Episode 5 Building Dream Homes

Across the nation, architects are building,

designing and transforming our homes.

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 grand.

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

In Britain, self-builders spend £3.2 billion each year

building new homes.

Today, we see two architects getting to grips with ambitious projects.

In the New Forest, architect Wendy takes on a challenging house build.

I suppose for the clients it's a bit akin to living in a goldfish bowl

in a way because their house is on such public view.

But things don't go according to plan.

A few changes that we've made, if I'm honest,

I am a bit disappointed with.

And in Wales, the end is in sight for Marianne

and Jon's amazing upside-down house.

It's starting to feel like a building

heading towards completion, James.

But Chris and James are feeling the pressure.

Well, we're trying to prevent, I guess, a death by 1,000 cuts.

You know, something not quite right here,

something not quite right there, all add up to be a bit of a mess.

Spinners is a peaceful woodland garden in the New Forest.

Set in two and a half acres, it is open to the public

six months a year.

Andy and Vicky Roberts fell in love with this

Royal Horticultural Society-listed garden

after visiting it for many years.

In fact they were so smitten with the place that when the former owner

decided to sell five years ago, this green-fingered pair snapped it up.

Having visited the garden for many years,

and to have an opportunity like this, to make it your own

and to build a home here, is just a dream.

The garden came with a dilapidated old bungalow.

We realised that there was no insulation,

the wiring was not up to scratch, there was no foundations.

Rewire, re-plumb, re-roof...

..it's more expensive than actually rebuild.

So the couple have decided to raze it to the ground

and replace it with a brand-new four-bedroom house that will blend

perfectly into the gardens they love.

The architect they've chosen to design their new home is

Wendy Perring.

And in this building there are quite a lot of different factors because

it's located down a steep hill and, critically, it's open to the public.

I suppose for the clients it's a bit akin to living in a goldfish bowl,

in a way, because their house is on such public view,

so that was something they were quite keen when they came to see us

that we tried to get a little bit of privacy in there whilst at

the same time the house seemed to be sort of part growing from the site.

This looks at the different heights...

..and you can see the two different wings really very clearly here.

This is the master bedroom which will have the amazing view

out over the valley.

The garden is set in a national park

where strict planning rules apply.

Only four new builds are permitted in the New Forest each year.

They must take the place of an existing dwelling

and have a footprint no bigger than the original.

I think the thing that excites me most

about this building is that it is quite humble.

It's quite simple - it's not a grand, showy architectural gesture.

At least I hope it won't be because if it is we've got something wrong.

The site is a very beautiful, natural and tranquil place

and it would be entirely the wrong thing if the architecture took over.

The whole build is scheduled to take 12 months,

but there's another deadline - the gardens close

to the public on the 1st of October and reopen on the 1st of April.

They want to get the outside completely finished before then

and that gives them exactly six months.

April 1st - April Fools' Day - the garden opens again.

I think it will be nice as the visitors are welcomed back into

the garden that the house even if it's not finished on the inside that...

sort of from the outside it looks, you know, more or less complete.

In order to keep the build as speedy as possible,

Wendy has designed a pre-fabricated timber-frame house.

Once the concrete foundations are down,

the house, which has been made off-site, goes up quickly.

Building the timber frame way is a lot quicker than doing

a traditional build.

It's like a jigsaw puzzle. It will just go together.

What a fashion statement they make.

Vicky and Andy have come to site to check on progress.

Just entering the house for the first time.

That's our front door.

Line of wardrobes come across here, built-in.

So there'll be a bed there...

..big view,

big windows looking out over the Lymington valley.

So it's going to be a rather nice little wing this one.

Thank you very much for that.

I said, "This is going to be the window," and here it is!

I'm staggered by how quick this is.

Presumably it's one of those things where when the last piece goes in

you know if it's all all right.

The timber frame goes up fast.

But Vicky and Andy aren't seeing eye-to-eye with Wendy on

some aspects of the design

and have been making adjustments along the way.

The old discussion we had was the window there,

whether with the big window that was necessary,

but the architects were very firm that that's wonderful.

