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I've been picked up from airports in taxis before but never had to go to a jetty to be picked up by a boat. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:06 | |
'He's Piers Taylor, an award-winning architect.' | 0:00:10 | 0:00:14 | |
This building is so tactile and just rich, materially. | 0:00:14 | 0:00:19 | |
Woo-hoo-hoo! | 0:00:19 | 0:00:20 | |
'And she's Caroline Quentin, | 0:00:20 | 0:00:22 | |
'acclaimed actress and passionate property developer.' | 0:00:22 | 0:00:25 | |
Ah, I've been expecting you, Mr Bond! | 0:00:25 | 0:00:27 | |
'We've been given the keys to some of the most incredible houses in the world...' | 0:00:29 | 0:00:34 | |
It's chock full of surprises, isn't it? | 0:00:34 | 0:00:37 | |
SHE SCREAMS | 0:00:37 | 0:00:38 | |
'..to discover the design, innovation, | 0:00:38 | 0:00:40 | |
'passion and endurance needed to transform architectural vision | 0:00:40 | 0:00:44 | |
'into an extraordinary home.' | 0:00:44 | 0:00:46 | |
If this was Hollywood, I'd be snogging you now. | 0:00:46 | 0:00:49 | |
'Together, we'll be travelling the globe...' | 0:00:49 | 0:00:53 | |
-Oh, look down there! -I would, but I'm trying not to kill us. | 0:00:53 | 0:00:56 | |
You look ahead. | 0:00:56 | 0:00:57 | |
'..meeting the architects and owners who have taken on the challenge of | 0:00:57 | 0:01:01 | |
'building unconventional homes in demanding locations.' | 0:01:01 | 0:01:04 | |
Just another day on the wing of a 747. | 0:01:04 | 0:01:07 | |
'Whether it's navigating the logistics of constructing a house on top of a | 0:01:07 | 0:01:11 | |
'remote mountain...' | 0:01:11 | 0:01:13 | |
Why would you build a house where you can only get there by cable car? | 0:01:13 | 0:01:18 | |
'..negotiating the ancient trees of a fragile forest...' | 0:01:18 | 0:01:21 | |
You never see a building this close to the trees. | 0:01:21 | 0:01:23 | |
That's six inches away. | 0:01:23 | 0:01:25 | |
'..having a sea view whilst perched on the edge of a | 0:01:25 | 0:01:27 | |
'dramatic coastal shoreline...' | 0:01:27 | 0:01:30 | |
I'd love to know how you actually built this on what appears to be a sort | 0:01:30 | 0:01:33 | |
of vertical cliff face. | 0:01:33 | 0:01:35 | |
'..or excavating the earth to build a home deep underground.' | 0:01:36 | 0:01:39 | |
There is always a moment when you feel fear. | 0:01:39 | 0:01:41 | |
Nature is never to come back the same way. | 0:01:41 | 0:01:44 | |
No-one had ever built something like this before. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:46 | |
It's a tightrope you walk. | 0:01:46 | 0:01:47 | |
It can go spectacularly wrong. | 0:01:47 | 0:01:49 | |
Soaring high above sea level, remote mountain living offers peace, | 0:01:56 | 0:02:01 | |
tranquillity and stunning vistas. | 0:02:01 | 0:02:04 | |
You don't come across views like that more than once in a lifetime. | 0:02:04 | 0:02:07 | |
It is somewhere that, once seen, it would never be forgotten. | 0:02:07 | 0:02:11 | |
But building a home at altitude exposed to the elements, | 0:02:11 | 0:02:14 | |
often with no running water or even roads, | 0:02:14 | 0:02:17 | |
is an endurance test only the bravest take on. | 0:02:17 | 0:02:20 | |
How on earth did you get... | 0:02:20 | 0:02:22 | |
..this house up a mountain? | 0:02:23 | 0:02:25 | |
Piers and I will be travelling from the Southern Alps of New Zealand to | 0:02:26 | 0:02:30 | |
the peaks of the Swiss Alps. | 0:02:30 | 0:02:32 | |
This is a building that you need to be able to batten down the hatches of. | 0:02:33 | 0:02:37 | |
-It's an antidote as well to the frilly oompah houses all round, isn't it? -Yeah, I think so. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:42 | |
And from the heat of the desert ranges of Arizona | 0:02:42 | 0:02:46 | |
to the coastal mountains of California... | 0:02:46 | 0:02:48 | |
..discovering what it takes to design, | 0:02:49 | 0:02:51 | |
build and live in the world's most extraordinary mountain homes. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:56 | |
At any point, did you think, I've made a terrible mistake here, | 0:02:56 | 0:02:59 | |
-I've employed a madman? -I did. | 0:02:59 | 0:03:00 | |
Did you? Did you? | 0:03:00 | 0:03:02 | |
-Did you? -At which point? -When it was too late. | 0:03:02 | 0:03:05 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:03:05 | 0:03:07 | |
The first stop on our mountainside adventure | 0:03:16 | 0:03:18 | |
takes us to the City of Angels. | 0:03:18 | 0:03:20 | |
But we're not here to see the sights. | 0:03:25 | 0:03:27 | |
Piers and I are leaving Downtown LA behind and winding high into the | 0:03:30 | 0:03:34 | |
Santa Monica Mountains, | 0:03:34 | 0:03:36 | |
where one home owner built her dream home from the most unthinkable reused | 0:03:36 | 0:03:41 | |
building material. | 0:03:41 | 0:03:42 | |
OK, hang on. Oh, no. | 0:03:50 | 0:03:52 | |
That's wrong. | 0:03:52 | 0:03:53 | |
California, we're here. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:54 | |
Or over here? | 0:03:56 | 0:03:57 | |
You're looking at Arizona, aren't you? | 0:03:57 | 0:04:00 | |
The woman who owns this house and has built this house | 0:04:00 | 0:04:03 | |
spent years looking for the right plot of land. | 0:04:03 | 0:04:06 | |
-She did. -I mean, 15 years. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:08 | |
-15 years. -But she did look all over the world. | 0:04:08 | 0:04:11 | |
All over the world, as long as it was within an hour of a city. | 0:04:11 | 0:04:13 | |
She obviously thinks she's found the place to be, | 0:04:13 | 0:04:16 | |
with views of the sea and the mountain. | 0:04:16 | 0:04:19 | |
-It's living the dream, isn't it? -Living the dream. | 0:04:19 | 0:04:21 | |
The owner of our first mountainside retreat wanted a building with | 0:04:23 | 0:04:27 | |
feminine curves that would sit lightly on this coastal mountain range. | 0:04:27 | 0:04:32 | |
So her architect looked to the skies and found inspiration in the most | 0:04:35 | 0:04:39 | |
unlikely of places. | 0:04:39 | 0:04:40 | |
The house we're going to see is a proper statement. | 0:04:42 | 0:04:45 | |
It's a proper statement and, what's clever about it | 0:04:45 | 0:04:49 | |
is that it's crazy but it's still, I think, | 0:04:49 | 0:04:53 | |
architecturally really fascinating. | 0:04:53 | 0:04:55 | |
And when it comes to making a statement, it doesn't get any bigger than this. | 0:04:57 | 0:05:01 | |
# All the leaves are brown | 0:05:03 | 0:05:04 | |
# All the leaves are brown | 0:05:04 | 0:05:06 | |
# And the sky is grey... # | 0:05:06 | 0:05:09 | |
Built from the wings and tail fins of a disused Boeing 747, | 0:05:09 | 0:05:13 | |
this award-winning house is one of a kind. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:17 | |
# On a winter's day | 0:05:17 | 0:05:20 | |
# I'd be safe and warm... # | 0:05:20 | 0:05:22 | |
-There it is. -SHE GASPS | 0:05:22 | 0:05:24 | |
# If I was in LA | 0:05:24 | 0:05:26 | |
# If I was in LA | 0:05:26 | 0:05:28 | |
# California dreamin' | 0:05:28 | 0:05:30 | |
# California dreamin'... # | 0:05:30 | 0:05:32 | |
You've got to be happy with that. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:34 | |
-Extraordinary! -Let's have a look at this. | 0:05:34 | 0:05:36 | |
Oh! | 0:05:39 | 0:05:40 | |
SHE LAUGHS | 0:05:43 | 0:05:47 | |
-I think we're here. -Yeah. Are you impressed? | 0:05:47 | 0:05:50 | |
I think I'm awed by how beautiful it is being here. | 0:05:51 | 0:05:54 | |
-Yeah, yeah. -This is so quirky. | 0:05:54 | 0:05:57 | |
It's lovely seeing the wings against the sky, the thin edges. | 0:05:57 | 0:06:01 | |
-It's outrageous, actually. -It is, it is. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:03 | |
So, how does an architect go about acquiring a disused Boeing 747? | 0:06:05 | 0:06:09 | |
Well, in the middle of the Californian desert, there's a graveyard of | 0:06:11 | 0:06:15 | |
retired aeroplanes. | 0:06:15 | 0:06:16 | |
Once her architect had convinced her, Francie, | 0:06:17 | 0:06:20 | |
a retired Mercedes-Benz dealer and the owner of this house, | 0:06:20 | 0:06:24 | |
spent less than 50,000 on a decommissioned Boeing 747. | 0:06:24 | 0:06:28 | |
Using precision laser technology, | 0:06:30 | 0:06:33 | |
the wings were then removed and used to create the roofs of this | 0:06:33 | 0:06:36 | |
unconventional house. | 0:06:36 | 0:06:37 | |
I like being under the wing. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:42 | |
-Me too. -I think it's really comforting. -Yeah. | 0:06:42 | 0:06:45 | |
It is like a bird's wing, in a way, isn't it? | 0:06:45 | 0:06:47 | |
This would also encourage the breeze across it. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:50 | |
You could open those windows at the back on a really hot day because | 0:06:50 | 0:06:53 | |
-aircraft wings are designed to bring air under them. -Yeah, yeah. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:56 | |
-So this would be naturally ventilated. -Yeah. | 0:06:56 | 0:06:59 | |
And actually, planes, remember, are the best engineered things in the world, | 0:06:59 | 0:07:02 | |
