0:00:03 > 0:00:06All over Britain, hundreds of precious historic buildings
0:00:06 > 0:00:09are in danger of being lost forever.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18The tragedy is that these buildings are far more than just simply bricks and mortar.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20They are the keepers of our past.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27I love the idea that people have stood here discussing
0:00:27 > 0:00:32the Battle of Waterloo, the Battle of Bosworth and the Battle of Britain.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36I'm following the fortunes of six properties.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Each of these six fragile buildings has found a would-be saviour -
0:00:43 > 0:00:49new owners desperate to breathe life into these crumbling ruins
0:00:49 > 0:00:53by creating their own 21st-century dream home.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59Well, she found it!
0:00:59 > 0:01:03It's an adorable building. There's a lot of work to be done,
0:01:03 > 0:01:07but it's a building that needs to be cared for and will be cared for.
0:01:09 > 0:01:10As our owners get to work,
0:01:10 > 0:01:15architectural expert Kieran Long and historian Dr Kate Williams
0:01:15 > 0:01:18will help me unearth the fascinating secrets hidden deep
0:01:18 > 0:01:20in each building's past.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27It was a view we'd have forgotten. This whole story would just be buried in the archives.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30I love old buildings and I always have.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34I've spent many years restoring various different properties
0:01:34 > 0:01:37in an attempt to create the perfect family home.
0:01:37 > 0:01:43I know from personal experience the hard path that our families have chosen to follow.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49You're sanding it, you're scraping it,
0:01:49 > 0:01:52you're putting the poultice on. Agh!
0:01:52 > 0:01:55I don't think we'd ever buy another listed building.
0:01:55 > 0:01:56Ever.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01Six precious buildings.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05Six owners with a mission.
0:02:05 > 0:02:10Six intriguing journeys into Britain's past.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13It's Restoration Home.
0:02:20 > 0:02:27A piece of wasteland on the banks of the Thames, in the shadow of this rather scary industrial building,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30is not the most exciting place to start our programme.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33I don't know how the Victorians felt about motivating their workforce,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36but if I was walking across here to work,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39I'd find it all pretty depressing.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Until I got inside, that is.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56Amazing, isn't it? This is Crossness Pumping Station.
0:02:57 > 0:03:05Already lovingly restored, this huge cathedral of a Victorian industrial building saved lives.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09The massive pumps were the lynchpin of a brand new sewerage system
0:03:09 > 0:03:15that finally tackled decades of death and disease in 19th-century London.
0:03:15 > 0:03:20Few outsiders ever got to see this proud, magnificent interior.
0:03:20 > 0:03:26And it's the same for other unsung buildings that have performed a vital job for the nation.
0:03:26 > 0:03:31We have found a building built with the same sense of pride
0:03:31 > 0:03:36but it's in desperate need of help and a new lease of life.
0:03:41 > 0:03:46This is our extremely unlikely Restoration Home.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53The pumping station at Nutbourne Common in West Sussex.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58In its time, this building also saved lives,
0:03:58 > 0:04:04pumping safe, clean water to the local population for the first time.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10But it closed in the '70s, and today it's a wreck.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14Who on Earth would want to make it their home?
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Hello. My name is Nick Sweet and this is my wife.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25Hello, my name is Brigitte. We bought Nutbourne...
0:04:25 > 0:04:26BOTH: Pumping Station.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36Well, she found it!
0:04:36 > 0:04:39It's an adorable building. I know there's a lot of work to be done.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43But it's a building that needs to be cared for and will be cared for.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47It's a hopeless case of love at first sight,
0:04:47 > 0:04:51just as it was for Nick and Brigitte themselves.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54It's very like she and I. We were introduced by blind date...
0:04:54 > 0:04:56No, no...
0:04:56 > 0:05:00Three days later, she moved in. So it is with this building.
0:05:00 > 0:05:06- We saw it on the Sunday and bought it on the Thursday. It's a bit like you. - Thank you, darling.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14They're now the proud parents
0:05:14 > 0:05:17of five-year old twins Francesca and Willem.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20- Come on, can you draw the Pump House?- No.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Yes, you can.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Big oblong with windows.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28For years, they've been frustrated by the meagre size
0:05:28 > 0:05:32of modern family houses in Britain, including the one they live in now.
0:05:32 > 0:05:38It's just your conventional late 20th-century Brookside product.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41House builders in this country are shrinking standards
0:05:41 > 0:05:43for competitive commercial reasons.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47People are accepting smaller homes, smaller gardens and so on.
0:05:51 > 0:05:57The Pumping Station offers a lot more space, at a price they're hoping won't break the bank.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02Nick and Brigitte paid £269,000 to buy the building,
0:06:02 > 0:06:06with just over £400,000 earmarked for its conversion.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11OK, come on. Let's go.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18It worked in terms of the timing in our lives, when we needed the space.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21It worked in economic terms because we knew we could afford it outright
0:06:21 > 0:06:25and we knew we could probably raise the money to do the work we need to.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29- Why would you like to live here? - Because it's so dirty!
0:06:31 > 0:06:33Nobody's ever used it as a home.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36That's why I feel it's easier to make it into a home.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Because you're not following anybody else's design.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41They love this building so much,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44they think it could be their home for life.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47I can't conceive of selling it, unless we had to.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49Why would we have to?
0:06:49 > 0:06:51Well, unless we... There you go.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53- No, we don't have to. - Unless we got divorced.
0:06:53 > 0:06:58They plan to be living in the pumping station in less than 12 months.
0:06:59 > 0:07:05Full-time mum Brigitte has mixed feelings about the restoration journey that lies ahead.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08I'm very much half-empty glass and he's half full.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Hopefully, that will get us through.
0:07:11 > 0:07:16Nick will draw on his own professional expertise to transform the building.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19He's a partner in an international urban design consultancy.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Over here we've got our visualiser in-house.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27His day job is producing a city in China for 300,000 people.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32And then, from time to time, he'll work on the Pump House.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37Computer-generated images show how the building might look as a home.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42There's no sentimental attachment to its former life as a pumping station.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47Our idea is that, not unlike a hermit crab, we're going to occupy the building and turn it to our purpose.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Which is to live in, as opposed to its original purpose.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Just as you wouldn't live in a converted church
0:07:52 > 0:07:58with an altar. I wouldn't. You'd get rid of that. Because you're looking at it as a home.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02The pumping station isn't a listed building.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06And Nick and Brigitte have full planning permission for the conversion.
0:08:06 > 0:08:13Their £400,000 budget includes the removal of all the pumping machinery
0:08:13 > 0:08:18and the installation of a new concrete floor over the old basement,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21creating a big open-plan living area.
