaller scale and architecture can apply from small scale

right to big scale so it's not just for multimillion pound houses

or the rich and famous.

You know, architecture can be applied across the board

and I think that, hopefully, this is what this kind of shows.

Back at Keith and Myrika's more substantial project,

the worst weather in 250 years has seen the 15-month schedule slip,

a concern for head contractor Dave.

It hasn't stopped raining

which has obviously caused problems on the site.

I think delay-wise for the client we'll probably go to around

about two, two and a half months.

But for Dave, it's not just the weather

putting a dampener on things.

The complexity of architect Laurence's design

is threatening to push the schedule even further.

The balcony's on the top floor,

they're obviously flat-roofed, which means we've got to insulate

the floor, and we've then got to get a decking system on top of that.

We've also then got a kind of frameless glass balustrade

to stop people falling off it.

And all that detail needs to be kind of coordinated together so that

what we hope is that the final effect is that

it does look really simple.

We've got a lot of elements that actually make the build

a little bit more complicated

and actually, because of that, it drags the lead time out and each one

seems to have a knock on effect to the next one.

And Dave's not the only one feeling the pressure.

...and step on the inside edge, if you would.

Client Keith's determination to be involved with all aspects

of his build is eating into every spare hour he and wife Myrika have.

We've been putting a lot of time aside during the week to meet

with the people for building wardrobes, for bathroom furniture,

for kitchens and of course, none of it is straightforward.

I'd always thought that a steel staircase would probably be

the cheapest but whenever we looked at it, actually,

a full wood staircase made by a nice joiner

was really the cheapest option.

You make the decision and then you're happy with your decision

and then you proceed.

Then you find something else which actually looks really good,

but it has a negative effect on our previously made decisions.

You start going backwards again.

We're getting to the point where

there's no more procrastination allowed.

One decision that gave Keith sleepless nights

early on in the build was to have floating cantilevered steels

holding up a frameless corner window.

So the rest of the structure's in now,

so we've been able to knock out the supports and...

..it hasn't fallen down...yet!

With the steels holding,

it's not the corner window that Laurence has been worrying about.

The rest of the house's windows are arriving on site today

and Laurence has a concern.

Every single one of the units is bespoke.

Every one of the units is being specifically designed to the space

that they're fitting into the specific room.

In terms of the size that went to the factory to fabricate them,

it was to some degree calculated because the actual structure

opening we had on site wasn't the actual opening that we've got today,

but hopefully that's not going to be an issue.

Tune in at the end of the show...

to see how many of them ended up in the skip.

In total, 28 windows will be installed into the building,

at a cost of £36,000.

It's going over there.

Everything seems to be going to plan.

The glaziers carefully lift one of the first windows by crane.

The glass is weaved through the scaffold without a hitch.

But then a problem...

Laurence's concerns seem to be coming true

as the glass just won't fit.

Will you check this clip?

You're near enough there.

You're slightly higher than the other side.

Just keep an eye on the top, as well, yeah? So, on three...

-It's a tense moment.

-On three, we'll give it a big push up and in.

One, two, three...

One wrong move could break the glass or damage the timber frame,

setting the build back even further.

We're just a couple of millimetres out at the moment

which causes a lot of resistance when we're trying to

lift the sash into position.

HE GRUNTS

The men resort to brute force to try and pull the heavy glass into place.

It's not far off. Up a bit.

One, two, three...

That got it!

For Laurence, the windows going in is a big relief

and marks a key moment in the build.

It's starting to look a lot like the final product, really,

which is kind of exciting.

It's starting to look like the 3D model that we did

right in the beginning about two years ago

and, certainly in a build project, this is a really exciting time.

With the windows in, the build picks up pace.

Just two weeks later and Laurence's vision

is starting to become a reality.

With the exterior rendered,

he's come back to take a look with owner Keith.

So Keith, we're getting pretty close, now. What do you think?

I think, Laurence, the scaffolding coming down is the big thing.

Suddenly it looks like a house.

14 months ago,

Keith and Myrika's three-bedroom bungalow was bulldozed.

Today, in its place is a stunning piece of contemporary architecture.

It's a bit of an interesting process

because obviously your initial thoughts were

probably not to knock it down.

It would have been nice to avoid it.

18 tonnes of complex steelwork has helped to create what looks like

a simple exterior with crisp, sleek lines and beautiful outside spaces.

In some ways, it was never a clean sheet of paper. Now, what we see

today is a kind of evolution of what was here before, to some degree.

-Yes.

-Although I'd like to think we've improved on it.

-Yes, very much so.

I think, if you're going to build a house,

it's important to build it for the time in which you live.

The complexities of the build, combined with a challenging winter,

mean that the project is running two months behind schedule.

Inside, the amazing three-storey entrance hall is still covered

with scaffold but it won't be long until Keith and Myrika

can see the full impact of Laurence's design.

When finished, this ground floor will give them every modern comfort.

Laurence has designed the main living area to be on the first floor

of the house, to take advantage of the light and panoramic views.

The six bedrooms will give Keith and Myrika all the space they need

when their children come to stay.

But it's their master bedroom on the third storey

that commands the best views from this imposing home.

With a height of almost 30 feet,

the open atrium will give a real sense of grandeur,

but it's only when you delve further into this futuristic home

that you realise just how special it's going to be.