so everything is beautifully made, beautifully put together, | 0:07:02 | 0:07:05 | |
incredibly durable, the best materials. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:08 | |
I mean, architects are obsessed by nuts and bolts and fixings and how things | 0:07:08 | 0:07:11 | |
are made. It is a beautiful, beautiful thing. | 0:07:11 | 0:07:14 | |
But, at the same time, it looks quite home-made, doesn't it? | 0:07:14 | 0:07:17 | |
It does. All the little squares. | 0:07:17 | 0:07:18 | |
-Yeah, surprising. -What's the metal? | 0:07:18 | 0:07:20 | |
-Aluminium. -So little squares of aluminium just sort of riveted together? | 0:07:20 | 0:07:23 | |
Yeah, well, it would have been patched, actually, and repaired over the years. | 0:07:23 | 0:07:26 | |
They were used for 40 years or something. | 0:07:26 | 0:07:28 | |
The concrete in this, and the metal, going up to the wing. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:32 | |
That works. | 0:07:32 | 0:07:34 | |
It does. I mean, it's designed so that the glass is the thing that, by and large, | 0:07:34 | 0:07:38 | |
touches it, so you always see the shape. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:40 | |
At ground level, | 0:07:43 | 0:07:44 | |
this eccentric building blends seamlessly into the mountainous landscape. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:49 | |
But, from the air, the shape of the wings is clearly visible. | 0:07:49 | 0:07:52 | |
There was a real risk that pilots could confuse it for a downed plane. | 0:07:53 | 0:07:58 | |
So the project had to be registered and cleared with 17 government | 0:07:59 | 0:08:03 | |
agencies, including Homeland Security. | 0:08:03 | 0:08:07 | |
I want to go on that wing now. | 0:08:08 | 0:08:09 | |
I think we should. | 0:08:09 | 0:08:10 | |
-I'm going to leap up. -Show-off! | 0:08:10 | 0:08:13 | |
Here we go. Just another day on the wing of a 747. | 0:08:14 | 0:08:17 | |
Just enjoying ourselves. | 0:08:17 | 0:08:19 | |
-Taking flight. -Striding out. | 0:08:19 | 0:08:21 | |
Cor! | 0:08:21 | 0:08:23 | |
It's quite spectacular, isn't it? | 0:08:23 | 0:08:25 | |
I mean, this is incredible, really. | 0:08:25 | 0:08:27 | |
And actually... Oh, wow, it's quite bouncy here. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
SHE LAUGHS | 0:08:30 | 0:08:32 | |
Piers, stop it! | 0:08:32 | 0:08:34 | |
SHE SQUEALS | 0:08:36 | 0:08:37 | |
We're going to have to get in sync. | 0:08:37 | 0:08:38 | |
SHE SQUEALS | 0:08:38 | 0:08:39 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:08:39 | 0:08:41 | |
With two wings, two tail fins and a 55-acre plot to play with, | 0:08:42 | 0:08:48 | |
the architect was able to create a main house and a guesthouse | 0:08:48 | 0:08:51 | |
for the owner. | 0:08:51 | 0:08:52 | |
The 747 wings are the perfect curvilinear design to float on top of the | 0:08:53 | 0:08:57 | |
two buildings to maximise the views while providing a roof which requires | 0:08:57 | 0:09:02 | |
minimal structural support. | 0:09:02 | 0:09:03 | |
Concrete rear supporting walls were built into the hillside and enclosed | 0:09:08 | 0:09:12 | |
with panoramic glass facades, | 0:09:12 | 0:09:15 | |
allowing light to enter the living spaces throughout the day. | 0:09:15 | 0:09:18 | |
The wings were then positioned on top of steel frame supports and secured | 0:09:19 | 0:09:24 | |
where the engines were previously mounted. | 0:09:24 | 0:09:26 | |
I love it outside but, Piers, let's go in. | 0:09:31 | 0:09:33 | |
-Let's go. -Let's go in! | 0:09:33 | 0:09:35 | |
Stepping inside this two-bedroom home, | 0:09:43 | 0:09:46 | |
you immediately get a sense of how effective the wings really are. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:49 | |
-It's great. -Yeah. | 0:09:50 | 0:09:52 | |
It's actually almost better inside | 0:09:52 | 0:09:54 | |
-cos its reads as an abstract bit of art up there. -Yeah. | 0:09:54 | 0:09:57 | |
That's a great view up there, isn't it? | 0:09:59 | 0:10:01 | |
-It's lovely, yeah. Lovely. -Like a mini... | 0:10:01 | 0:10:03 | |
like a little mini invitation to go upstairs and see up there. | 0:10:03 | 0:10:07 | |
And there's more creative use of recycled plane parts. | 0:10:11 | 0:10:15 | |
This section of the fuselage has been turned into a hatch, | 0:10:15 | 0:10:18 | |
through from the study to the kitchen. | 0:10:18 | 0:10:20 | |
-It's nice from the back, isn't it? -Very nice. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:22 | |
Seeing all those rivets, and so on. | 0:10:22 | 0:10:25 | |
Heading upstairs takes you above the wing to the master bedroom. | 0:10:27 | 0:10:31 | |
-It's beautiful. -This is my best bit. | 0:10:31 | 0:10:33 | |
-Me, too. -Is it? | 0:10:33 | 0:10:35 | |
Well, you get a view, and the plane, | 0:10:35 | 0:10:37 | |
and you're right under these two tail fins. | 0:10:37 | 0:10:40 | |
-Look at this. -Yeah! | 0:10:44 | 0:10:47 | |
It's a set, isn't it, really? | 0:10:49 | 0:10:51 | |
-Yeah. -It's not actually real mountains. | 0:10:51 | 0:10:53 | |
It's a very well painted backdrop from a Hollywood movie. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:57 | |
It is, and looking out, and seeing the wing at the end, | 0:10:57 | 0:11:00 | |
it's so surreal, isn't it? | 0:11:00 | 0:11:02 | |
I don't think I'd ever tire of looking at those mountains. | 0:11:02 | 0:11:06 | |
-Hi, hi, hi! -Lovely to meet you. | 0:11:11 | 0:11:14 | |
Lovely to meet you. Thank you so much. | 0:11:14 | 0:11:16 | |
After interviewing over a dozen architects, | 0:11:16 | 0:11:19 | |
the person Francie entrusted with building on her mountainside plot | 0:11:19 | 0:11:22 | |
was Californian architect, and now friend, David Hertz. | 0:11:22 | 0:11:27 | |
So you've been having some fun here. | 0:11:29 | 0:11:31 | |
We have. | 0:11:31 | 0:11:33 | |
Francie's brief was to create a tranquil eco-friendly home. | 0:11:33 | 0:11:37 | |
And the inspiration for the design came to David at 30,000 feet. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:41 | |
I was flying and I was looking out at the wing and thinking about | 0:11:43 | 0:11:47 | |
what to do to float a roof | 0:11:47 | 0:11:50 | |
and then it occurred to me why try to build a wing, | 0:11:50 | 0:11:53 | |
when you could appropriate a wing. | 0:11:53 | 0:11:56 | |
I wanted something that was feminine | 0:11:56 | 0:11:59 | |
and it seems that having a wing is not feminine at all. | 0:11:59 | 0:12:04 | |
However, once it's detached from the plane, | 0:12:04 | 0:12:08 | |
it becomes an entity unto itself | 0:12:08 | 0:12:11 | |
and there's beautiful curves to it. | 0:12:11 | 0:12:14 | |
They're very subtle. | 0:12:14 | 0:12:15 | |
It's a brave leap, though, | 0:12:15 | 0:12:18 | |
to have the idea but to actually in reality then say to someone, | 0:12:18 | 0:12:22 | |
"OK, David, go and bring those wings up the mountain." | 0:12:22 | 0:12:25 | |
At any point did you think, I've made a terrible mistake here, | 0:12:25 | 0:12:29 | |
I've employed a madman? | 0:12:29 | 0:12:30 | |
-I did. -Did you? -Yeah. -Did you? | 0:12:30 | 0:12:31 | |
At which point? | 0:12:31 | 0:12:33 | |
Er, when it was too late! | 0:12:33 | 0:12:35 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:12:35 | 0:12:36 | |
The biggest challenge Francie and David had to face was transporting | 0:12:39 | 0:12:42 | |
the wings of the 747 on to the remote mountainside location, | 0:12:42 | 0:12:47 | |
1,000 feet above sea level. | 0:12:47 | 0:12:48 | |
The majority of the journey was by road, | 0:12:49 | 0:12:52 | |
which required a state patrolled escort | 0:12:52 | 0:12:54 | |
and the closure of five freeways. | 0:12:54 | 0:12:57 | |
But the roads to Francie's mountain retreat were too small for trucks, | 0:12:59 | 0:13:02 | |
so the final leg of the journey | 0:13:02 | 0:13:04 | |
had to be one of pure military precision. | 0:13:04 | 0:13:07 | |
One of the largest cargo-lifting helicopters in the world | 0:13:12 | 0:13:16 | |
was drafted in to airlift the wings up on to the mountain. | 0:13:16 | 0:13:19 | |
There was a lot of risk with the helicopter. | 0:13:19 | 0:13:22 | |
I mean, they made it very clear that if in any way | 0:13:22 | 0:13:26 | |
that it started to turn, or catch too much wind, | 0:13:26 | 0:13:28 | |
they were just going to drop it. | 0:13:28 | 0:13:31 | |
-They were going to drop it? -Yeah. | 0:13:31 | 0:13:32 | |
What was it like as it loomed across, hanging from a helicopter, | 0:13:32 | 0:13:35 | |
-coming here? -Well... | 0:13:35 | 0:13:37 | |
It was quite a challenge to realise that part of my budget would go | 0:13:37 | 0:13:41 | |
towards hiring a sky crane helicopter. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:44 | |
I was like, "Oh, my God!" | 0:13:44 | 0:13:46 | |
With all the unknowns, there was huge financial risk. | 0:13:46 | 0:13:50 | |
There was. It was a hell of a lot more than initially I was expecting. | 0:13:50 | 0:13:56 | |
No-one had ever built something like this before. | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
We are talking about millions of dollars, aren't we? | 0:13:59 | 0:14:02 | |
You are. | 0:14:02 | 0:14:03 | |
Millions and millions of dollars? | 0:14:03 | 0:14:05 | |