But they said it would be wonderful to have the

window from the other end of the corridor,

and I said, "You haven't got a dog! Because that door's going to

"be closed to stop the dog taking up residence in the guest bedroom!"

Architects have the idea and the ideals,

and we have the practicality of, "No, you haven't lived with a Border collie!"

And it's not just the window they've changed.

They've also decided to get rid of one of the mezzanines

Wendy wanted in a bedroom, and put flooring over the

double-height space that would have opened up the stairs.

It's not going to be a show house - it's going to be a home

first and foremost so if we don't get it quite right,

too bad, it's our home.

It's going to have wet muddy footprints in it

and that's from the dog, beside myself.

Architect Wendy has had to take her clients' wishes on board.

A few changes that we've made, if I'm honest,

I'm a bit disappointed with but at the end of the day

it's NOT my house, it's Andy and Vicky's house.

A few compromises have been made.

Ideally, they wouldn't have been made but, you know, that's building

and that's life and I just have to get over it.

Three weeks later, although the outer shell has progressed fast,

a change in the schedule of works and a terrible month of

high wind and rain mean hitting the April deadline for the exterior

is starting to look practically impossible.

I'm terribly frustrated that we're going to finish the shell now

after we've opened the gardens so it's really things like the

bricks and the tiles which are presently parked outside.

They should be within the compound and give us our parking spaces back.

Erm, it's nobody's fault.

It would be boring if it was easy, wouldn't it?

In Wales, architect Chris Loyn and project designer James Stroud

have spent the past 11 months overseeing the construction of

the hi tech upside-down house they designed for Jon and Marianne Cowpe.

Oh, yeah!

They have a budget of £842,000 to work with.

At the beginning, Marianne was the driving force behind the build.

I'm telling you what I want.

You tell me what I need to achieve what I want and how much it costs.

But six months in she was struck down with a life-threatening infection,

keeping her off the project for four long months.

But the build carried on without her, and not without its dramas.

-Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

-Go forward, go forward, go forward.

Very tense. It sounded like there was some cracking noises!

Today, 11 months into the build,

Chris and James are visiting the site together.

Oh, James, look at that!

That's beautiful, mate.

One of the last jobs they need to do is inspect

the building for any snags.

Inside, the final fixes are being applied,

the walls and floors have been boarded out giving a real feel of

just how the spaces will work when clients Jon and Marianne move in.

These are all in...

That's nice, James. Look at the amount of light coming in...

-Yep.

-..on a day like today.

Yep. What a difference.

It's starting to feel like a building heading towards

completion, James...isn't it?

Architect Chris was integral to the original plans.

It's interesting when you reach this stage because you've held

it in your head as a concept and a design, and the client takes

it over and they start fitting in their bits and pieces which is

fine because...it's their house but it's a very strange feeling.

For the contractors, who have been working long hours to try to

get the build completed, James and Chris's

determination for perfection can sometimes be a little testing.

So, is that distance equal to that distance?

Ideally I wanted that blue line to be in the centre of that window.

That shaving socket is in the wrong place.

You know...it can't be, it looks terrible there.

That's ideal for sitting down and then

when you put it the other side it's ideal for standing up.

It's whichever you want, really.

Well, you want it halfway, don't you?

CHUCKLES

So this... We can drill a hole, a 25ml hole,

-through the joist for the pipe?

-I think you probably can.

Right, I think it needs to be as centre as it can,

so if you can do something where you can drill...

Drill through there?

And the only thing is I'll just clarify it with the structural engineer,

I suppose, just to make sure you can drill a 25ml hole.

For James, a little friction with the builders is a cross

he's willing to bear.

If I wasn't coming here and asking for these bits and bobs,

I don't think the building would be as good, personally.

But also, you know, you can't help therefore having

a reputation for being a pain in the backside, I suppose,

because we are coming at them and we're pulling them, asking,

we're continually driving and saying, "Can you do this, can you do that?"

But with Chris and James picking up on every small detail

and the build already running two months behind its original schedule,

it's all wearing a bit thin for Marianne.