0:08:21 > 0:08:22To maximise space,
0:08:22 > 0:08:27the industrial staircase and walkway will be stripped out.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31The old water filtration tanks at the back will become bedrooms.
0:08:31 > 0:08:39And Nick plans to create a carbon-efficient home with solar panels on the roof.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42We quite like the idea of going nil-bill.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45You know, where you have no gas bills, no power bills.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48Ultimately, potentially, no water bills.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53You just get the council tax. Which is, I suppose, unavoidable.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57Maybe it will be the smoothest restoration in history. I doubt it.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03Right now, it looks like they have a mountain to climb.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08It's hard to imagine it as our home in a year.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Particularly when it's so cold and wet and it's a bit depressing.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Who wants to be here today? Not you, hey?
0:09:19 > 0:09:23While I keep tabs on Nick and Brigitte's ambitious restoration,
0:09:23 > 0:09:29our investigators are going to help me uncover the remarkable story behind their building.
0:09:29 > 0:09:36Our private eye of the past, Dr Kate Williams, will find out who built the pumping station and why.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39And architectural expert Kieran Long
0:09:39 > 0:09:43will search for clues in the DNA of the building itself.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47It may look a wreck now but, in its heyday,
0:09:47 > 0:09:49the pumping station saved the lives
0:09:49 > 0:09:53of our grandparents' generation and changed society forever.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57The story of Nick and Brigitte's building is the story
0:09:57 > 0:09:58of the water that we drink.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00And, not that long ago,
0:10:00 > 0:10:04drinking British water could literally kill you.
0:10:12 > 0:10:19Historian Kate is trying to find out why the pumping station was built in the first place.
0:10:19 > 0:10:25She's found a big clue just 15 miles from Nutbourne Common in Worthing, on the Sussex coast.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29Just a few generations ago,
0:10:29 > 0:10:33this fashionable resort was struck by disaster.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37Worthing was hit by typhoid.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46A reported one in ten of the population were infected,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49with nearly 200 dead.
0:10:49 > 0:10:55What I discovered is that in 1893 Worthing was devastated.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59This happy Victorian seaside town was ruined because a polluted water source
0:10:59 > 0:11:02poisoned the inhabitants of the town.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07It was a human and economic tragedy.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10In one part of the burial ground alone,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13there are 50 new graves, side by side.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16In some, the earth has been filled in so clumsily
0:11:16 > 0:11:18that the fading wreaths which cover them
0:11:18 > 0:11:21are literally sinking below the ground.
0:11:21 > 0:11:27The summer visitors have scampered away, the hotels and lodging houses are empty and many escape the fever
0:11:27 > 0:11:34merely to find financial ruin staring them in the face.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36The local people were terrified.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39Their wonderful Worthing, their beautiful seaside town,
0:11:39 > 0:11:44so healthy, this lovely air, the sea air. It was wrecked. It was ruined.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51This was only 1893, such recent history.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55And 200 people died of this polluted water source
0:11:55 > 0:12:0010% of Worthing's population were infected by this bad water.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04If that happened now, 10% of a whole population of a town or city,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07that would be world news on every bulletin.
0:12:11 > 0:12:17But three decades after the Worthing tragedy, in 20th-century Britain,
0:12:17 > 0:12:21the quality of our drinking water was still more third world than first.
0:12:21 > 0:12:29Kate finds evidence from the 1920s that the water at nearby Nutbourne Common was causing real concern.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36The medical officer from the Ministry of Health
0:12:36 > 0:12:41has come and tested six samples of water from the wells.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44And in five cases the water is unfit for drinking.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48We take our clean water for granted now.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50We just turn on the tap and out it comes.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53This is what they were drinking, clean water was impossible.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57The last thing they want is more disasters on the scale
0:12:57 > 0:12:59of the typhoid epidemic.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02This is the 20th century, it's the modern age.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05As recently as the 1920s, millions in Britain
0:13:05 > 0:13:10still got their water from wells, streams and the parish pump.
0:13:10 > 0:13:15For many, the idea of clean, safe water piped into every home
0:13:15 > 0:13:17in the land was just a dream.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25Our architectural sleuth Kieran has come to Nutbourne Common
0:13:25 > 0:13:26to try and find out
0:13:26 > 0:13:29when Nick and Brigitte's pumping station was built.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32We're walking up this rather quaint road.
0:13:32 > 0:13:39I can't imagine this is really the place for a building of industry and big noisy machines.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45You can imagine when this was built, people thinking,
0:13:45 > 0:13:49"Why is somebody building an overgrown public toilet in my beautiful woodland setting?"
0:13:49 > 0:13:53But there's far more to Nutbourne Pumping Station than meets the eye.
0:14:04 > 0:14:09If the outside was bunker-like, I didn't expect this inside.
0:14:13 > 0:14:18Standing here, I feel like I'm on the bridge of a huge ocean liner or something.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21One that maybe has been at the bottom of the sea
0:14:21 > 0:14:22for quite a few years.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26When it was working,
0:14:26 > 0:14:31all this heavy duty machinery and piping had just one purpose -
0:14:31 > 0:14:34to suck up thousands of gallons of water an hour
0:14:34 > 0:14:38from a natural source 90 meters below the ground.
0:14:38 > 0:14:44The water was piped to the back of the building, where it was filtered and stored for public use.
0:14:44 > 0:14:50The whole place is a temple to the provision of fresh, clean water.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54One of the things that really excites me about this building
0:14:54 > 0:14:58is how the space is layered front to back and how the light works.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01It's an incredible architectural quality.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04You enter through this line of columns like a colonnade
0:15:04 > 0:15:05and the windows are beyond.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08You come into a space which is evenly lit.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10As we come through to this space,
0:15:10 > 0:15:14we realise where the building has been lit from.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17Before we couldn't see these windows.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21As soon as we enter we see there are more skylights,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24clerestory windows in the top half
0:15:24 > 0:15:28and they would have been side-lit from this side and this side.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31At the moment, they're boarded up.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35Kieran has already seen enough to estimate the pumping
0:15:35 > 0:15:39station's date of construction.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44I love this kind of sunburst logo for an electricity company.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47It really looks like the front of a 1930s soap packet.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52It has all of that quality of 1930s graphic design.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56It's so influenced by the end of Art Deco and the rising consumer economy.