We're standing in a cinema/bar area, is that right?

Yes, well, it started off, of course, as a cinema room

but you built into it this sort of very nice little cubbyhole

that just asks to sort of have a bar

and a nice little seating area or whatever put down here.

We have, of course, also got the workshop room at the back,

which Myrika suggested could be screen one and screen two,

and if we wanted to watch different movies at the same time

then we'd be able to do that.

Does that mean you'd need some sort of reception area in the foyer?

We could do, indeed.

Upstairs, Keith and Myrika will have a kitchen, dining and living area.

-So this is your main living room.

-Nice and light with all the glass.

It changes a bit from downstairs, doesn't it?

And just opens out a bit more and what actually is really

nice about this level is you just get this greenery.

For me, it's to see this smooth transition from inside and outside,

actually, the concept of a little bit of both in terms of your daily life.

Yeah. Absolutely, yeah.

I think if you want something that is a real piece of architecture

you've got to kind of do things that aren't standard, if you like.

You do need to push the boundaries of how you're using materials

and systems to create something that's different.

Overall budget for the house was about 820,000.

We've just placed an order of tiles of 22,000.

We're going to probably be a shade over 900,000,

maybe about 920,000 or so by the time we're finished.

You're starting to see real results now.

You're starting to deal with,

let's say, smaller problems.

And of course, as you see more of a result,

you are starting to get more of the enjoyment.

The extension to Jacqui and Kenny's former railway stop house

has really moved on.

David's back on-site to check on the contractors' work

and there are a few final issues that need to be attended to.

The only alarm bell that had been for me is Steven had said

it'd be finished by the end of the week and we've got quite a lot

-of things still needing done.

-OK.

-And obviously he...

-Give me the list.

Give me 20 minutes to have a burrow round with it.

Having already put together a snagging list for David,

owner Jacqui leaves him to it.

But it's not long before David spots some problems of his own.

There are things which are clearly just unfinished.

There are other elements which have been done

and just don't quite appear to be the finish that we'd be looking for.

So, for instance, that little infill block behind the radiator pipe,

that just needs to be raised up and fixed properly.

Steven takes his responsibility in these things very seriously

and I'm sure he knows about them.

Having an architect on board a project

until completion has many advantages.

David won't sanction the final payment to the contractor

until all of the snags have been addressed.

Sometimes it does present challenges,

this stage of the project.

I don't have concerns that he's not going to come back

and sort this out.

You know, there's a final payment which he's not going to get

until he's done it, so there's a good way of focusing the mind!

David will pass his comprehensive list of what needs to be done

to finish the build on to the contractor.

Meanwhile, Jacqui and Kenny crack on with the paintwork

to try and save as much money as they can.

Just a week later and, much to the relief of Jacqui and Kenny,

their brand-new, life-changing extension is almost complete.

Just five months ago, the Lorraine family were struggling

in their tiny two-bedroom railway stop house.

With two young children and two excitable dogs to look after,

Jacqui wanted to knock it down and start again.

I've got no love for this house at it is at the moment.

But instead they trusted architect David Blaikie

with their £90,000 budget and, as a result,

they've transformed their home,

adding a new living space...

..and a huge new kitchen.

Jacqui and Kenny have finally got the home they so desperately needed.

It's a project that David feels a close affinity to,

and today he's back to inspect the works.

-Here come the dogs.

-Thanks very much.

Fantastic, well done. Isn't that wonderful?

-We're not falling over each other any more.

-No!

-How does it feel to walk into a picture you drew?

-Absolutely...

It's two years ago since we had that conversation,

I can't believe that.

Kenny, you've been working quite hard at this at the weekend.

Doing all the zinc work...

That has been every weekend basically for the last

four or five or six weeks, probably.

And it's been quite difficult to get the balance right

between life and working.

It's been worth it, financially, but it's taken a toll.

It just displays real grit and determination to make this happen.

You know, come hell or high water, this is going to happen.

And that fierce determination has paid dividends

for David and his clients.

The living area captures the light and views from all angles,

a signature of David's design style.

The mass of this bit is sort of meant to sort of balance the mass of

the original cottage, so this part has got these tall ceilings in it

and is sloping up is to catch the west light

coming in through the tall window.

It's a wonderful space, isn't it?

The house before, we could never actually see into our own garden.

For the first time ever, I'm able to look into my own garden.

-That's your own private garden.

-After how many years of living here?

-This is it now, isn't it?

-It feels right now?

Yeah, we're here forever.

The extension will continue to bed into its surroundings

as the larch cladding weathers overtime.

Come on then.

Having found the perfect vantage point,

David is enjoying a moment of reflection.

I've got a true affection for this building,

and I've got a real affection for Jacqui and Kenny.

Even though they've only just finished it, I can already get

the feeling of the effect that it's having on their lives.

It's just a wonderful satisfaction in knowing that using my skills

and the hard work of the contractors and the builders,

you can genuinely deliver a building which makes the client happy.

I think the best bit is the feeling of light, the good views, just space.

Just space. It's all come together just in every way, hasn't it?

The sheer scale of the space that we've got.

We've now actually got proper front door steps,

into a proper front door, into a proper hall,

with a proper kitchen!

-Proper utility room.

-Yeah. It's proper!