Let's just leave it at that. | 0:14:06 | 0:14:09 | |
There were a lot of surprises | 0:14:09 | 0:14:11 | |
that brought the cost to the point that it did. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:14 | |
I use the analogy, as when you're three-quarters of the way ready to give birth, | 0:14:14 | 0:14:20 | |
you can't turn back. | 0:14:20 | 0:14:23 | |
-Absolutely. -You can't turn back and you just keep going. | 0:14:23 | 0:14:27 | |
I mean, it sounds exhausting, for everybody involved, | 0:14:27 | 0:14:30 | |
but is it worth it, Francie, to go through what you've gone through, | 0:14:30 | 0:14:34 | |
to live here? | 0:14:34 | 0:14:36 | |
100%, yes. | 0:14:36 | 0:14:38 | |
Yes, it is. | 0:14:38 | 0:14:40 | |
It's a phenomenal environment. | 0:14:40 | 0:14:43 | |
It's so very, very beautiful | 0:14:43 | 0:14:45 | |
and every day is a complete and utter joy. | 0:14:45 | 0:14:49 | |
And I feel so lucky. | 0:14:49 | 0:14:51 | |
-It is lovely. -Yeah. -It's lovely. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:52 | |
-Thank you. -We're not leaving! | 0:14:52 | 0:14:55 | |
That's why I have only one guest bedroom! | 0:14:55 | 0:14:58 | |
THEY CHUCKLE | 0:14:58 | 0:14:59 | |
As the sun starts to drop behind the mountains, | 0:15:02 | 0:15:05 | |
what better way to enjoy the view than a sunset wing walk. | 0:15:05 | 0:15:09 | |
# Hey, sugar, take a walk on the wild side # | 0:15:09 | 0:15:13 | |
Thank you so much for the most extraordinary day. | 0:15:13 | 0:15:16 | |
It's been really wonderful. | 0:15:16 | 0:15:18 | |
A toast, if I may, to the wing house. | 0:15:18 | 0:15:20 | |
To the wing house! | 0:15:20 | 0:15:22 | |
-Cheers. -Cheers. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:24 | |
Cheers. Woohoo! | 0:15:24 | 0:15:25 | |
I think what's really interesting is that despite it being quite a | 0:15:30 | 0:15:35 | |
sensible house in terms of how they describe it, actually, | 0:15:35 | 0:15:38 | |
it's really romantic. | 0:15:38 | 0:15:40 | |
It is, sort of dream come true. | 0:15:40 | 0:15:42 | |
-It is, it is. -By the mountains. | 0:15:42 | 0:15:45 | |
The next stop on our architectural adventure | 0:15:59 | 0:16:02 | |
takes us 500 miles south-east | 0:16:02 | 0:16:03 | |
to the home of the old Wild West. | 0:16:03 | 0:16:06 | |
We've swapped the lush coastal mountains of California | 0:16:08 | 0:16:11 | |
for a rugged mountain range on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:15 | |
It might look like a desert, | 0:16:17 | 0:16:18 | |
but we're 2,000 feet above sea level | 0:16:18 | 0:16:21 | |
and heading higher into the Tucson mountain range. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:24 | |
In this high-altitude environment, | 0:16:25 | 0:16:28 | |
temperatures can reach 100 degrees in summer | 0:16:28 | 0:16:31 | |
and plummet to freezing in winter. | 0:16:31 | 0:16:33 | |
So a house built in these mountains needs to be robust enough | 0:16:35 | 0:16:38 | |
to withstand the unforgiving local weather. | 0:16:38 | 0:16:40 | |
It's so hot, it's so dry. | 0:16:43 | 0:16:44 | |
Is your tongue sticking to the roof of your mouth? | 0:16:44 | 0:16:46 | |
Yeah. I mean, I'm really hot. | 0:16:46 | 0:16:48 | |
The owners of our next mountain home decided to build deep | 0:16:48 | 0:16:52 | |
into this arid mountain range. | 0:16:52 | 0:16:54 | |
And in order to deal with this extreme environment, | 0:16:54 | 0:16:57 | |
used a building technique that's as old as the hills. | 0:16:57 | 0:17:00 | |
It's very exciting, isn't it? | 0:17:02 | 0:17:03 | |
The mountains are really rugged. | 0:17:03 | 0:17:05 | |
-There's nothing here. -No, that's just dry earth screed. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:08 | |
-A bit of scrub. -Yeah, exactly. | 0:17:08 | 0:17:09 | |
-The odd cowboy, the odd outlaw. -It's getting a bit frightening. | 0:17:09 | 0:17:12 | |
SHE SINGS: "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" Theme | 0:17:12 | 0:17:15 | |
We're going straight to the mountain, | 0:17:15 | 0:17:17 | |
then we have to go straight up. | 0:17:17 | 0:17:18 | |
Piers and I will be spending the night in this remote mountain home, | 0:17:21 | 0:17:24 | |
to discover what it is about this location that made the owners | 0:17:24 | 0:17:28 | |
go to the effort of building here. | 0:17:28 | 0:17:30 | |
I cannot imagine choosing to build my dream home here in the mountains. | 0:17:33 | 0:17:39 | |
Maybe you're just too English. | 0:17:39 | 0:17:40 | |
For many people, this is super exotic and people fantasise about | 0:17:40 | 0:17:44 | |
escaping to the desert and all that fragile beauty. | 0:17:44 | 0:17:49 | |
-It's actually getting wilder now, isn't it? -Yeah. | 0:17:49 | 0:17:52 | |
I think we're here. | 0:17:52 | 0:17:53 | |
I've got a code for it. | 0:17:54 | 0:17:56 | |
Good. Let's get in. I'm so hot. | 0:17:56 | 0:17:59 | |
-I can see the building! -What?! -Look. | 0:17:59 | 0:18:02 | |
Now a wilderness full of coyotes and rattlesnakes might not be | 0:18:02 | 0:18:06 | |
everyone's cup of tea but homeowners and San Diego doctors | 0:18:06 | 0:18:09 | |
David and Karen chose not only to build their home | 0:18:09 | 0:18:12 | |
in this harsh location, | 0:18:12 | 0:18:14 | |
they also plan to retire to these hills. | 0:18:14 | 0:18:17 | |
I've got the key. I've got the key to our retreat. | 0:18:19 | 0:18:22 | |
Let's go. I want to get in! | 0:18:22 | 0:18:24 | |
-Right! -Look, look, look! | 0:18:24 | 0:18:26 | |
Check it out. It's the same colour as the earth! | 0:18:30 | 0:18:34 | |
-It's good-looking, isn't it? -Wow! | 0:18:34 | 0:18:36 | |
-Let's go. -OK, OK, OK. | 0:18:36 | 0:18:38 | |
God, you're so impatient, honestly! | 0:18:38 | 0:18:41 | |
Look at that. | 0:18:41 | 0:18:43 | |
Isn't it wonderful, the way you could hardly see it? | 0:18:43 | 0:18:45 | |
-I love that. It disappears out of view. -Yeah, yeah. | 0:18:45 | 0:18:47 | |
Look at its setting. | 0:18:47 | 0:18:49 | |
I would have just had you walk through the desert. | 0:18:49 | 0:18:51 | |
But you can't, because of the scorpions and the rattlesnakes. | 0:18:51 | 0:18:53 | |
You've got to have a path. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:55 | |
I think we're being funnelled in to that point. | 0:18:55 | 0:18:57 | |
So good buildings, you know instinctively how to get in. | 0:18:57 | 0:19:00 | |
So I think THAT is the way in. | 0:19:00 | 0:19:02 | |
I don't think you're right. | 0:19:02 | 0:19:03 | |
The design for this award-winning house was heavily influenced | 0:19:05 | 0:19:09 | |
by the most important elements of this environment - the weather. | 0:19:09 | 0:19:13 | |
The structure was cleverly positioned on an east-west axis, | 0:19:14 | 0:19:18 | |
to minimise exposure from the hot sun whilst allowing light and air | 0:19:18 | 0:19:22 | |
to filter through the house. | 0:19:22 | 0:19:23 | |
The floor plan consists of two main areas for living and sleeping, | 0:19:26 | 0:19:30 | |
each of which opens out onto views of the landscape. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:33 | |
As the house was built on a single storey, and with no connecting | 0:19:34 | 0:19:37 | |
corridors, the only way to get between each room | 0:19:37 | 0:19:40 | |
is to step outside into the desert. | 0:19:40 | 0:19:43 | |
The whole design is tied together by this unusual, | 0:19:45 | 0:19:47 | |
scattered cube staircase. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:49 | |
Check these out. These are lovely. | 0:19:52 | 0:19:54 | |
It's quite graceful, | 0:20:01 | 0:20:03 | |
shallow, slow steps. | 0:20:03 | 0:20:05 | |
Yeah, OK. All right. | 0:20:05 | 0:20:07 | |
I mean, I can see they're beautiful. | 0:20:07 | 0:20:08 | |
I can see they're really architectural. | 0:20:08 | 0:20:10 | |
What do you mean by architectural? | 0:20:10 | 0:20:12 | |
Well, exactly... How dare I? | 0:20:12 | 0:20:14 | |
I can see they are quite beautiful. | 0:20:14 | 0:20:16 | |
They are interesting but I'm not sure, I mean, you know,... | 0:20:16 | 0:20:20 | |
Why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you... | 0:20:20 | 0:20:22 | |
I suppose, what I feel is, you know, I'm in my mid-50s | 0:20:22 | 0:20:25 | |
and I'm not going to get any younger | 0:20:25 | 0:20:27 | |
-and this is tricky to navigate. -Why? They're quite shallow. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:30 | |
-Yeah. -They're quite generous. -Yes. -They're quite big. | 0:20:30 | 0:20:32 | |
There are also places that would encourage you to sit. | 0:20:32 | 0:20:35 | |
All right, I know, yeah. I'm hearing you. | 0:20:35 | 0:20:37 | |
But the steps aren't the only design feature to | 0:20:37 | 0:20:40 | |
immediately capture our attention. | 0:20:40 | 0:20:42 | |
That's charred. | 0:20:42 | 0:20:44 | |
Oh, God. It is. I love that. | 0:20:44 | 0:20:46 | |
Do you know, rather tragically, Piers, can I tell you something? | 0:20:46 | 0:20:48 | |
Rather tragically, I've actually bought wallpaper like this | 0:20:48 | 0:20:51 | |
-for behind my bed. -Fake charred wood. -It's naff but I love it. | 0:20:51 | 0:20:54 | |
-This is real charred wood. -I love the look of it. | 0:20:54 | 0:20:56 | |