0:15:56 > 0:16:03This kind of design is squarely from the '30s.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08The 1930s was a ground-breaking heyday
0:16:08 > 0:16:12for British architecture and design.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14The decade before the Second World War gave us
0:16:14 > 0:16:16the BBC's Broadcasting House,
0:16:16 > 0:16:18Battersea Power Station,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21the iconic red telephone box
0:16:21 > 0:16:25and stations like Cockfosters on London's Piccadilly Line -
0:16:25 > 0:16:27opened in 1933.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37We're in exactly the world of Nutbourne pumping station,
0:16:37 > 0:16:41the early '30s municipal modern.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45Architectural details at Cockfosters have uncanny echoes
0:16:45 > 0:16:48of the pumping station.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51The shape of the handrails,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54the design of the skylights...
0:16:55 > 0:17:00..all intended to bring as much natural light as possible
0:17:00 > 0:17:01into the building.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07It's filled with light, like a cathedral of indirect light.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10The architect has brought it to a transport building,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14a completely new way of expressing this kind of building.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17A few stations down the line at Arnos Grove
0:17:17 > 0:17:21there's further evidence a new breed of British Architects were
0:17:21 > 0:17:25making their mark in the decade before the Second World War.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30These guys were the pioneers of modern architecture in Britain
0:17:30 > 0:17:33but it was an English form of modernism.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35Because of the Second World War
0:17:35 > 0:17:38this style never really went very far.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42This is a short lived English type of modern architecture.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50On the Piccadilly Line reinforced concrete was used unashamedly
0:17:50 > 0:17:53as the modern construction material.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58Just as it was at the pumping station.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02It's a 20th century material, that makes new kind of spaces possible.
0:18:02 > 0:18:07But when you get close to this, you see the traces of how the building was made.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Cast against timber
0:18:09 > 0:18:12and you can see the grain of the timber in the concrete.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14It's very smooth,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17this is the quality of concrete many architects today I know
0:18:17 > 0:18:21would kill for and would love to see.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24I also love these chamfered edges, a little human touch.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28As you walk past this column,
0:18:28 > 0:18:32you don't catch at your shoulder on the corner, it's taken away.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36The men who had to walk past here tens of times every day,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39take the corner off and allow more humanity,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42a little less industrial edges.
0:18:42 > 0:18:47The combination of sturdy concrete and so much natural light
0:18:47 > 0:18:53gives the building plenty of potential as a place to live.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56But it Nick and Brigitte's plans there's no room for
0:18:56 > 0:18:58the ocean liner-style railings.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02The stairs and walkway at the back of the building
0:19:02 > 0:19:05or any of the pumping paraphernalia.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09The notion of keeping some twee pump in the middle of the room
0:19:09 > 0:19:14or hoist in the ceiling out of some deferential reference to the original
0:19:14 > 0:19:16use of the building is stupid.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Kieran is horrified.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Nick and Brigitte are getting rid of this for more space.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26But this is quite a big building.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30What they're losing is the ability to stand up on this amazing gallery
0:19:30 > 0:19:35and look down two levels below, all of that will be gone.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42These buildings are a really important to Britain's architectural heritage.
0:19:42 > 0:19:47They demonstrate in the '30s we had an idea of civic pride in infrastructure.
0:19:47 > 0:19:52The way the water was pumped to and from houses was something people
0:19:52 > 0:19:55were proud of - this amazing technology.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57They almost built monuments to that.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02In a dusty corner of the building, Kieran comes across bits and pieces
0:20:02 > 0:20:06left behind by the last man to work here.
0:20:06 > 0:20:07Four decades ago.
0:20:10 > 0:20:15So, here we've some documentary evidence, a time sheet
0:20:15 > 0:20:19from the North West Sussex Water Board of Mr WT Brown.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22Slightly mildewed.
0:20:22 > 0:20:28Mr Brown's widow, Marjorie, is one of the few people who
0:20:28 > 0:20:32remembers the pumping station as a working building.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36Oh, my goodness me!
0:20:36 > 0:20:38Oh!
0:20:38 > 0:20:43I can't believe it could be so different.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Look at it!
0:20:48 > 0:20:50Her late husband was the resident engineer
0:20:50 > 0:20:54until the pumps fell silent in the 1970s.
0:20:59 > 0:21:00Gosh!
0:21:02 > 0:21:04So quiet.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07So quiet.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09And yet it was always noisy.
0:21:09 > 0:21:14Alive, if you like with noise of the pumps and everything.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20The whole pumping process could be monitored by one person.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24And Marjorie Brown's husband was usually the only human presence
0:21:24 > 0:21:25in the building.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Being on his own didn't bother him at all.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34It didn't bother him not having other men's company.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36He worked seven days a week.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39He used to be there Sundays as well.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42We didn't ever go off out or anything.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44It was a way of life.
0:21:45 > 0:21:51The building was Mr Brown's domain for a quarter of a century.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55And Marjorie will never forget the private her husband took in his job.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57You could have eaten your meal off the floor.
0:21:57 > 0:22:03It was all clean, beautiful,
0:22:03 > 0:22:07all the handrails were all cream
0:22:07 > 0:22:10and it was just spotlessly clean.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14And now it's just a wreck.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16Sad, isn't it?
0:22:17 > 0:22:21Anything can deteriorate like this.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28By the 1970s, the technology of delivering water to our homes had moved on.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32Nutbourne pumping station was deemed obsolete.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36But Marjorie believes the past is the past.
0:22:36 > 0:22:42And Nick and Brigitte's restoration plans are now just what the building needs.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45I don't think it does matter if everything goes.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47It's much better than it should be,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50something totally different,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54than see it in this sad and sorry state.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58It's lucky we got a good look inside the building when we did
0:22:58 > 0:23:01because the demolition boys are in.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05Nick and Brigitte's restoration is well and truly under way.
0:23:16 > 0:23:2115 tons of seriously heavy pumping machinery is being dismantled
0:23:21 > 0:23:24and lifted out of the building.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44The pumping station's past has carried off
0:23:44 > 0:23:47to be reincarnated at the scrapyard.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08It's farewell to the 1930s railings.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14And the controversial concrete stairs and walkway
0:24:14 > 0:24:18are demolished to open up the new main living space.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22The truth of it was it was in the way,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24the walkway was an inappropriate height.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28It would have been a dusty corner.
0:24:28 > 0:24:34These columns that result from detaching that walkway are fantastic.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42After getting rid of tons of old concrete,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Nick brings in plenty of his own.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49The lower level there was once the beating heart of the pumping
0:24:49 > 0:24:54station is covered with a new concrete floor.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Effectively that creates not just this room
0:24:58 > 0:25:02but the room downstairs as well for the kids den.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07This is the sort of watershed between the destructive activity of
0:25:07 > 0:25:12the preparation of the site and the beginning of the creative side.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14It's going to be lovely.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16It's like a giant bungalow.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20Don't tell him I said bungalow. He'd die!