Originally it was meant to ready on the 19th of March, then it moved

to April, then it moved to May so I think we're on the fourth date now.

They'd given us the date of three weeks' time for the house

to be finished and about five weeks for the ground works to be finished.

I'm trying to arrange removals and everything, and the date can't...

I feel, that the date can't keep being a moveable feast, you know?

Award-winning architect Wendy Perring is currently working

on the design of a new build for Vicky and Andy in the New Forest.

Another ongoing project of Wendy's is the conversion of

two barns built in 1840 on a farm in Lymington.

This is Warborne Organic Farm

and we've been working here as a studio for about five years now.

We were brought in by George Cathcart, the owner,

to look at the barns which were slowly falling apart to see

if there was any possibility that we could get planning permission

to convert them into holiday accommodation.

After five months working with the planners

and conservation officer, permission was finally granted.

So these are the arches and what we've done here is we've kept

the new back from the old so that you can read the old brickwork

and, you know, there was the temptation to fill it in

and make it perfect but that wouldn't have been right.

It would have led to something that felt quite sterile

so, you know, you can, you know, it's beautiful.

It's really tactile.

Both of the completed holiday homes have two bedrooms,

two bathrooms and an open-plan living area.

We worked very hard to try

and retain the feeling of what the barn would have been like.

We felt it was very,

very important to be able to read the existing building.

We think in doing so it makes this feel much more spacious than

it actually is and you come in here and you go, "Wow!"

OK, this is my favourite bit...

So up here you can probably fit,

you can fit four children, and there are little mattresses and there's

the peep hole through and you can see right down into the living space.

You can throw paper aeroplanes at Mum and Dad

while they're having a glass of wine.

Wendy and her team have worked hard on the barn conversions to

ensure they make the most of their setting.

At Spinners we're trying to do very similar things that we have

done at Warborne so we're trying to lead the eye beyond the building

and out to the landscape.

Back at Vicky and Andy's house build in the New Forest,

things are running behind schedule.

Their horticultural garden is due to open to the public on April 1st.

Their aim is to have the outer shell of their new house finished

so as to avoid disruption to the garden's many visitors.

The next stage will transform the look of the house.

The plan is to cover the timber frame with tiles and brick.

Wendy has taken inspiration from Beaulieu, the local brickworks.

Opened in the late 18th century, bricks were hand crafted

here for the local area until the works closed in the 1980s.

The different bricks came from the different clays

that are available locally.

There's a very yellow, straw-coloured clay and a red clay,

and the red tends to be from the west side of the Beaulieu river,

and the yellow tends to be from the east side.

So round about the site,

the buildings do tend to be more red brick.

Choosing the brickwork is left to Andy and Vicky,

but when Wendy arrives with her colleague Darren to see

the bricks they've picked, first impressions aren't good.

Ooh.

What's that?

It's a bit spotty.

That's the first time that I've seen the brickwork.

It's all gone up in one week.

There's quite a lot of grey overburn in it,

it's making it a little bit patchy.

Wendy wants to take a closer look.

It's all sand, isn't it?

-ALL: Yeah.

-There's actually more colour in that brickwork than you realise

-when you get close up.

-Yeah.

-There's more variation.

-So we just need it to be rained on for a few days.

-Yeah.

Four weeks later, it's mid-May, the gardens have been open to the public

for six weeks and finally the work to the exterior is just about complete.

Wendy's back to see how the house is settling into its new surroundings.

Gosh!

SHE LAUGHS

It looks really good.

It just...looks like it was meant to be there.

The old cottage that was in situ just six months ago has been

replaced by a contemporary and stylish

four-bedroom family home.

The clay tiles and hand-picked bricks have come together beautifully

to make a home worthy of its picturesque surroundings.

Do you know what's lovely is the light on the clay tiles,

that texture.

-Yes.

-It's very nice.

Very pleased with these tiles and brickwork.

And it's broken up so it's not just a solid, it's got interest.

It's really all starting to make sense now.

-It is.

-You can actually just...

Stand back and the building can start to breathe.

I love the way as you go round the garden it just disappears

totally out of sight.