-God, that's beautiful. -He's very excited. | 0:20:56 | 0:20:58 | |
-Check it out! -Yes, I'm checking. | 0:20:58 | 0:21:00 | |
It's lovely. It's lovely. | 0:21:04 | 0:21:05 | |
Right, here we go. Head up here. | 0:21:05 | 0:21:07 | |
-It leads you in, doesn't it? Beautifully. -It does. I do see it. | 0:21:07 | 0:21:10 | |
God, this is lovely. Look at this. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:12 | |
This is a front door. | 0:21:12 | 0:21:14 | |
Here we go. | 0:21:14 | 0:21:15 | |
I'll give it a tug. Are you ready? | 0:21:15 | 0:21:17 | |
-That's quite a door. -Oh, hang on. | 0:21:18 | 0:21:20 | |
-OK. Hang on. -It's caught at the bottom. | 0:21:20 | 0:21:22 | |
This is actually fabulous looking, but quite irritating. | 0:21:23 | 0:21:26 | |
Here we go. Here we go. It's going. That's it. I think... | 0:21:26 | 0:21:28 | |
That is a beautiful door. | 0:21:31 | 0:21:33 | |
-God, it's nice. -Wow, wow, wow! -I really love that. | 0:21:33 | 0:21:36 | |
I hate ordinary doors. | 0:21:36 | 0:21:37 | |
I love it. It's great, isn't it? | 0:21:38 | 0:21:40 | |
-Isn't it beautiful? -Piers... -It's beautiful. | 0:21:40 | 0:21:42 | |
Piers, it's so nice. | 0:21:51 | 0:21:52 | |
It's so nice. God, it's nice! God, it's nice! | 0:21:52 | 0:21:55 | |
God, it's nice. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:56 | |
It's beautiful. | 0:21:59 | 0:22:01 | |
Do you know what I really love about it? | 0:22:03 | 0:22:05 | |
You've got the desert and the mountains on either side and yet, | 0:22:05 | 0:22:08 | |
this house just enhances it and doesn't take away from it. | 0:22:08 | 0:22:12 | |
I think that's so wonderful. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:15 | |
Preserving the natural beauty of these mountains | 0:22:17 | 0:22:20 | |
was key to the design of this home. | 0:22:20 | 0:22:22 | |
The owners' desire was to embrace rather than exploit | 0:22:22 | 0:22:26 | |
this fragile landscape. | 0:22:26 | 0:22:28 | |
This is where the desert starts, here, you know. | 0:22:34 | 0:22:36 | |
I'm in the house, I'm in the desert. | 0:22:36 | 0:22:38 | |
Oh, it's beautiful, Piers. | 0:22:40 | 0:22:42 | |
Because it's so hot here, Piers, I mean, | 0:22:42 | 0:22:45 | |
I don't think I've ever been as hot as I am at this minute, actually. | 0:22:45 | 0:22:48 | |
But when this is open, presumably the breeze just canters through the house. | 0:22:48 | 0:22:51 | |
Yeah, right the way through. But, also, things like this, | 0:22:51 | 0:22:53 | |
so this is all about shade, so I guess this sun will never, | 0:22:53 | 0:22:57 | |
ever get to here, ever. | 0:22:57 | 0:22:59 | |
But it's not just the clever positioning of this house | 0:23:02 | 0:23:04 | |
that makes living in these extreme temperatures bearable. | 0:23:04 | 0:23:08 | |
The walls are made from rammed earth, | 0:23:09 | 0:23:11 | |
a building technique which has been used for centuries | 0:23:11 | 0:23:14 | |
as a way of naturally cooling houses. | 0:23:14 | 0:23:16 | |
A wooden framework is built on site, | 0:23:18 | 0:23:21 | |
then soil from the desert, combined with water and a small amount of | 0:23:21 | 0:23:25 | |
cement, is poured into the wooden moulds | 0:23:25 | 0:23:28 | |
and then rammed down to form a tightly packed | 0:23:28 | 0:23:30 | |
series of solid layers. | 0:23:30 | 0:23:32 | |
These high thermal mass walls absorb the heat during the day and release | 0:23:35 | 0:23:39 | |
it at night, reducing the need for air conditioning or heating. | 0:23:39 | 0:23:43 | |
It's always great to see how a building is made | 0:23:46 | 0:23:49 | |
and this is so legible. | 0:23:49 | 0:23:53 | |
I mean, you can see all the moulds, | 0:23:53 | 0:23:55 | |
see where the moulds were plugged in, | 0:23:55 | 0:23:57 | |
see the shape and depth of every lift of this rammed earth. | 0:23:57 | 0:24:02 | |
I think for many British people, this is a slightly strange building, | 0:24:02 | 0:24:06 | |
because it's so unlike the buildings that we know. | 0:24:06 | 0:24:09 | |
But the buildings that we know in England, | 0:24:09 | 0:24:11 | |
grew up out of a tradition of having parapets and roofs and gutters | 0:24:11 | 0:24:15 | |
to keep the rain away from the building, | 0:24:15 | 0:24:17 | |
and detail and ornament to add a certain kind of relief. | 0:24:17 | 0:24:21 | |
But here, this is a building that totally makes sense | 0:24:21 | 0:24:25 | |
for where it is. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:26 | |
It's a building that's really tuned to its climate. | 0:24:26 | 0:24:28 | |
It doesn't rain, so there's no need for any relief at all. | 0:24:28 | 0:24:32 | |
Any applied ornament would just be ridiculous, when actually, | 0:24:32 | 0:24:35 | |
this building is so tactile and... | 0:24:35 | 0:24:38 | |
Just rich, materially. | 0:24:39 | 0:24:42 | |
The two bedrooms Piers and I will be staying in | 0:24:45 | 0:24:47 | |
are to the left of the living area. | 0:24:47 | 0:24:50 | |
But with no connecting corridor, there's only one way to get to them. | 0:24:50 | 0:24:55 | |
Right. OK. | 0:24:55 | 0:24:57 | |
Fabulous steps. | 0:24:59 | 0:25:00 | |
Um... | 0:25:00 | 0:25:02 | |
This is form over function. | 0:25:02 | 0:25:04 | |
I don't care what he says. | 0:25:04 | 0:25:05 | |
This is just ludicrous. | 0:25:05 | 0:25:07 | |
Actually, this is too big a leap for me, this one, I think. | 0:25:07 | 0:25:10 | |
Oh! | 0:25:10 | 0:25:11 | |
Yeah, excellent. | 0:25:11 | 0:25:13 | |
SHE GROANS | 0:25:13 | 0:25:15 | |
It's actually like the Giant's Causeway. | 0:25:15 | 0:25:17 | |
Unfortunately, I'm not a giant. | 0:25:17 | 0:25:19 | |
It's not like this house to have a stiff door, is it? | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
It's nice. | 0:25:37 | 0:25:39 | |
Overlooking the mountains, | 0:25:40 | 0:25:42 | |
this minimalist bedroom doesn't need any curtains | 0:25:42 | 0:25:45 | |
but luckily for us, owners Karen and David | 0:25:45 | 0:25:48 | |
have left us a gift. | 0:25:48 | 0:25:50 | |
If the moon is too bright, | 0:25:50 | 0:25:52 | |
please use the sleep mask. | 0:25:52 | 0:25:55 | |
It may seem a bit creepy, sleeping in a fishbowl, | 0:25:55 | 0:25:58 | |
but don't worry. | 0:25:58 | 0:26:00 | |
Nobody lives in the house up the hill! | 0:26:00 | 0:26:03 | |
That's so sweet, because it's meant to be really reassuring, | 0:26:03 | 0:26:05 | |
but it's actually made me really terrified! | 0:26:05 | 0:26:07 | |
I didn't even know there was a house on the top of the hill. | 0:26:07 | 0:26:11 | |
This is a truly stylish and beautiful bathroom. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:21 | |
This has been chosen, I mean, very, very carefully. | 0:26:21 | 0:26:25 | |
It's beautifully cut. | 0:26:25 | 0:26:26 | |
It's so well tiled, this room, it's unbelievable. | 0:26:26 | 0:26:29 | |
It's like glass. | 0:26:29 | 0:26:31 | |
And then it mirrors the colour from outside, | 0:26:31 | 0:26:34 | |
brings that landscape in and yet, I notice, if you want to, | 0:26:34 | 0:26:38 | |
you can open that window, | 0:26:38 | 0:26:40 | |
so you can be having a bath in the desert and the mountains. | 0:26:40 | 0:26:45 | |
You can't really get a better view than that. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:47 | |
As the sun starts to drop behind the mountains, | 0:26:51 | 0:26:54 | |
Piers and I get the chance to discover what it's really like | 0:26:54 | 0:26:57 | |
to live in this extraordinary environment. | 0:26:57 | 0:27:00 | |
I've got a little surprise for you. | 0:27:00 | 0:27:03 | |
Sounds ominous. Have you been hunting? | 0:27:03 | 0:27:05 | |
Yeah! I'm going to skin a rabbit for you, boy! | 0:27:05 | 0:27:08 | |
-I'll have my sandwich. -All right. | 0:27:09 | 0:27:11 | |
The owners built this home looking for an escape from their busy working lives. | 0:27:13 | 0:27:17 | |
And it's easy to see what's so attractive about this kind of | 0:27:17 | 0:27:21 | |
mountain living. | 0:27:21 | 0:27:22 | |
Not many buildings allow us to be this relaxed in it, this quickly. | 0:27:24 | 0:27:28 | |
I've lived in houses for years and felt less relaxed. | 0:27:28 | 0:27:31 | |
Me too, me too. Do you want another one of these? | 0:27:31 | 0:27:33 | |
Please. No, it does. | 0:27:33 | 0:27:35 | |
It really, it's very welcoming, very easy to use. | 0:27:35 | 0:27:39 | |
-Really easy to use. -Yeah. | 0:27:39 | 0:27:41 | |
This is their evening every day. | 0:27:41 | 0:27:44 | |
I mean, how extraordinary is that? | 0:27:44 | 0:27:45 | |
I've never been anywhere like this in my life. Have you? | 0:27:45 | 0:27:49 | |
It's so different, yet, it fits in so beautifully. | 0:27:49 | 0:27:52 | |
I love it and I think this is one of the finest houses | 0:27:52 | 0:27:55 | |
I've ever seen and I'm very excited about staying here. | 0:27:55 | 0:27:58 | |
Oh, God! It's so nice! | 0:28:16 | 0:28:18 | |
Ah, God, it's lovely! | 0:28:20 | 0:28:22 | |
-Ah! -Bliss! | 0:28:24 | 0:28:26 | |
Bliss! | 0:28:26 | 0:28:28 | |
After our first desert shower, we're meeting the owners, David and Karen, | 0:28:30 | 0:28:35 | |
to find out the challenges they faced building this mountain home. | 0:28:35 | 0:28:39 | |