0:25:23 > 0:25:27Time for me to pop down to Sussex and see how it's all going.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31The builders have been six months at the pumping station
0:25:31 > 0:25:39and during that time they've taken away tons and tons of machinery.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42But does that mean they've taken away the life from the building?
0:25:42 > 0:25:46It's not a pumping station any more, but is it a house yet?
0:25:49 > 0:25:54Remember how the inside looked when Nick and Brigitte bought the place.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01This is what it looks like now.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Just one floor with two big living areas.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09One at the front and one at the back.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Well, this is a bit different!
0:26:13 > 0:26:16This is looking absolutely awesome.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21With so much space to play with, the inevitable debate about
0:26:21 > 0:26:24what's going to go where has all ready started.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26And Brigitte has won the first battle.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29In here... There's the kitchen.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33That yellow area is the kitchen island.
0:26:33 > 0:26:38- And that's the new back door going out into the garden. - Fantastic.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Family life, you can get the children out.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47It was the other way round. And I kept saying I wanted the kitchen by the back door.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Strange, that. But Nick decided, no we'd have it there.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55The interior designer, the first thing she said was,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58"Why are you having a kitchen at the front end of the back?"
0:26:58 > 0:27:00So, now we're having it.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03This space is still quite flexible.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07We're possibly having the dining room table over there.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11But it might look a bit empty. We've seen a four-metre table.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16- Four metres?- Well, the two-metre would look lost.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22The famous stairs and walkway where Mr Brown would have stepped up
0:27:22 > 0:27:25to inspect his filtration tanks are gone.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29And the first stage of converting them into bedrooms has begun.
0:27:29 > 0:27:35With doors cut through from the main living space.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39That's Nick and I. So we've an on suite bathroom, the front bathroom is the kids,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41and the two kids' bedrooms.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44They're not a bad size.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48- They are a good size, really. - I mean they are.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52And you've a lot more light than I thought you'd have.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54Yeah.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58Today is another big day in the pumping station's transformation.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02The energy saving underfloor heating pipes are in place and the builders
0:28:02 > 0:28:08are about to apply a concrete screed to the entire floor area.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12We had better get out because I've seen the screed lorry
0:28:12 > 0:28:15and if we don't move we'll be in the way.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18You'll be cemented in!
0:28:23 > 0:28:27The new floor completes the burial of the old pumping area
0:28:27 > 0:28:31which gives Nick and Brigitte their basement space below.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33In just a few short months,
0:28:33 > 0:28:37almost all evidence of the pumping station's former life has vanished.
0:28:42 > 0:28:47But Nick and Brigitte have retained a lot of what makes this building great.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50The beautiful concrete pillars,
0:28:50 > 0:28:53almost Grecian in their simplicity.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57And it turns out there's something else about the pumping station
0:28:57 > 0:28:58that lives on.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00A connection long forgotten.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04Until we dug deeper into the past.
0:29:04 > 0:29:09We've established a timeline for their building that goes back
0:29:09 > 0:29:12to the 1893 Worthing typhoid epidemic.
0:29:14 > 0:29:19And we've learnt water at Nutbourne Common was unfit for drinking
0:29:19 > 0:29:21a quarter of a century later.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26Now, investigators Kate and Kieran are searching for crucial
0:29:26 > 0:29:31information from the 1920s and '30s to find out how Nick
0:29:31 > 0:29:33and Brigitte's building came to be born.
0:29:37 > 0:29:43'In the 1920s, Britain was recovering from the trauma of the First World War.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47'The nation had lost nearly a million men.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51'Millions more had come home injured or jobless.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57'Politicians had promised a land fit for heroes to live in,
0:29:57 > 0:30:01'and finding new sources of fresh water was part of the post-war dream.
0:30:05 > 0:30:10'In a field at Nutbourne Common, they struck the equivalent of gold.'
0:30:16 > 0:30:19'The 13th day of December, 1927.'
0:30:19 > 0:30:24The Committee are reporting on whether or not they can purchase the site at Nutbourne
0:30:24 > 0:30:25for the sinking of a borehole
0:30:25 > 0:30:30which was selected at the last meeting of the council by the Ministry of Health.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34'Once water had been found, the authorities moved quickly.'
0:30:37 > 0:30:41We've found the owners of the land before the pumping station,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43a Mr Swinstead,
0:30:43 > 0:30:47and the committee are going to purchase the land from Mr Swinstead
0:30:47 > 0:30:51for £100 for the two plots, and this is where the borehole's going to be.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00'Within a year, work on the borehole beneath Nick and Brigitte's building had begun.'
0:31:02 > 0:31:05We've found this book, which has a diagram,
0:31:05 > 0:31:09a beautiful section drawing, hand-drawn in this book,
0:31:09 > 0:31:11of the Nutbourne borehole.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14The interesting thing for me as an architecture enthusiast
0:31:14 > 0:31:19is that they don't think the building's important enough to mention in the drawing,
0:31:19 > 0:31:21it's all about the real value which is underground.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25'The technology that made the borehole had also been used
0:31:25 > 0:31:29'to improve conditions in the trenches during the First World War.'
0:31:29 > 0:31:33These machines are all about winching up a very heavy weight
0:31:33 > 0:31:37into the air and then dropping it into the ground at high speed.
0:31:37 > 0:31:43'These new sources of fresh water found between the wars were incredibly precious to the nation.'
0:31:46 > 0:31:51This is a document from 1941, during the Second World War,
0:31:51 > 0:31:57which describes the locations of all of the different underground water supply sources
0:31:57 > 0:31:58in this region.
0:31:58 > 0:32:05And over here, number 94 is, in fact, our pumping station, Nutbourne pumping station.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08And on the front cover we have this fantastic note,
0:32:08 > 0:32:13"The document should be destroyed if there is any danger of it falling into the hands of enemy agents."
0:32:14 > 0:32:18If they were able to poison or somehow interfere with these boreholes,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21then the whole region would be severely compromised.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25And of course this is a region close to areas of docks and so on, so of strategic importance.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30'A shining symbol of Britain's 20th century progress,
0:32:30 > 0:32:36'Nutbourne pumping station got a big VIP opening in 1932.'
0:32:40 > 0:32:42We've found the pictures of the day.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46'Lord Leconfield, the Lord Lieutenant of the county,'
0:32:46 > 0:32:49is coming to see the pumping station open,
0:32:49 > 0:32:51'so this is a marvellous moment.'
0:32:53 > 0:32:58And this is my favourite, Lord Leconfield is turning on the tap.