Yeah, and it will continue that because we've got to do

the landscaping at the front and the planting at the front,

and then it will even more settle into its landscape.

Yeah.

Severe weather and a change in the work schedule means

the exterior was finished six weeks later than planned.

Inside, move-in day is still a few months away.

Oh, wow, that's great.

Is this the first time you've been in and seen that?

Yes.

-Because that is fantastic.

-Yes.

It sort of had us jumping up and down.

The window in and that tree in blossom.

Upstairs has still has to be boarded out

but everywhere you look there are glimpses of just

how wonderful this house is going to be when it's finished.

This will be where the staircase comes up...

and takes you into

the master bedroom which has got the wow factor which is the view.

It is absolutely terrific.

Amazing.

It's definitely one of the best views from any

bedroom in Hampshire, I'm sure.

I think it'll be a wonderful place to wake up in the morning.

Yeah.

I really hope that it's what Andy and Vicky were thinking of.

It's certainly what, you know,

when I did the initial feasibility study and...

..one of the things

that I tried to emphasise to them was that the house was very rooted

in the garden and that it was very much part of the garden setting.

And one of the sketches that I did right at the beginning was

just this view, you know,

from this approach as you come down the path and it's quite a sort of

modest little building that you start to glimpse through the trees.

It just feels right.

As the house progresses we can see that we're realising

the dream that we had at the very beginning.

It is getting there, and it's going to be the most fantastic

place to live in the most wonderful setting.

In Wales, Jon and Marianne's build

is running two months behind its original schedule.

The last date we've had from them is the end of May,

but I don't think it'll be ready by the end of May

so I'm just waiting now for them to give a new date.

I think there's too much to do.

We are talking about a load of men here, aren't we?!

So, yeah, maybe a woman could have had them all lined up.

You know, the ducks in a row?

On site things ARE moving forward.

The kitchen that James fought so hard for is finally being installed.

Morning.

And he's come to make sure the massive worktop for the island

he'd championed makes it safely in.

This is going to be very fun!

Made out of natural minerals and acrylic,

it weighs in at an impressive 150kg.

It takes six men to lift the surface onto the crane that will

hoist it to the first floor and in through the balcony door.

This is one of the last big things to go in.

This is built as one piece and so it needs to go in as one.

It's fairly heavy and it's also very delicate

cos you've got to lift it in the right parts.

So, resting the worktop on its weakest section

perhaps isn't the best plan.

Is that strong enough that section there?

-You've got to be careful with that.

-That's what I mean.

Watch your back. Watch your back.

But it's on and the team carefully winch it to the balcony above.

With the base already in situ, Marianne's island has to fit exactly

or all of the sweat and effort will have been for nothing.

-It's perfectly sat on there. First time.

-Is it?

-Yeah, just about.

A few millimetres.

Incredible.

The giant island is in and exactly as James imagined.

It's beautiful material. I mean, it's massive, isn't it?

It's been four years since Chris Loyn first put brush to paper

and painted this incredible house.

Over the course of its 11-month build there have been heady highs.

LAUGHS

Over here! That's right!

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

and not just do it for others.

Oh, I can't believe it.

And life-threatening lows.

Unfortunately, Marianne is now in hospital.

She'll be in hospital for about two and a half weeks

and it's just a slow process.

But throughout, James, Chris and Marianne...

It doesn't fit!

..have steadfastly driven their dream of a

hi tech upside-down home ever onwards.

-It's the end of May.

-So, you looking forward to this?

James and colleague Chris have come to site see Marianne

and show her how far the house has progressed.

It looks well, doesn't it?

Yeah, it's very, very discreet.

Marianne's lengthy stay in hospital, the builders' battle

with high winds and rain, and the sheer technical complexity

of this build mean that two months late it's still not quite finished.

But now with the stunning kitchen installed...

..the sedum roof established...

..and the rooms and spaces beginning to

take on their final form...

..Marianne and Jon are just weeks away

from finally moving in and enjoying the views they've been dreaming of.

Oh, first time we've seen the stove, Jon.

-Yep. Like it?