Hello. How lovely to meet you. | 0:28:39 | 0:28:41 | |
-I'm Karen. -So lovely to meet you. -Piers, hi. | 0:28:41 | 0:28:43 | |
I feel like I know you already a bit because we've stayed in your house | 0:28:43 | 0:28:46 | |
-and I think it must... -Hi, Karen, I'm Piers. | 0:28:46 | 0:28:48 | |
..have something of you about it, I feel. | 0:28:48 | 0:28:50 | |
David has had a lifelong connection with this mountainous desert | 0:28:50 | 0:28:54 | |
and 12 years ago, found this virgin plot of land on which to build | 0:28:54 | 0:28:57 | |
the house of his dreams. | 0:28:57 | 0:28:59 | |
So I have been in love with the desert, having grown up here. | 0:28:59 | 0:29:02 | |
And living in San Diego, I was driving back frequently | 0:29:02 | 0:29:06 | |
to see my parents and I was driving to the beautiful Sorrel preserve and I said, I need to get some land. | 0:29:06 | 0:29:12 | |
I visited a neighbour here, had dinner, | 0:29:12 | 0:29:15 | |
and he realised how passionately I was attached to this land. | 0:29:15 | 0:29:18 | |
He called me up one night and said, "Would you like to be my neighbour?" | 0:29:18 | 0:29:22 | |
So I said, "Yes. | 0:29:22 | 0:29:24 | |
"Is the lot as good as yours is?" | 0:29:24 | 0:29:25 | |
It's better. I said, "Fine, I'll be over to buy it." | 0:29:25 | 0:29:29 | |
That was Thursday night. I'll be over to buy it on Saturday. | 0:29:29 | 0:29:32 | |
David employed local architect Cade Hayes, | 0:29:32 | 0:29:35 | |
who is passionate about building houses which respect the natural environment. | 0:29:35 | 0:29:39 | |
It's a huge responsibility. | 0:29:39 | 0:29:41 | |
I mean, this being untouched, virgin landscape, | 0:29:41 | 0:29:45 | |
to put a building in here, that in theory, could spoil it. | 0:29:45 | 0:29:49 | |
I said, I really want to keep this land, sort of like we've dropped | 0:29:49 | 0:29:52 | |
the house down. I want it to fit perfectly into the land | 0:29:52 | 0:29:55 | |
and I thought he got that perfect. | 0:29:55 | 0:29:57 | |
Cade's plan took great care to cause minimal disruption to the fragile | 0:30:00 | 0:30:04 | |
ecosystem that exists here and, during the build, | 0:30:04 | 0:30:07 | |
only three cacti had to be moved. | 0:30:07 | 0:30:09 | |
Such is the importance of the natural vegetation, | 0:30:12 | 0:30:14 | |
that a fine is imposed if any cactus is removed | 0:30:14 | 0:30:17 | |
without carefully replanting it. | 0:30:17 | 0:30:19 | |
The construction people were very careful about the environment. | 0:30:22 | 0:30:25 | |
We tried to save every bit of native vegetation that we could. | 0:30:25 | 0:30:29 | |
It's a large structure but the desert all around you | 0:30:29 | 0:30:31 | |
is still very happy that you're there. | 0:30:31 | 0:30:33 | |
If I did anything right... | 0:30:33 | 0:30:35 | |
..finding a very... | 0:30:36 | 0:30:38 | |
A brilliant young architect and then letting him do what he does. | 0:30:38 | 0:30:43 | |
Whilst Piers is getting the lowdown from David, | 0:30:43 | 0:30:46 | |
I'm keen to find out from Karen | 0:30:46 | 0:30:49 | |
the true cost of building a home in the desert mountains. | 0:30:49 | 0:30:52 | |
I've renovated lots of houses with my husband and we've almost... | 0:30:52 | 0:30:56 | |
-With your husband? -Well, you know, he... | 0:30:56 | 0:30:58 | |
Like you agreed, like, "Honey, let's do this together | 0:30:58 | 0:31:01 | |
"and we're going to agree on this?" | 0:31:01 | 0:31:03 | |
We decide we are going to do a project and then we fall out. | 0:31:03 | 0:31:06 | |
There are always things that drive me mad. | 0:31:06 | 0:31:08 | |
Have there been problems like that with you and David? | 0:31:08 | 0:31:10 | |
Well, there's a little pause of silence there, | 0:31:10 | 0:31:13 | |
because I had to compose myself a little bit. | 0:31:13 | 0:31:16 | |
OK! | 0:31:16 | 0:31:18 | |
The house was completed, I think, 2013 and at that point, | 0:31:18 | 0:31:22 | |
I stopped by to see it when it was all furnished and photographed | 0:31:22 | 0:31:26 | |
and it looked really beautiful and then we went home | 0:31:26 | 0:31:28 | |
and we kind of looked at the cheque book, and I went, | 0:31:28 | 0:31:31 | |
"Oh, my God! What did we do?" | 0:31:31 | 0:31:32 | |
So we didn't really come for a year. Then we finally had the energy... | 0:31:32 | 0:31:37 | |
You didn't come because you'd overspent? | 0:31:37 | 0:31:39 | |
We overspent. We just were exhausted. | 0:31:39 | 0:31:41 | |
I'm quite interested. That's a long time not to come to a house. | 0:31:41 | 0:31:44 | |
I was kind of thinking about killing my husband, but... | 0:31:44 | 0:31:47 | |
OK, so you weren't angry with the house, you were angry with David? | 0:31:47 | 0:31:49 | |
I was kind of, well, kind of angry in general. | 0:31:49 | 0:31:52 | |
Yeah, yeah. I get it. I get it. | 0:31:52 | 0:31:53 | |
I was going to kill him, but I needed... We were too much in debt, | 0:31:53 | 0:31:56 | |
so we needed him to be able to continue to work and I was thinking, | 0:31:56 | 0:31:59 | |
that it would also look better if I got the life insurance and then | 0:31:59 | 0:32:02 | |
-I killed him. -And the house. It would look awful, wouldn't it? | 0:32:02 | 0:32:05 | |
-Yeah. -So you didn't come, then you decided you had to come back? | 0:32:05 | 0:32:08 | |
We just decided, OK, and we did it. | 0:32:08 | 0:32:10 | |
We're going to make it work. We're going to come back and enjoy it. | 0:32:10 | 0:32:13 | |
That was probably one of the low points of the house experience. | 0:32:13 | 0:32:17 | |
-Why? -Well, during the year we weren't coming, | 0:32:17 | 0:32:20 | |
the door was open about this wide, the lights were popping on and off, | 0:32:20 | 0:32:24 | |
the bugs were coming through the open door at night | 0:32:24 | 0:32:27 | |
to feast on the light, | 0:32:27 | 0:32:28 | |
and then there were some rodents that also found their way in | 0:32:28 | 0:32:32 | |
to enjoy the toilet water. They love it in here! | 0:32:32 | 0:32:35 | |
You have been through a lot. | 0:32:37 | 0:32:39 | |
It's cost you a lot of money. It's been quite a journey for you but | 0:32:39 | 0:32:42 | |
arriving here today, what do you feel when you see the house? | 0:32:42 | 0:32:46 | |
Do you have any fondness for it? | 0:32:46 | 0:32:47 | |
There are more ups than there are downs these days, which is really nice. | 0:32:47 | 0:32:51 | |
The house is understated. | 0:32:51 | 0:32:53 | |
It doesn't really... | 0:32:53 | 0:32:55 | |
It's not flashy. It's not trying to impress you with fancy ornateness, this and that. | 0:32:55 | 0:32:59 | |
It's just to blend in and be in harmony in this | 0:32:59 | 0:33:01 | |
incredibly harsh environment. | 0:33:01 | 0:33:04 | |
I think the beauty of the desert has just really, | 0:33:04 | 0:33:06 | |
really started to take hold of me. | 0:33:06 | 0:33:08 | |
Thank you so much for looking after us. | 0:33:14 | 0:33:16 | |
We have had the most wonderful time in your house. | 0:33:16 | 0:33:18 | |
-It's been great. -It's been our great pleasure. -Take care. -Bye-bye. | 0:33:18 | 0:33:21 | |
Bye, darlings. Bye-bye. | 0:33:21 | 0:33:22 | |
It's an amazing house, but I don't think it's been particularly easily won. | 0:33:29 | 0:33:33 | |
Do you think? I mean, cos David seems in love with it. | 0:33:35 | 0:33:39 | |
I think he is in love with it but I think that doesn't necessarily mean | 0:33:39 | 0:33:43 | |
-the journey's been easy for the whole family. -Mmm. | 0:33:43 | 0:33:45 | |
Do think it's been the problem child for them? | 0:33:47 | 0:33:50 | |
Yeah. | 0:33:50 | 0:33:52 | |
They've been through some stuff. | 0:33:52 | 0:33:54 | |
Our next house takes us to the other side of the world and to a country | 0:34:01 | 0:34:05 | |
famous for its rugged, mountain scenery. | 0:34:05 | 0:34:07 | |
We've landed in the South Island of New Zealand | 0:34:14 | 0:34:16 | |
and are heading to a home nestled in the wilderness, | 0:34:16 | 0:34:19 | |
half an hour's drive from the nearest town of Wanaka. | 0:34:19 | 0:34:22 | |
All my life, whenever people have spoken about the South Island, | 0:34:26 | 0:34:29 | |
they talk about it as sort of a bucket list place, | 0:34:29 | 0:34:32 | |
one of the most beautiful places in the world. | 0:34:32 | 0:34:34 | |
-And it is. -It's extraordinary. | 0:34:34 | 0:34:36 | |
The clouds on the top of the mountains. | 0:34:36 | 0:34:38 | |
-And so little building, Piers, that's what I'm noticing. -Nothing. | 0:34:38 | 0:34:41 | |
This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is fiercely protected | 0:34:43 | 0:34:47 | |
by New Zealand planning laws. | 0:34:47 | 0:34:49 | |
So much so that any opportunities to build here are extremely rare. | 0:34:51 | 0:34:55 | |
But, 12 years ago, when a plot of land came up for sale, | 0:34:56 | 0:35:00 | |
home owners Mark and Susanna jumped at the chance to fulfil | 0:35:00 | 0:35:03 | |
their dream of living in this remote mountain range. | 0:35:03 | 0:35:07 | |
But the hurdle of securing the land was only half the battle. | 0:35:09 | 0:35:13 | |
They had to find an architect who would embrace the challenge of designing | 0:35:13 | 0:35:17 | |