0:32:58 > 0:33:05'The first drop of clean, pure water that is safe to drink.'
0:33:05 > 0:33:09It would revolutionise society. Revolutionise health,
0:33:09 > 0:33:11'infant mortality would drop.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15'It moves us from the third world to the first world.'
0:33:15 > 0:33:18The pumping station, the saviour of Nutbourne.
0:33:20 > 0:33:25'But the story of the creation of Nick and Brigitte's building doesn't end there.
0:33:25 > 0:33:30'It turns out the pumping station served another crucial national purpose
0:33:30 > 0:33:34'in the dark, dismal years of the 1930s depression.'
0:33:34 > 0:33:37Well, this document I've found here is amazing,
0:33:37 > 0:33:43because it really gives us an insight into the forgotten people behind the pumping station.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45It's eligible for a grant.
0:33:45 > 0:33:50This was a special unemployment grant which meant that all the labour costs were paid
0:33:50 > 0:33:51in the inter-war years.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55The idea was to ease unemployment, to ease depression.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58And it was one of the last schemes to be eligible,
0:33:58 > 0:34:00because the scheme was abolished in 1931.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05'It's the biggest clue yet to identifying the craftsmen
0:34:05 > 0:34:09'and labourers who worked on the building.'
0:34:09 > 0:34:12They'd come back from fighting for their country in the Great War
0:34:12 > 0:34:16and they come back simply to be cast onto the unemployment market.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19They were impoverished, there was no work for them.
0:34:21 > 0:34:26'I've got a big surprise for Nick and Brigitte as they show me their new basement,
0:34:26 > 0:34:29'the place where the pumps used to be.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33'To round off the story of the building they love,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36'we've found the most moving evidence of all.'
0:34:38 > 0:34:42I wonder if you'd like to see the people that physically built this?
0:34:42 > 0:34:46- Would you be interested in seeing them?- I'd love to. God, I'd love to.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50Oh, my God.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53Oh! How the hell did you get that?!
0:34:58 > 0:35:02- Aren't they lovely?- Who are these people?- These are the men...
0:35:02 > 0:35:07- Who built...- God!- I know! It is great, isn't it?
0:35:07 > 0:35:11These are the guys from the Ringmer Building Works,
0:35:11 > 0:35:12not that far from here.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17- No, it's not.- And just let's have a little look at their faces.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20The hats! Look at them! Look at their hats. Moustaches...
0:35:20 > 0:35:24- Moustaches, hats.- Fantastic.
0:35:24 > 0:35:29And, of course, a lot of these guys would have fought in the 14-18 war.
0:35:29 > 0:35:34They might have been injured, psychologically, but desperately in need of work.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45And there are boys here as well, youngsters, the kid at the end,
0:35:45 > 0:35:50look at his little face, he's probably no more than 15.
0:35:50 > 0:35:55I just had this thing in my head about the mates that aren't there.
0:35:55 > 0:35:56Yeah.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00Who knows what the traumas are underneath their faces
0:36:00 > 0:36:03but they look like a nice bunch of guys, actually.
0:36:05 > 0:36:10'Both of them feel an instant connection with these long-forgotten heroes.'
0:36:10 > 0:36:13I hope they would support what we're doing.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16I sense that they would,
0:36:16 > 0:36:19because they would understand a building becoming redundant,
0:36:19 > 0:36:24and I think they would hate to see it in the state of decay that it was in.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28It makes me feel sad, in some ways, that they can't see it now.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31I'd love them to be able to see it now.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35I think it's very special that we have something that they created.
0:36:35 > 0:36:40I think that we owe it a degree more respect than I had anticipated, actually.
0:36:41 > 0:36:47- I think that explains why it's so beautifully made.- Absolutely.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49I did get a sense of that with this place,
0:36:49 > 0:36:53that there was a real pride in how this place is put together.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55- Can we have that picture? - Yes, you can.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58I mean, it's beautiful, isn't it?
0:37:00 > 0:37:04'I wonder if the faces of these friendly 1930s ghosts,
0:37:04 > 0:37:10'will end up influencing some of Nick and Brigitte's plans for the building.
0:37:10 > 0:37:11'Time will tell.'
0:37:16 > 0:37:21'The restoration of the pumping station has reached the half-way point.'
0:37:23 > 0:37:25Oh, I say.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28- Are you all right? - Yeah, I think so, thank you.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32'The beating heart of this building used to be in the basement.'
0:37:32 > 0:37:34Wow.
0:37:34 > 0:37:39'Nick's cunning 21st century plan is to move it to the roof.'
0:37:39 > 0:37:43This is an area of opportunity for us, now that it's all been fixed and laid,
0:37:43 > 0:37:49in that we can retrofit the photovoltaic array up here.
0:37:49 > 0:37:50What are you talking about?
0:37:50 > 0:37:51THEY LAUGH
0:37:51 > 0:37:54- Do you know solar cells?- Yeah.- OK.
0:37:54 > 0:37:59'Nerdy techno-jargon aside, he's going to produce enough electricity
0:37:59 > 0:38:03'to meet all the family's needs and a surplus they can sell.'
0:38:03 > 0:38:06We generate enough energy up here through solar cells
0:38:06 > 0:38:10with about a third of the roof area to sort out the needs of the house.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13And then on the other two thirds and the remaining area,
0:38:13 > 0:38:16we can generate electricity and feed it back to the grid.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20So, in the end, we get no bills ever, for anything.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22You love all that stuff, don't you, Nick?
0:38:22 > 0:38:25It makes you so happy, doesn't it?
0:38:25 > 0:38:28I always say smug more than happy.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31But you really get into all that stuff.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33I have to say, I slightly glazed over.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37The same with my husband, when he starts talking about a plant room, I want to slap him,
0:38:37 > 0:38:42because after about 30 seconds I want to go, I can't hear you any more.
0:38:42 > 0:38:43Is it a man thing?
0:38:43 > 0:38:47Don't make the mistake of thinking I'm practical in any way, cos I'm not.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51I learned very early in life not to ever be good at DIY or anything like that,
0:38:51 > 0:38:56- because all women make you do is DIY if you boast about it. - Yes, fair enough.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02'The woman of the house is thinking even further ahead.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08'It turns out the building came with a very unusual feature
0:39:08 > 0:39:11'hidden under the back garden.'
0:39:14 > 0:39:17When we bought the pump house, we didn't know this was here,
0:39:17 > 0:39:22and basically there's three chambers, and it covers the whole back garden.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26It's really insane.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28It is, isn't it, really?