-I do like it, yeah. Oh, this is fab, isn't it?

Well, this is the bit of the house that we replicated what goes on

in your house where people turn up and realise how amazing the view is.

Yeah.

And that's why we've got that, whoa!

And the view just straight ahead.

The double-height space Chris imagined

right from the beginning opens up the ground floor to the sky above.

This is great because otherwise this would be a dark corridor,

wouldn't it?

It is also a way of finding things so

if you're down there it's straight into your lift, straight upstairs.

All the bedrooms are on the ground floor, two have their own en-suite

wet room with a special feature in Marianne and Jon's master.

We've got the same detail here where you'll just be able to wheel

-straight in.

-Right.

But we've put...

got a shower seat.

Oh, nice. Nice for me in this situation, isn't it?

You know, you can do your feet, your legs, whatever you want to do.

-Yeah, it's nice. It's comfortable.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

I also think standing under the shower is just too draining

-sometimes, pardon the pun!

-Yeah.

The lift to the first floor was meant to be

part of the house's future-proofing measures to make the house

practical in the years to come.

Thankfully, Marianne is on the mend

but her illness has meant it's already invaluable.

-Hey, look at that floor.

-Are you ready for this?

-Yes, I'm ready.

-OK, this is it.

This is it. Oh, it's fantastic.

Yeah. It's fab.

I think the fact that it's a white plane, like the other walls,

like your furniture is going to be with that in the background,

just reflects the light and I think it's really successful so I'm glad we made that decision.

Because originally we were going to have black, weren't we?

-Well, I think you wanted black!

-Yeah!

LAUGHTER

The kitchen is the heart of the new home.

With stunning views across the Welsh countryside,

an instant boiling water tap and a smart induction wok hob.

I like these. I like the drawers.

From the beginning, James has fought Marianne

and her kitchen designer to have a central kitchen island rather

than a worktop running into the wall.

I'm your kitchen unit.

Yeah, you won the battle on that one, didn't you?!

Yeah.

But it wasn't for the sake of winning...

because I felt so strongly that it was the right decision.

Yeah.

And Marianne hasn't forgotten to give Jon his own space.

Hidden just around the still-to-be-rendered circular staircase.

As we come round

and see the completely different type of glass in here.

You do get the feeling, don't you, when you're standing here, you know, there's nothing there?

Well this is one of the most expensive windows

because it has to be even thicker in case you do fall against it.

Right, I see.

-Do you want to test it?

-No!

OK.

Not yet. Not until the building is finished!

HE LAUGHS

And Jon's already got plans for his new space.

I see it as a sort of study really

because I'll have the desk in the middle of the room

and then I've got my nice bits of furniture down the side here.

It still feels like part of that space in terms of the connection.

I think this room is too big to be Jon's room.

- Well, not really because once I've got all my furniture in... - I think he's got too much space.

If Jon does manage to keep his room it's still going to be a few

weeks before he can move his furniture over from the old house.

But James hopes it'll be worth the wait to achieve the perfect home.

As you get closer to the end and we're so exacting on all

of the tiny little details, this isn't a pastiche building,

it's a cutting edge, modern building with a lot of complicated junctions.

And I think actually, you know, if the contractor does take

a little bit longer to achieve the standards that we require,

and on the basis that the client is happy with that,

then there's no objection.

I can't believe it.

I can't believe that we're

so fortunate to be in a position to be able to do it.

Lots of people have a dream about building a house, I suppose,

but to be able to fulfil that dream I think we're very fortunate.

It's more than bricks and mortar.

This was obviously Marianne's project

and has been all the way along, even when she was in the hospital.

It's worked out exactly how she said it was going to do

and I think she should be very proud of what's she's achieved.

Oh, thank you.

LAUGHTER

Next time, in Hertfordshire,

a total home renovation looks set to drive owner David over the edge

Nightmare, dream? Take your pick!

And in Dorset, there's plans for an amazing factory-built house,

but will the project be scuppered by the planners before it's even broken ground?

Well, he ain't going to budge.

If we reduce the size of it, he'll potentially support it.