them a home that will be camouflaged within their surroundings. | 0:35:17 | 0:35:20 | |
It's a lot to ask of an architect, isn't it? | 0:35:23 | 0:35:26 | |
To say, look, I've been in love with this thing for my whole life, | 0:35:26 | 0:35:30 | |
this has been a dream for me and then to say to them, | 0:35:30 | 0:35:34 | |
now create the perfect house for this environment that I adore. | 0:35:34 | 0:35:38 | |
But if they can't do that, then, no-one should be building. | 0:35:38 | 0:35:41 | |
People shouldn't be littering little houses in beautiful landscapes, | 0:35:41 | 0:35:45 | |
they really should be understanding how precious this is. | 0:35:45 | 0:35:49 | |
This landscape is so fragile, | 0:35:49 | 0:35:50 | |
once you've spoilt it, it's gone for good. | 0:35:50 | 0:35:54 | |
And we're here, we're here! | 0:35:54 | 0:35:55 | |
Wonderful, isn't it? | 0:36:01 | 0:36:03 | |
It's quite a subtle little thing, isn't it? Nestled down here. | 0:36:10 | 0:36:14 | |
Which I'm pleased about. | 0:36:14 | 0:36:16 | |
Because I was rather dreading it might be something rather big and ostentatious, but it isn't. | 0:36:16 | 0:36:20 | |
That roof absolutely follows the line of the mountains. | 0:36:24 | 0:36:26 | |
It's rather lovely, isn't it? It almost disappears, doesn't it? | 0:36:26 | 0:36:29 | |
Taking on the challenge of designing a building to fit within the | 0:36:32 | 0:36:35 | |
landscape, the architects took inspiration | 0:36:35 | 0:36:38 | |
from the triangulated geometry reflected by the mountains. | 0:36:38 | 0:36:41 | |
They combined that with the unusual sculptural forms found in origami | 0:36:44 | 0:36:48 | |
to create this truly unique structure. | 0:36:48 | 0:36:51 | |
That's extraordinary, isn't it? | 0:36:55 | 0:36:56 | |
-Yeah. -Hunkered down. | 0:36:56 | 0:36:58 | |
It all kind of blends in, doesn't it? | 0:36:58 | 0:37:00 | |
The architects carefully selected building materials with colours and | 0:37:01 | 0:37:05 | |
textures which would disguise the house within its environment. | 0:37:05 | 0:37:07 | |
The wooden cedar cladding and concrete window frames | 0:37:10 | 0:37:13 | |
were inspired by the surrounding trees and mountains | 0:37:13 | 0:37:16 | |
to create a weathered camouflaged. | 0:37:16 | 0:37:19 | |
I mean, really beautiful. | 0:37:19 | 0:37:21 | |
Some of the nicest cladding I've seen, actually. | 0:37:21 | 0:37:24 | |
So not too much glass, then. That was a stipulation. | 0:37:24 | 0:37:26 | |
Not too much glass, no metal and the timber goes on the roof, as well. | 0:37:26 | 0:37:30 | |
It is a very low-lying building. | 0:37:30 | 0:37:33 | |
It probably is semi-invisible from a distance. | 0:37:33 | 0:37:36 | |
I imagine it's almost completely invisible. | 0:37:36 | 0:37:38 | |
I mean, it really does... | 0:37:38 | 0:37:39 | |
It's camouflaged absolutely into the landscape. | 0:37:39 | 0:37:42 | |
Right, here we are, through the church door. | 0:37:43 | 0:37:46 | |
This reminds me of Liverpool Cathedral, this door. | 0:37:46 | 0:37:48 | |
Inside, you truly get a sense that you're wrapped in a | 0:37:51 | 0:37:54 | |
three-dimensional origami structure. | 0:37:54 | 0:37:57 | |
There are unconventional angles almost everywhere you look. | 0:37:57 | 0:38:01 | |
As well as creating a beautiful internal space, | 0:38:01 | 0:38:04 | |
there's a real purpose to this innovative design. | 0:38:04 | 0:38:06 | |
The angled roof juts out of the ceiling, allowing light to enter the | 0:38:08 | 0:38:11 | |
building in a variety of ways. | 0:38:11 | 0:38:13 | |
Look at this. | 0:38:15 | 0:38:17 | |
Look at the sun now. | 0:38:17 | 0:38:18 | |
Here I am, right at the furthest point in the house from the light. | 0:38:18 | 0:38:22 | |
And the sun is flooding in across the cedar. | 0:38:22 | 0:38:25 | |
Look at it. It's beautiful. | 0:38:25 | 0:38:28 | |
It changes it. | 0:38:28 | 0:38:29 | |
-It does. -A lot, actually. | 0:38:29 | 0:38:31 | |
Not even subtly, the room changes quite dramatically. | 0:38:31 | 0:38:34 | |
Doesn't it? Because of the sunlight. | 0:38:34 | 0:38:36 | |
-It's incredible. -It's lovely looking through into different spaces. | 0:38:36 | 0:38:41 | |
That cut-out upstairs. | 0:38:41 | 0:38:42 | |
-That's amazing! -It's great. | 0:38:42 | 0:38:44 | |
I don't think there's any glass there, either. | 0:38:44 | 0:38:46 | |
I think that's just another portal, another way in. | 0:38:46 | 0:38:50 | |
Actually, you know what that's really about, | 0:38:50 | 0:38:52 | |
that is about getting that view when you're upstairs. | 0:38:52 | 0:38:54 | |
-Some view, isn't it, Piers? -It is. | 0:38:59 | 0:39:02 | |
This is my favourite type of building | 0:39:02 | 0:39:04 | |
that has daylight from the back, | 0:39:04 | 0:39:05 | |
sunlight from the back and view that way. | 0:39:05 | 0:39:08 | |
I really do feel protected from the drama and the weather | 0:39:08 | 0:39:13 | |
by this big cut-out. | 0:39:13 | 0:39:14 | |
This is a very cleverly constructed home built to protect its occupants | 0:39:15 | 0:39:20 | |
from the blistering heat in the summer, | 0:39:20 | 0:39:21 | |
and howling snowstorms in the winter. | 0:39:21 | 0:39:24 | |
It's no wonder this house is christened The Cloak, | 0:39:25 | 0:39:28 | |
or to give it its Maori name, Te Kaitaka. | 0:39:28 | 0:39:31 | |
I can see why this guy fell in love with this exact piece of land | 0:39:32 | 0:39:36 | |
because you don't come across views like that | 0:39:36 | 0:39:38 | |
more than once in a lifetime. | 0:39:38 | 0:39:40 | |
You would remember it, you would fall in love with it | 0:39:40 | 0:39:42 | |
and you would want to come back and stay and raise a family here, | 0:39:42 | 0:39:46 | |
which is what he's done. | 0:39:46 | 0:39:47 | |
It is somewhere that once seen it would never be forgotten. | 0:39:47 | 0:39:51 | |
I'll never forget it. | 0:39:51 | 0:39:52 | |
The peace is lovely. | 0:39:54 | 0:39:56 | |
-Here we are, love. -Oh, God, shattered! | 0:39:56 | 0:39:59 | |
Thank you. | 0:39:59 | 0:40:00 | |
Thanks. | 0:40:00 | 0:40:02 | |
While Caroline takes in the mountain air, | 0:40:04 | 0:40:07 | |
I want to examine how this house pulls off the difficult trick | 0:40:07 | 0:40:10 | |
of bringing in light without relying on huge amounts of window space. | 0:40:10 | 0:40:14 | |
This is an extraordinary site but, in many ways, | 0:40:15 | 0:40:19 | |
it's quite a tricky site because the view is there | 0:40:19 | 0:40:22 | |
and the sun is there. | 0:40:22 | 0:40:23 | |
And, in this climate, you need the daytime sun | 0:40:23 | 0:40:26 | |
so the section is the thing that tells you all about this building. | 0:40:26 | 0:40:31 | |
What the section here is, is really just two beautiful pavilions, | 0:40:31 | 0:40:37 | |
one sitting above the other. | 0:40:39 | 0:40:41 | |
The problem with that is that the bedroom one is shielding | 0:40:41 | 0:40:46 | |
the living one. | 0:40:46 | 0:40:47 | |
All these architects have done is pick up a bit of roof, like this. | 0:40:47 | 0:40:52 | |
And what that does is allow the sunlight to enter | 0:40:55 | 0:41:00 | |
right the way into the heart of the house. | 0:41:00 | 0:41:03 | |
What they've done at the view side is make a shaded | 0:41:03 | 0:41:08 | |
veranda, really, to allow you to always see the view. | 0:41:08 | 0:41:14 | |
That shows that architecture isn't about making strange shapes | 0:41:14 | 0:41:18 | |
or trying to think of a concept, | 0:41:18 | 0:41:20 | |
it's just looking really hard at the view and daylight and then | 0:41:20 | 0:41:24 | |
making sense of it with a building. | 0:41:24 | 0:41:27 | |
This house gives up more and more of itself as you delve into it. | 0:41:28 | 0:41:32 | |
The internal use of concrete throughout creates a cave-like | 0:41:32 | 0:41:36 | |
and remarkably cosy feel. | 0:41:36 | 0:41:38 | |
This is a lovely room. | 0:41:40 | 0:41:42 | |
A little den, study, or something. | 0:41:42 | 0:41:45 | |
Little family room. | 0:41:45 | 0:41:46 | |
More of this lovely concrete. | 0:41:46 | 0:41:47 | |
I love the way you can see how the concrete was formed | 0:41:47 | 0:41:51 | |
in the planks of wood. | 0:41:51 | 0:41:53 | |
You still see the shape of it here. | 0:41:53 | 0:41:55 | |
It looks just great with the mountains. | 0:41:55 | 0:41:57 | |
This cedar staircase takes you up to the two master bedrooms, both with | 0:42:01 | 0:42:06 | |
spectacular mountain views. | 0:42:06 | 0:42:08 | |
There's no question that is the most beautiful view but, for me, | 0:42:11 | 0:42:15 | |
one of the most exciting things about this house is the story of it. | 0:42:15 | 0:42:18 | |
Mark saw this land as a young man | 0:42:18 | 0:42:21 | |
and he stuck with that dream | 0:42:21 | 0:42:24 | |
and he's managed to build his house, his dream house | 0:42:24 | 0:42:28 | |
right here looking at the view he's always adored. | 0:42:28 | 0:42:32 | |
And that must be the definition of a dream home. | 0:42:32 | 0:42:35 | |
Your dream come true. | 0:42:35 | 0:42:37 | |
The two architects who designed this house are based in Auckland | 0:42:38 | 0:42:41 | |
on the North Island. | 0:42:41 | 0:42:43 | |
-Hi, guys. -Hey. | 0:42:43 | 0:42:45 | |
Gary Lawson and Nicholas Stevens are award-winning architects. | 0:42:45 | 0:42:48 | |
How did you deal with the responsibility of building | 0:42:48 | 0:42:52 | |
in this extraordinary place? | 0:42:52 | 0:42:54 | |
I remember when we first came to the site, | 0:42:54 | 0:42:57 | |
we actually came out on a boat. | 0:42:57 | 0:42:59 | |
We saw this gorgeous landscape which reminded us of almost like fabric | 0:42:59 | 0:43:05 | |
draped over rocks. | 0:43:05 | 0:43:07 | |
In that, we saw an idea for the house. | 0:43:07 | 0:43:10 | |
In the mountains, you see triangles. You don't see perpendicular angles. | 0:43:10 | 0:43:14 | |
You don't see verticals and horizontals. | 0:43:14 | 0:43:17 | |
So, we wanted to architecturalise that kind of idea | 0:43:17 | 0:43:19 | |
and through origami is how we came to that. | 0:43:19 | 0:43:22 | |
And the interior, particularly, feels like the most exquisite bit of furniture, | 0:43:22 | 0:43:26 | |
which is crafted beautifully out of extraordinary materials. | 0:43:26 | 0:43:31 | |
Tell me a little bit about that. | 0:43:31 | 0:43:33 | |
Well, we wanted to create the sensation of being | 0:43:33 | 0:43:37 | |
a little bit like being in a cave. | 0:43:37 | 0:43:39 | |
We took the whole faceted geometry of the rocks around and we | 0:43:39 | 0:43:43 | |
created an architecturalised version, especially around the fireplaces. | 0:43:43 | 0:43:47 | |
Each of those fireplaces was cast in a precast yard in one piece. | 0:43:47 | 0:43:53 | |
By going to a precast yard, we could ensure that the product | 0:43:53 | 0:43:57 | |
would be top-notch and then transported to site. | 0:43:57 | 0:44:00 | |
But transporting these huge concrete precast elements to such a remote | 0:44:00 | 0:44:06 | |
location presented its own problems. | 0:44:06 | 0:44:09 | |
Poor roads and bad winter weather caused huge delays. | 0:44:09 | 0:44:13 | |
Gary and Nicholas employed a small team of builders who were willing to | 0:44:14 | 0:44:17 | |
work in such an inaccessible location. | 0:44:17 | 0:44:20 | |
Consequently, the house took three years to complete | 0:44:21 | 0:44:24 | |
but the level of craftsmanship that these builders brought to it is second to none. | 0:44:24 | 0:44:28 | |
In New Zealand, there is a real resourcefulness | 0:44:31 | 0:44:34 | |
amongst builders and there is that... | 0:44:34 | 0:44:37 | |
It is a bit of a cliche but there is a can-do | 0:44:37 | 0:44:40 | |
Kiwi attitude to making stuff and, look... | 0:44:40 | 0:44:43 | |
This builder would never have made a building exactly like this | 0:44:43 | 0:44:47 | |
and he cared so much. | 0:44:47 | 0:44:48 | |
I think for the last 150 years or so, we've really struggled to know | 0:44:54 | 0:44:58 | |
how to build beautiful buildings in landscape. | 0:44:58 | 0:45:01 | |
I think this building is a really good model in terms | 0:45:01 | 0:45:05 | |
of how to do it. It's a complex building but, actually, | 0:45:05 | 0:45:08 | |
it does some very simple things. | 0:45:08 | 0:45:10 | |
It makes a series of spaces that are beautifully lit | 0:45:10 | 0:45:13 | |
with fantastic atmospheres. | 0:45:13 | 0:45:15 | |
I do love these materials. | 0:45:19 | 0:45:20 | |
They're beautiful. This rock, look at it. | 0:45:20 | 0:45:24 | |
Only an architect would call grass "materials." | 0:45:24 | 0:45:27 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:45:27 | 0:45:28 | |
The last leg of our architectural mountain discovery takes | 0:45:33 | 0:45:36 | |
us a little closer to home. | 0:45:36 | 0:45:37 | |
Piers and I are in the Swiss Alps, | 0:45:46 | 0:45:48 | |
heading towards Mount Rigi | 0:45:48 | 0:45:50 | |
where two architects took on the challenge of building | 0:45:50 | 0:45:53 | |
a holiday home perched on the side of a mountain. | 0:45:53 | 0:45:56 | |
Soaring at 1,665 metres above sea level, | 0:45:59 | 0:46:03 | |
this house takes in breathtaking views but has to withstand | 0:46:03 | 0:46:07 | |
some of the harshest winter weather Mother Nature can throw at it. | 0:46:07 | 0:46:11 | |
I'm quite excited about how we're getting there. | 0:46:13 | 0:46:16 | |
Do you know something? This is a first for me. I've never been in a cable car before. | 0:46:19 | 0:46:23 | |
Have you not? Because you hate heights? | 0:46:23 | 0:46:24 | |
Because I've never wanted to go in a cable car before. | 0:46:24 | 0:46:27 | |
-You might love it. -I won't love it. | 0:46:27 | 0:46:30 | |
-I will. -I don't know. | 0:46:30 | 0:46:31 | |
Oh, here we go. | 0:46:36 | 0:46:38 | |
Oh! That's the thing I don't like. | 0:46:38 | 0:46:40 | |
-It's why don't on fairground rides. -I love this. | 0:46:40 | 0:46:43 | |
Why would you build a house up a mountain where you can only get | 0:46:47 | 0:46:51 | |
-there by cable car? -There's a sense of being away, being apart, | 0:46:51 | 0:46:55 | |
being in nature that is really exaggerated | 0:46:55 | 0:46:58 | |
when you can only get there by cable car, | 0:46:58 | 0:47:00 | |
or, you know, a really inaccessible way. | 0:47:00 | 0:47:04 | |
This was going to be the greatest view ever. | 0:47:05 | 0:47:08 | |
There's absolutely nothing. | 0:47:08 | 0:47:10 | |
It's like someone's smeared duck fat all over the windows. | 0:47:10 | 0:47:15 | |
Made it! | 0:47:21 | 0:47:22 | |
Here we are! It hasn't got any better, the rain, has it? | 0:47:24 | 0:47:26 | |
This is just the beginning of our mountain journey, Piers. | 0:47:26 | 0:47:29 | |
-Have you got some Kendal Mint Cake? -Of course I have! | 0:47:29 | 0:47:31 | |
What sort of woman do you take me for? | 0:47:31 | 0:47:33 | |
I've got Kendal Mint Cake and lipstick. | 0:47:33 | 0:47:36 | |
That's all a woman needs up a mountain. | 0:47:36 | 0:47:39 | |
It doesn't take us long to reach the remote mountain village. | 0:47:39 | 0:47:42 | |
The house we're heading to is a contemporary take on the traditional | 0:47:44 | 0:47:47 | |
chocolate-box chalets which sprinkle this area. | 0:47:47 | 0:47:50 | |
This bespoke holiday home is owned by four friends | 0:47:53 | 0:47:56 | |
who shared the cost of building on this steep mountainside slope. | 0:47:56 | 0:48:00 | |
Luckily, two of the owners are architects and embraced | 0:48:03 | 0:48:06 | |
the challenge of building in this remote location, | 0:48:06 | 0:48:09 | |
where the closest town is a 15-minute cable car ride down the mountain. | 0:48:09 | 0:48:13 | |
What are your first impressions, Piers? | 0:48:14 | 0:48:16 | |
I like it. It looks well made, well detailed. | 0:48:16 | 0:48:18 | |
And really easy to use. | 0:48:18 | 0:48:21 | |
While deceptively simple from the outside, | 0:48:21 | 0:48:24 | |
this innovative house was designed with real purpose. | 0:48:24 | 0:48:27 | |
Its unique hexagonal shape creates the stability needed | 0:48:28 | 0:48:31 | |
to cope with strong winds. | 0:48:31 | 0:48:33 | |
A two-storey prefabricated wooden structure sits on top | 0:48:34 | 0:48:38 | |
of a deep, concrete foundation. | 0:48:38 | 0:48:41 | |
A chimney with a steel core runs right through the centre of the building, | 0:48:41 | 0:48:45 | |
anchoring it to the mountain | 0:48:45 | 0:48:46 | |
and distributing heat throughout the house. | 0:48:46 | 0:48:49 | |
The living areas and four bedrooms are uniquely shaped | 0:48:49 | 0:48:52 | |
to fit into the six-sided structure. | 0:48:52 | 0:48:54 | |
This is the front gate. | 0:49:00 | 0:49:01 | |
Ah! There we are, Piers. | 0:49:01 | 0:49:03 | |
-I love this. -Good man. -Watch the string. | 0:49:03 | 0:49:05 | |
-That's electric. -The cows aren't allowed in but we are. | 0:49:05 | 0:49:08 | |
I think that's the best gate I've ever seen. | 0:49:08 | 0:49:11 | |
Are we going the right way, Piers? | 0:49:11 | 0:49:13 | |
This is a building that you need to be able to batten down | 0:49:13 | 0:49:16 | |
-the hatches of. -It's an antidote to the frilly oompah houses around it. | 0:49:16 | 0:49:20 | |
Yeah, I think so. Yeah. | 0:49:20 | 0:49:23 | |
Here we are. | 0:49:23 | 0:49:25 | |
It smells nice. | 0:49:27 | 0:49:28 | |
-It smells woody. -It does. -And it is warm. | 0:49:28 | 0:49:31 | |
This wood is so beautiful. | 0:49:33 | 0:49:34 | |
I mean, the lovely golden light you get, even on a grey day. | 0:49:34 | 0:49:39 | |
I suppose that's the real proof of a good building, | 0:49:39 | 0:49:44 | |
is can it look wonderful even when the weather is dismal? | 0:49:44 | 0:49:48 | |
-And it can. -And it does. | 0:49:48 | 0:49:50 | |
What a great space. | 0:50:01 | 0:50:02 | |
I like it. | 0:50:04 | 0:50:06 | |
-Like it. -What a beautiful space. | 0:50:06 | 0:50:08 | |
I mean, that light is beautiful. | 0:50:08 | 0:50:10 | |
-I love this. -I think it's almost better that it's misty. | 0:50:10 | 0:50:13 | |
Oh, it's lovely! | 0:50:13 | 0:50:15 | |
I do feel like I've been bathed in this honey-coloured glow. | 0:50:18 | 0:50:22 | |
These prefabricated plywood walls are a clever touch. | 0:50:23 | 0:50:27 | |
They're not only cost-effective but also enhance the light | 0:50:27 | 0:50:30 | |
in every room throughout the house. | 0:50:30 | 0:50:32 | |
It's very, very warm. Very relaxing. It's smells that... | 0:50:33 | 0:50:36 | |
That's smell of the wood is so lovely and I can imagine the smell | 0:50:36 | 0:50:39 | |
-of a wood fire. -You know, as an architect, | 0:50:39 | 0:50:41 | |
there are very few houses I can actually even bear to be in | 0:50:41 | 0:50:45 | |
because I either feel claustrophobic, or I feel oppressed. | 0:50:45 | 0:50:49 | |
But, actually, this is a beautiful house to be in. | 0:50:49 | 0:50:52 | |
The simple combination of wood and concrete throughout this space helps | 0:50:52 | 0:50:56 | |
give the house a unique atmosphere. | 0:50:56 | 0:50:58 | |
There's often a sense that to make something good it has to be complex | 0:51:00 | 0:51:03 | |
but this house is just a really good, well-structured space, | 0:51:03 | 0:51:09 | |
made out of something beautiful and that's about it. | 0:51:09 | 0:51:12 | |
I see the wood theme continues. | 0:51:19 | 0:51:22 | |
I've never been in a room with as much wood in as this, | 0:51:22 | 0:51:26 | |
unless there's actually been some burning coals in the corner | 0:51:26 | 0:51:30 | |
and I've been sitting in a towel. | 0:51:30 | 0:51:31 | |
Because it is like a sauna. | 0:51:31 | 0:51:33 | |
But it works here. | 0:51:34 | 0:51:36 | |
And I don't know why it works, maybe it's to do with the light, | 0:51:36 | 0:51:39 | |
maybe it's to do with the size of the spaces. | 0:51:39 | 0:51:42 | |
You know, you're very aware when you're walking round that this is, | 0:51:42 | 0:51:46 | |
sort of, ideal for where it is. | 0:51:46 | 0:51:48 | |
This works a dream because the light bounces off all the different | 0:51:48 | 0:51:52 | |
angles and it's beautiful. | 0:51:52 | 0:51:54 | |
This angular aesthetic continues on the outside. | 0:51:54 | 0:51:58 | |
The six-sided irregular shape creates a clever optical illusion | 0:51:58 | 0:52:02 | |
to make it seem smaller than its 242 square metres. | 0:52:02 | 0:52:06 | |
I think if you stumbled upon this building in the mist, | 0:52:07 | 0:52:09 | |
you might think it was a Swiss mountain hut. | 0:52:09 | 0:52:12 | |
And it looks tiny. | 0:52:12 | 0:52:14 | |
I know it's a cliche to talk about buildings as sculptural | 0:52:14 | 0:52:17 | |
but this one really is because, as you move around it, | 0:52:17 | 0:52:20 | |
more and more of it is revealed to you and from every angle | 0:52:20 | 0:52:24 | |
it's completely different. | 0:52:24 | 0:52:26 | |
And, now, along the side, we can see its really beautiful shape. | 0:52:26 | 0:52:31 | |
The only thing that's missing from this house so far is the view. | 0:52:33 | 0:52:37 | |
So, I've come up with a challenge for my architect friend. | 0:52:37 | 0:52:41 | |
Piers, I think we should have a little drawing competition | 0:52:41 | 0:52:44 | |
to see who can most accurately predict what the view really is. | 0:52:44 | 0:52:48 | |
You're going to find some brilliant way of doing it, aren't you, | 0:52:48 | 0:52:51 | |
with just a single ballpoint pen and a bit of actorly charm. | 0:52:51 | 0:52:54 | |
Yes, I am. | 0:52:54 | 0:52:56 | |
So, get over it. Ready, set, go! | 0:52:56 | 0:52:58 | |
-One minute left, Piers. -All right. | 0:53:05 | 0:53:07 | |
-We're done. -What's amazing is we have drawn the same thing. | 0:53:18 | 0:53:21 | |
We've drawn the same thing. | 0:53:21 | 0:53:23 | |
-Basically. -I think mine's better than yours. | 0:53:23 | 0:53:25 | |
I think this window is set up architecturally. | 0:53:25 | 0:53:27 | |
-That's what I'm trying to show. -You've got a very jealous nature. | 0:53:27 | 0:53:30 | |
It's just a better drawing. Get over it. | 0:53:30 | 0:53:32 | |
This is an intimate-sized space and all there is is you and the... | 0:53:32 | 0:53:37 | |
Piers, Piers, Piers. There's a bit of view coming. | 0:53:37 | 0:53:40 | |
-Can you see it? -I can. | 0:53:43 | 0:53:45 | |
-Just down there. -Just breaking. Just breaking. | 0:53:45 | 0:53:47 | |
That's extraordinary. | 0:54:07 | 0:54:08 | |
Can you believe it? After all this. | 0:54:08 | 0:54:10 | |
Now the view is revealing itself to us. | 0:54:10 | 0:54:12 | |
I'm glad it's now. Because we've loved the house already | 0:54:12 | 0:54:15 | |
and now we can actually see why it was built. | 0:54:15 | 0:54:17 | |
Do you think we would have loved the house as much if we'd seen this when we started? | 0:54:17 | 0:54:21 | |
Yeah. | 0:54:21 | 0:54:22 | |
-I do, as well. -And, now, spread before us, that's amazing. | 0:54:22 | 0:54:27 | |
That looks like a Japanese watercolour, isn't it? | 0:54:27 | 0:54:31 | |
-It's fantastic. -It is like some special effects thing that | 0:54:31 | 0:54:34 | |
-Hollywood's putting on for us. -Yeah. | 0:54:34 | 0:54:36 | |
I still think it looks more like my picture than yours, though. | 0:54:39 | 0:54:41 | |
Nonsense. | 0:54:41 | 0:54:43 | |
Nonsense. PIERS CHUCKLES | 0:54:44 | 0:54:46 | |
He's so competitive. | 0:54:46 | 0:54:48 | |
Even about nature. | 0:54:48 | 0:54:49 | |
Owners and architects, Andreas and Gabrielle | 0:54:53 | 0:54:56 | |
created their mountain holiday home as a place to retreat to, | 0:54:56 | 0:54:59 | |
high above the clouds. | 0:54:59 | 0:55:01 | |
Rigi actually is like an island, the mountain. | 0:55:01 | 0:55:05 | |
-Yeah. -The fog is like a lake, you know. Like a sea. | 0:55:05 | 0:55:08 | |
And it's like you would live on the sea. | 0:55:08 | 0:55:12 | |
Sometimes, people stay under the fog for weeks and, | 0:55:12 | 0:55:16 | |
up here it's beautiful weather. | 0:55:16 | 0:55:19 | |
We came up in a cable car. | 0:55:19 | 0:55:22 | |
How on earth did you get this house up a mountain? | 0:55:22 | 0:55:27 | |
In Switzerland, it's usual to build in such places with a helicopter. | 0:55:27 | 0:55:31 | |
So, we decided to make a prefab house. | 0:55:31 | 0:55:34 | |
When you prefabricate the house, they do it, this prefabrication, | 0:55:34 | 0:55:39 | |
earlier. Then, in one day, they bring this whole element, | 0:55:39 | 0:55:44 | |
the whole wall is one element, with the helicopter here. | 0:55:44 | 0:55:48 | |
The house was done in one day, actually. | 0:55:48 | 0:55:50 | |
The main house. | 0:55:50 | 0:55:52 | |
-One day? -One day. | 0:55:52 | 0:55:53 | |
Although this irregular-shaped house is a departure | 0:55:54 | 0:55:57 | |
from the traditional chalets around it, | 0:55:57 | 0:56:00 | |
Gabrielle and Andreas designed this structure to withstand | 0:56:00 | 0:56:03 | |
the harsh winter weather. | 0:56:03 | 0:56:04 | |
You can get really strong winds from here. | 0:56:04 | 0:56:08 | |
And when you have only one wall, | 0:56:08 | 0:56:11 | |
then it's quite difficult to stabilise the whole wall. | 0:56:11 | 0:56:15 | |
But when you make it like this, you know, then it's stable. | 0:56:15 | 0:56:19 | |
That was also a reason to do that. | 0:56:19 | 0:56:22 | |
It's stabilised the whole house. | 0:56:22 | 0:56:24 | |
It stiffens it. Yeah. | 0:56:24 | 0:56:26 | |
Actually, the locals were very impressed about our entrance | 0:56:26 | 0:56:30 | |
because it's very well protected. | 0:56:30 | 0:56:33 | |
In winter time, the wind comes here and blows all the snow away. | 0:56:33 | 0:56:38 | |
Even the way is always clean. | 0:56:38 | 0:56:40 | |
-Is it? -Yes. -Because of the wind. | 0:56:40 | 0:56:42 | |
That's the reality, dealing with weather. | 0:56:42 | 0:56:44 | |
If you get that right, everything else is secondary. | 0:56:44 | 0:56:47 | |
Do you ever find it hard, when you have guests to come and stay, | 0:56:47 | 0:56:51 | |
is it ever hard to get rid of them? | 0:56:51 | 0:56:53 | |
It is, yes. | 0:56:53 | 0:56:55 | |
ALL LAUGH | 0:56:55 | 0:56:56 | |
Because everyone loves the place | 0:56:56 | 0:56:59 | |
and they don't want to leave. | 0:56:59 | 0:57:01 | |
It's exactly like that, yes. | 0:57:01 | 0:57:02 | |
There's no better place, I think. | 0:57:02 | 0:57:05 | |
Yeah, I think that's right. | 0:57:05 | 0:57:06 | |
-Thank you very much. -Thank you so much. | 0:57:14 | 0:57:16 | |
-It was a pleasure. -Thank you very much indeed. | 0:57:16 | 0:57:18 | |
-Thank you so much. -Thank you. | 0:57:18 | 0:57:20 | |
I've learnt a lot today. I've learnt a lot about you, in a way | 0:57:22 | 0:57:26 | |
because I've learnt a lot about architecture and I've learnt | 0:57:26 | 0:57:29 | |
it's not about rooms, it's not about spaces, | 0:57:29 | 0:57:32 | |
it's not even about where the windows are, or what | 0:57:32 | 0:57:34 | |
the surfaces are like. | 0:57:34 | 0:57:35 | |
It's how a place feels. It's about atmosphere. | 0:57:35 | 0:57:39 | |
And that, really, more than anything, is what we all strive for. | 0:57:39 | 0:57:43 | |
Everything else is secondary to that one thing - | 0:57:43 | 0:57:45 | |
atmosphere. | 0:57:45 | 0:57:47 | |
Next time, Piers and I will be exploring some of the most | 0:57:58 | 0:58:02 | |
extraordinary forest homes in the world... | 0:58:02 | 0:58:05 | |
You never see a building this close to the trees. | 0:58:05 | 0:58:07 | |
I mean, that's six inches away. | 0:58:07 | 0:58:09 | |
..to discover how architects have overcome the challenges | 0:58:09 | 0:58:12 | |
of building homes in these fragile habitats. | 0:58:12 | 0:58:15 | |
It's a tightrope you walk. It can go spectacularly wrong. | 0:58:15 | 0:58:18 |