0:39:28 > 0:39:31The long-term plan would be, possibly,
0:39:31 > 0:39:34- if we ever have enough money, to convert it into a pool. - Brigitte...
0:39:34 > 0:39:36- Hmm?- This is mad.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40Yeah, it's mad, but it's an amazing space.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43Wide enough for laps,
0:39:43 > 0:39:46and the main cost of having a pool is the excavation of the hole.
0:39:46 > 0:39:48All we've got to do is take this roof off.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50No, I get it, it's absolutely wonderful.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53I mean, it is completely wonderful.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56- But completely insane at the same time.- I know, yeah.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00If we don't do something with it, then we're limited to what we can do above,
0:40:00 > 0:40:04because there's only two foot of ground so we'd have to plant shallow plants.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08'They bought this eccentric property because it offers more space
0:40:08 > 0:40:10'than an ordinary family house ever could.
0:40:10 > 0:40:15'The big challenge now is to turn a huge building site into a home
0:40:15 > 0:40:17'in less than six months.'
0:40:17 > 0:40:19I grew up where we had a small house,
0:40:19 > 0:40:22we had ice on the inside of the windows, didn't have central heating,
0:40:22 > 0:40:27like a lot of people, and I find it hard to think I'm going to live in this massive house.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30It will be, hopefully, a lovely family home.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32- It'd better be. - What do the kids think of it now?
0:40:32 > 0:40:37When we first bought the lot, we made the mistake of taking them upstairs with the mezzanine
0:40:37 > 0:40:39and saying, these are your bedrooms.
0:40:39 > 0:40:44And cos it was just a hole for them, filled with mud, "Can we go home now, Mummy?"
0:40:44 > 0:40:45I did that with my children.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48I did the stupid thing, I took them to the house...
0:40:48 > 0:40:51- Before you'd done the work? - They hated it.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53They both said, "I don't want to live here, it smells,
0:40:53 > 0:40:57the floor's made of earth, it's damp, I hate it."
0:40:57 > 0:40:59My daughter said to me, "I don't ever want to live here."
0:40:59 > 0:41:03And I forgot that eight-year-old children do not have the vision.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08Amazingly, the pumping station is steadily turning into a home,
0:41:08 > 0:41:13and one that, when it's finished, won't cost Nick a penny to run.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17But I can't help wondering what the guys who crafted this building would make of it all,
0:41:17 > 0:41:22particularly as it's about to undergo its next radical transformation.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34'A few weeks later, the inside of the building is gradually coming together.'
0:41:37 > 0:41:39NICK LAUGHS
0:41:41 > 0:41:42'For the first time,
0:41:42 > 0:41:46'the whole family can start to picture the place as home.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52'There's even a new addition to help fill all this extra space...
0:41:52 > 0:41:56'..a gigantic puppy called Mulligan.'
0:41:56 > 0:42:01He's doubling in size every two weeks. He's only 14 weeks old. He's going to be a monster.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05Where will you do your stage thing, your dancing and singing?
0:42:05 > 0:42:06Where's that going to go?
0:42:06 > 0:42:09- There.- Do you think? Do you want to?
0:42:09 > 0:42:13- No, in my playroom.- Your playroom? Which is your playroom?- Downstairs.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Oh, that's your playroom? OK.
0:42:16 > 0:42:21'The partition wall which will separate the two main living areas is now in place.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27'Modern skylights have been installed.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30'But it seems the ghosts of the 1930s builders
0:42:30 > 0:42:34'are helping the place hang on to some of its original features.
0:42:36 > 0:42:42'Nick and Brigitte had planned to replace the old teak windows and doors with aluminium versions.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44'Not now.'
0:42:44 > 0:42:46We were going to lose them.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51They were heavily varnished, and Tony, our blessed site manager
0:42:51 > 0:42:55who knows everybody, found someone who could bring them back to life.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59It's just the detail, and where it's come down here,
0:42:59 > 0:43:03and the new internal doors are going to match these doors.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06The notion of throwing everything away is no longer there.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08We're keeping things that function.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11No ornamentation, no silly hoists,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14no staircases that have no purpose.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19But the building has taught us a lesson or two
0:43:19 > 0:43:21about how to be honest in a conversion.
0:43:21 > 0:43:26The plaster, which originally we specified as a sort of conventional plasterboard,
0:43:26 > 0:43:31we've used a spray plaster technique, because it's a hard plaster,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34and therefore fits with the origins of the building.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40'But there are still decisions to be made,
0:43:40 > 0:43:42'like whether to paint the concrete pillars.'
0:43:42 > 0:43:45You've got a choice. You can go with naked concrete,
0:43:45 > 0:43:48which obviously is going to pick up the repairs,
0:43:48 > 0:43:52so whilst they're brilliant in some places, they're not so much in others.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56And there's a question of whether that becomes too industrial a home.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58- Yeah.- Home being the operative word.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03Outside, work has begun
0:44:03 > 0:44:07on the energy-saving insulation of the building.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11It will dramatically change the pumping station's appearance.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13We chose to insulate it on the outside.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16We wanted to keep the shape of the inside.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19And that meant we needed to render it.
0:44:19 > 0:44:23The whole of the outside will eventually be rendered like this.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27It's an expensive choice, but Nick hopes the profit
0:44:27 > 0:44:31the building makes from generating electricity on the roof
0:44:31 > 0:44:34will offset the costs of the insulation.
0:44:34 > 0:44:35- You like it?- Yeah, I like it.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38It's quite bright on a dull day.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41- It won't be quite so bright... - It's not white, is it?
0:44:41 > 0:44:42It's off-white.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45Off-white.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48It makes it look a lot bigger.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50It's definitely going to change the entire...
0:44:50 > 0:44:52It's quite in your face.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54A beautiful piece of workmanship,
0:44:54 > 0:44:56the rendering, the quality of workmanship.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58How much did it cost, this render?
0:44:58 > 0:45:01- 37.- 37,000?
0:45:01 > 0:45:04What we could have done with that. That's a lot.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06Couldn't we have got it cheaper?
0:45:06 > 0:45:09- Well, you get it back. - How do we get it back?
0:45:09 > 0:45:14Well, just in terms of the income the house will generate.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18We'll earn in the order of £6,000 a year.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25Seven months after the major restoration work began,
0:45:25 > 0:45:29Nick and Brigitte are at the point of no return.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32Are you ready? Are you ready?
0:45:32 > 0:45:34Their old house has been sold,
0:45:34 > 0:45:38and life in their massive new home is just weeks away.
0:45:38 > 0:45:44The thought of moving in to 6,5000 square feet - I don't know.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47We have thousands of books.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49That will only take up 10% of our new bookshelves.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54If you buy a conventional piece of furniture,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57it just looks lost in these spaces.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00You end up having to buy enough sofas for 12 people,
0:46:00 > 0:46:03just because it's proportionally correct.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11As the converted pumping station moves closer to completion,
0:46:11 > 0:46:13they debate how much
0:46:13 > 0:46:17the fixtures and fittings should reflect the building's past.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19This is the kid's bath. The only bath,
0:46:19 > 0:46:23because there's two other bathrooms but they only have showers in.
0:46:23 > 0:46:28And Nick doesn't like that bath. Now, tell me, what's wrong with that bath? I think it's stunning.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30This building is a temple to water! You know,
0:46:30 > 0:46:33I think we could have done better.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36What would you have done instead?
0:46:36 > 0:46:39Concrete. I would have done a cast concrete bath.
0:46:39 > 0:46:43And the budget for a concrete bath would have been
0:46:43 > 0:46:45taken from your wine rack!
0:46:47 > 0:46:50Nick and Brigitte's 21st-century workforce
0:46:50 > 0:46:54have started putting some of the finishing touches to the building.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58But even at this stage, their counterparts of 80 years ago are
0:46:58 > 0:47:03having an uncanny influence on the pumping station's conversion.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12This is the original handles on the front door.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16- OK.- Site manager Tony has found a way of making sure another echo of
0:47:16 > 0:47:20the past has another place in Nick and Brigitte's plans.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23They dip it to clean it, then they polish it up.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26That's beautiful. Isn't that stunning!
0:47:26 > 0:47:29That was cheaper than buying a new one, wasn't it?
0:47:29 > 0:47:31It was cheaper than buying a new one...
0:47:31 > 0:47:33- It's not solid?- It is solid brass.
0:47:33 > 0:47:35The colour is the old brass colour.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39A reddy colour, isn't it? Shall we go and see it against the door?
0:47:41 > 0:47:42For Brigitte,
0:47:42 > 0:47:47it's a small but significant gesture to their building's origins.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54Those wonderful people who made this building,
0:47:54 > 0:47:56I think they put a lot of care into it.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59They didn't have to use something as stunning as this.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01It would have been a shame to replace it
0:48:01 > 0:48:05with something 21st century that wasn't quite so beautiful.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11It's now nearly a year since Nick and Brigitte began
0:48:11 > 0:48:14their major transformation of the pumping station.
0:48:14 > 0:48:18I'm going to pay them my final visit.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21But first, investigators Kate and Kieran are sharing
0:48:21 > 0:48:24all they've discovered about the building's past.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27In our search to try and understand the building,
0:48:27 > 0:48:30the next step we took was to kind of go and look at
0:48:30 > 0:48:32a building that's exactly contemporary.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35This is the Piccadilly line up in North London.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38Cockfosters station, which was completed in 1933,
0:48:38 > 0:48:40just a year after the pumping station.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44We had really a lot of fun making some comparisons.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47Are they pavement lights? Were they pavement lights?
0:48:47 > 0:48:49Yes, these were pavement lights from above, so...
0:48:49 > 0:48:52Cockfosters descended into this cave-like space,
0:48:52 > 0:48:54and you're lit through these cast blocks.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57We did have it in the ceiling originally, yes.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59There was a joy, wasn't there,
0:48:59 > 0:49:02in the detailing that came out of Arts and Crafts, Art Deco, and so on.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06And here's the pumping station's big, proud day.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08The day in which it was opened.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12So exciting. And these cottages are the ones just in front of you.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15- Really?- Really?- Right. That's interesting.- Oh, my gosh!
0:49:15 > 0:49:18We'd have forgotten, this whole story would have been
0:49:18 > 0:49:19buried in the archives.
0:49:19 > 0:49:25I mean, prior to you guys doing all the history, it's a nice building.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29But now I understand the civic pride and what it meant to them doing it.
0:49:31 > 0:49:37Nick and Brigitte had an ambitious dream of creating a spacious,
0:49:37 > 0:49:4221st-century nil-bill family home from a rotting machine.
0:49:42 > 0:49:48So, after the best part of a year, transforming this water palace,
0:49:48 > 0:49:51have they got their dream restoration home?
0:49:52 > 0:49:56This was the outside of the building a year ago.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01Take a look at it now.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15- It's amazing!- It is, isn't it?
0:50:15 > 0:50:18- We're done. Nearly, anyway.- It's...
0:50:18 > 0:50:20I thought I was going to really miss the brickwork,
0:50:20 > 0:50:22but it looks fantastic, doesn't it?
0:50:22 > 0:50:26- It looks much better. - You've done it.
0:50:26 > 0:50:28Well done.
0:50:28 > 0:50:33But can they top their extraordinary transformation of the outside
0:50:33 > 0:50:35with what they've done inside?
0:50:35 > 0:50:38When you opened the front door a year ago,
0:50:38 > 0:50:40this was the view that greeted you.
0:50:40 > 0:50:46The most unlikely family home you could possibly imagine.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49And when you open the front door now...
0:50:54 > 0:50:58Yes! It is amazing!
0:51:05 > 0:51:08You've got your wood burner. You said you would, and you did.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10- Yeah, and it's brilliant.- Liking it?
0:51:10 > 0:51:11It's so warm.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15- The dog doesn't like it. But no, it's fantastic.- Too hot?
0:51:15 > 0:51:19It gives off such good heat. He doesn't like the underfloor either.
0:51:19 > 0:51:23Your living space here - your living room, your sitting room - your...?
0:51:23 > 0:51:25- I guess so. - Evening mostly, curiously.- OK.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28One thing's for sure - in this vast living space,
0:51:28 > 0:51:31you're never far away from a book.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33They've created that divide, haven't they?
0:51:33 > 0:51:36- This was open space, wasn't it? - It was, exactly.
0:51:36 > 0:51:37- Very open.- Yeah.
0:51:37 > 0:51:41It helped with the acoustics, as well.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49So that's a sort of evening sitting fire?
0:51:49 > 0:51:52And then another bookcase here.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54That's got the kids' art.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57- Kids' books and things. - And so this is your...
0:51:57 > 0:51:59- What do you call this? - That's where the kids do their...
0:51:59 > 0:52:01They don't do their homework there!
0:52:01 > 0:52:03So they're meant to do their homework?!
0:52:03 > 0:52:05In years to come, that's where they will!
0:52:08 > 0:52:12The kids are downstairs, where the pumps used to be.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14Now, there's loads of play room
0:52:14 > 0:52:18for a couple of six year-olds and a big, friendly dog.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26In the second large space at the back of the house are
0:52:26 > 0:52:28the finished kitchen and dining area.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37Finding a dining table the right size was
0:52:37 > 0:52:40a matter of trial and error in the end.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43- So, we started off with one. - Yes? This one?- Yes.
0:52:43 > 0:52:47- And then that looked really stupid? - It looked naff!
0:52:47 > 0:52:50It looked so naff, because you just looked lost.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53It was like a doll's house piece of furniture in a big house.
0:52:53 > 0:52:55Then we went to two. And that was still dodgy.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58- And then went to three. - So it's quite flexible.
0:52:58 > 0:53:00It's very flexible. I'm just going to...
0:53:00 > 0:53:02- Yes, they are actually movable. - They are.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08Who would have thought those muddy old water filtration tanks
0:53:08 > 0:53:12at the back of the building could become bedrooms like this?
0:53:12 > 0:53:15Come see the plant room.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17And who'd have thought I'd volunteer
0:53:17 > 0:53:20for another seminar with techno wizard Nick
0:53:20 > 0:53:24to find out exactly how he's created his nil-bill home?
0:53:26 > 0:53:30It's all to do with harnessing the energy of the sun
0:53:30 > 0:53:33with his array of solar cells on the roof.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36And, remarkably, by using the pumping station's
0:53:36 > 0:53:42original 90 meter-deep boreholes to heat water for free.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45Down there, it's a lot warmer than it is up here.
0:53:45 > 0:53:46OK, good. Yeah, yeah.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50So, if you run a loop of water, you pump it through, recirculate it,
0:53:50 > 0:53:52you pick up all that warmth.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55This machine extracts the warmth. The first ten degrees
0:53:55 > 0:53:58of heating your water comes via that process.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00Does Brigitte ever come down here, Nick?
0:54:00 > 0:54:03She does, she does to do one thing.
0:54:03 > 0:54:04To read this meter.
0:54:04 > 0:54:09This meter here which is... This is the ladies' meter, this one,
0:54:09 > 0:54:14because all this does is shows how much power we've generated.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18And generating energy for profit as well as the family's use is
0:54:18 > 0:54:20what nil-bill is all about.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23Down in his plant room, Nick monitors
0:54:23 > 0:54:27how much profit the solar cells are making, all year round.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29Say I want to spend £100 on a pair of shoes,
0:54:29 > 0:54:33how long would it take for you to earn me that pair of shoes?
0:54:33 > 0:54:35Summertime or wintertime?
0:54:35 > 0:54:37I'm going to let you have summertime.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41Summertime, I'll get you a pair of Jimmy Choos,
0:54:41 > 0:54:44- cheap, £100...- Yeah, yeah, OK, yeah!
0:54:44 > 0:54:48- In...just on two days.- What?!
0:54:48 > 0:54:51Summertime. Two good July days.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54Wintertime, it'll take you a month.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57That's still amazing! That's amazing!
0:54:58 > 0:55:02They've ended up less than £10,000 over
0:55:02 > 0:55:06on their 400,000 renovation budget.
0:55:06 > 0:55:11And their 21st-century home has recently been valued
0:55:11 > 0:55:13at over a million.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15I'd say that's a bit of a success story.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18But there's one person who didn't entirely approve of
0:55:18 > 0:55:23Nick and Brigitte's plans for the pumping station.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27Our architectural expert, Kieran.
0:55:27 > 0:55:32He thought they should have kept the old concrete stairs and walkway
0:55:32 > 0:55:34where the kitchen and dining area now are.
0:55:42 > 0:55:43Kieran, come and tell us,
0:55:43 > 0:55:46do you think it's a shame the staircase has gone?
0:55:46 > 0:55:49One of the things I enjoyed so much when I came here was
0:55:49 > 0:55:50this kind of amazing,
0:55:50 > 0:55:52three-dimensional journey from this kind of
0:55:52 > 0:55:55room in the earth with all the machines and then this balcony
0:55:55 > 0:55:57in the sky with these kind of skylights.
0:55:57 > 0:56:01We looked at of retaining the stair and going into upper-level bedrooms,
0:56:01 > 0:56:04but it just didn't work in terms of the headroom upstairs
0:56:04 > 0:56:07or the headroom that you'd get downstairs.
0:56:07 > 0:56:09Well, I can utterly see what you've gained
0:56:09 > 0:56:13in these two incredible rooms, these massive, beautiful spaces.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16I can see the reason. But for me, just a bit of that drama has gone.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20I think this will have to stay an amicable architectural disagreement.
0:56:25 > 0:56:27But only one thing really matters
0:56:27 > 0:56:30after such a radical transformation as this.
0:56:33 > 0:56:37And that's how Nick and Brigitte feel now about the building
0:56:37 > 0:56:41they fell in love with from day one.
0:56:41 > 0:56:43When you come home from work, from the office,
0:56:43 > 0:56:47what's your sense of achievement when you arrive back?
0:56:47 > 0:56:49- Amazing.- Is it?- Absolutely. - Grin from ear to ear!
0:56:49 > 0:56:51Does he? Does he?
0:56:51 > 0:56:54It's true, you know? It's a very good question, actually,
0:56:54 > 0:56:57because you get this grinning feeling, still -
0:56:57 > 0:57:00and I know it's still fresh - of looking forward to it,
0:57:00 > 0:57:03of a place that you call home.
0:57:13 > 0:57:17Nick and Brigitte had a simple problem.
0:57:17 > 0:57:23They wanted a home with more space for their family to live and grow.
0:57:23 > 0:57:27And they chose probably the hardest way of solving that problem.
0:57:27 > 0:57:33They took on an abandoned, rotting water pumping station.
0:57:33 > 0:57:38And in resurrecting that building, they unearthed an untold story.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42Nick and Brigitte poured the same pride
0:57:42 > 0:57:45into resurrecting the pumping station
0:57:45 > 0:57:48as the original builders did in creating it.
0:57:48 > 0:57:54And that is why it is now a brilliant family home.
0:58:05 > 0:58:09Next time, a very different Restoration Home.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12This was the house. So, this was going to be our home.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15- This was the house to bring the family up in.- Yeah. Yes, definitely.
0:58:18 > 0:58:22And another intriguing journey into Britain's past.
0:58:22 > 0:58:25My goodness, and here's a letter - "Affectionately yours, Byron."
0:58:25 > 0:58:28You see so many of these interiors deteriorating
0:58:28 > 0:58:30until they are unsalvageable.
0:58:30 > 0:58:34This is the original stuff. And it has to be saved.
0:58:43 > 0:58:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media
0:58:46 > 0:58:49E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk