Brutalist Tower Block - Bethnal Green The Great Interior Design Challenge

In Britain we have an amazing array of places we call home...

from thatched cottages and conversions...

to terraced housing and tower blocks.

But when it comes to interior design,

we don't always make the best of the rooms we live in.

So we asked 24 amateur designers

to show us how it should be done.

Let's try it.

We've got 15 minutes and I'm still painting.

I hope they'll like it. I think they will like it.

We've travelled across the country and through the ages,

to Victorian avenues, Art Deco cul-de-sacs

and Regency squares.

Each time the would-be designers took on similar rooms

in neighbouring homes.

And, after eight heats,

we've picked the best to go through to the quarterfinals.

Judging them are designer and president-elect

of the British Institute of Interior Design, Daniel Hopwood...

Our quarterfinalists need to show

that they've got an extensive repertoire

and not just have one look.

..and interior stylist and magazine journalist Sophie Robinson.

The designers have already had one shot at this

so we'll be looking at a marked improvement.

It's the second quarterfinal,

and four more designers will be battling it out

to win places in the next stage of the competition.

This time our designers will be redesigning one bedroom each

in four apartments in this 1950s tower block.

Returning triumphant from their heats are four previous winners...

Kimberly.

Luke.

Neil.

Susan.

They've worked with a client already, but this time

our designers will be tested to the limit...

My heart rate is accelerating.

..as they attempt to transform four similar-sized bedrooms.

I'm finding the creativity level extremely high.

The judges' expectations are greater than ever...

Has she not learnt anything from her first project?

I'm seriously concerned.

..as only two can go through to the semifinal.

You're all talented but it's got a whole lot tougher.

This is Keeling House in Bethnal Green, East London,

a 15-storey concrete tower block by architect Denys Lasdun,

who also built the National Theatre on London's South Bank.

It's one of the more successful social experiments from the 1950s,

when architects were given the creative freedom

to design urban utopias to house the tens of thousands left homeless

after the Second World War.

It was built between 1957 and 1959 on a bomb site to replace

the Victorian slums and workers' cottages like these

that were destroyed in the Blitz.

It's in this rather brutal building that four of our heat winners

will be battling for a place in the semifinals.

In her heat, Susan transformed a Victorian double reception room

with a colourful, shabby chic design.

I'm excited about the contest.

I feel as though it's part of my day job now and that's it.

I think I prefer this as a day job than doing all the washing

and the ironing and the cooking and cleaning.

Neil won through with his Tour de France theme

in a London almshouse.

It was good to win the first one,

because it gave me some validation.

I have some skill in doing this, or at least I did in that one.

Kimberly's contemporary twist

on a 1960s span house kitchen won her heat.

I'd be gutted to be knocked out.

I had a taste of winning and I just want to keep going.

And Luke secured his place in the quarterfinals

by giving a warehouse conversion a modern African scheme.

The pressure's getting higher, the competition's getting harder.

So bring it on.

The first home was a fabulous penthouse apartment owned by Mani.

Perched on the 14th floor, it has arresting views across London.

But the strikingly small bedroom is far from captivating.

In my bedroom, I'd like a bit more space.

As you can see, the furniture is quite big in here.

We've got a large wardrobe.

I do like minimalism rather than cluttering up the room.

Any new design, I'd like to see something a bit quirky,

a bit retro, and something that would make me want to spend

more time in my bedroom, I suppose.

Bedrooms this small present particular design challenges,

so judges Sophie and Daniel want to assess the room

before our amateurs get started.

Whoa.

What a view.

That is awesome.

Makes it a very special bedroom.

-But it's certainly a blank canvas, isn't it?

-Yes.

I know Mani would quite like to get rid of this.

-It feels far too big for this space, doesn't it?

-Yeah, it doesn't work.

But, in fact, some of the original storage is ingenious.

I bet you actually can't even spot where it is.

Hidden underneath the sill here are sets of drawers

that go underneath the window and out to the parapet below.

So you've got all this.

That's really thinking in the detail, isn't it?

This room, it's all about the view.

I think when you are designing, especially quite small rooms,

you've got to really look around the room and pull out its best feature.

So I hope they can either use what's out there as their inspiration

or at least keep that as the hero in the room.

Taking on the challenge of Mani's micro-sized bedroom

is 42-year-old father of two Neil, from Brighton.

In his first heat, he showed he had instinctive design skills

as he created ingenious products for the room as he went along.

But his lack of planning worried the judges.

-Hi, Mani, nice to meet you.

-Hi, Neil.

They'll now be watching to see if Neil's organisational skills

have improved in his first meeting with Mani.

So I'm thinking sort of different tones of greys, black and white.

I wanted to try and make a bit of an industrial feel,

maybe with some sort of wire work-looking...

I don't really know how I'm going to do that yet.

But I thought I'd make some bedside light,

-sort of like on a little pulley system.

-Yeah.

Although I haven't sourced the pulley system yet, so it might be a hook.

I think the wardrobe you've got in there currently,

I'm sure it's really, really handy, cos you can get tonnes in it.

But it's sort of quite monolithic in the room.

-It's a behemoth.

-Yeah!

Neil's plans are typically fluid,

but his vision for a modern monochrome scheme

includes grey walls and a new wardrobe

that will make more effective use of the space.

I had another really good idea that I forgot to tell you about!

I want to make a really oversized letter.

-I thought it could be the letter M.

-Yeah.

Maybe I can run at by you as we go along.

I think so. From the actual drawing, it actually looks quite good.

I don't know how, for real, you know.

You could just give me the thumbs up or the thumbs down from the doorway.

I do feel that Neil has a certain style of doing a presentation,

and I find it very endearing.

The way he presents is actually the true style of a creative.

I just find it fascinating that he appears to have learned nothing

from the first round and he's just going to approach this whole project

in exactly the same way.

"Oh, I'll make it up as I go along, pop your head round,

"let me know what do you think and I can change it," and,

"I've got a bit of shopping to do, I haven't picked anything yet."

So good luck, Neil.

The idea is it's going to be a grey box, effectively,

so just going to paint it all grey.

For me, part of the process is trying things,

trying to make bits and pieces.

If they are crap then you just don't use them.

So it's sort of, I don't really know what I'm doing

as much as he's not sure what I'm doing.

Like all four designers, Neil now has 48 hours spread over three days,

£1,000, and the help of a builder

to turn his vision into reality.

I just want to crack on.

I did do loads of stuff last time and probably struggled to finish in time

but I feel like the time is going to be OK.

Shall we try and lift? Oh.

CLATTERING

That's one way of doing it.

Unlike the penthouse apartment,

the bedrooms on the lower floors of Keeling House are slightly larger.

Our second room belongs to graphic designer Sara.

I think what attracts me to the brutalist style of this building

is the fact that I like industrial textures.

In the redesign of my bedroom, I'd probably like to see

a lot of white or light grey walls.

I'd like some industrial lighting.

Nothing too busy, it has to be very much a blank canvas.

It's a simple little room.

Isn't it just? But it works.

It's the perfect size for a bedroom.

Just the right size around the edges.

Enough space to get some storage in.

There was a report at that time, in the late '50s, early '60s,

called the Parker Morris Report,

and they were very eager to get rooms the right size for living in

and they would measure furniture.

And they analysed the circulation around a home

to make sure that the spaces worked,

cos they wanted to get it right compared to the sort of

back-to-back housing that you had in this area.

And I know she wants a very raw, natural, rustic,

almost loft warehouse look,

which is a lovely brief, I think.

Redesigning Sara's bedroom

is 33-year-old sales assistant Luke from Oxford.

In his heat, he impressed with some self-designed furniture

and subtle African touches.

Now, the judges want to see if Luke can push his use of colour

to make more of an impact within a scheme.

As we can see here,

-you're a big fan of the greys and textures, too.

-Yeah.

So that was something I had taken from the brief that you wanted.

These are the kind of colours that I'm referencing.

This colour here is to give you an idea for the bed, the furnishing.

-And then, don't panic, you're not going to get accent walls!

-OK.

-OK?

But this is the kind of colours that I'm trying to bring in

-to the room.

-Mm. Where do you see them being in the room?

-OK,

-so it's just only going to be tiny details.

-Fab.

But it's something to lift the room.

-Yeah, you've reassured me.

-Oh, yeah?

OK, brilliant. And then I've got an idea

-for some hanging pendant lamps.

-Perfect.

Luke's industrial warehouse scheme uses splashes of pink and orange

to bring warmth to industrial details,

such as exposed cabling, bare bulbs, copper and concrete.

-As long as you're happy with that...

-Yeah.

-..we're going to get on with it.

-Crack on.

-Cool.

I can't work out if Luke is shy

or if he's secretive.

Because he was letting go quite a lot

about the textures and the colours,

but I wasn't picking up on how he's going to do the layout of that room.

But maybe it's a clever strategy

cos she is a very good designer herself

and she knows what she likes.

So actually, by not giving her too much detail,

is that like keeping her out a bit and allowing him to get on with it?

LUKE HUMS

HE SIGHS

In his heat, Luke fell foul to patchy paintwork,

but he learned his lesson.

Make sure the lid is on before you do this.

What I'm doing is thoroughly mixing the paint before use

cos it has been known not to happen

and then you'll paint a room, three quarters of a room,

and then suddenly you get to the bottom of the tin

and the paint changes colour.

But you won't really tell that till it's dry

cos it's always darker when it's wet.

I'm just double, triple, quadruple checking that the paint is...

..is as it should be.

Yeah, a bit pinker than I'd like

but I'm not panicking yet.

Our third apartment to be tackled

is charity worker Chris's first-floor bachelor pad.

As you can see, it's all kind of done out with flatpack furniture.

You'll notice I've got shoes all over the floor

cos there's not really anywhere to store them.

The carpet has seen a lot, lot better days.

There's stains around

from a cat that used to occasionally vomit on it.

That was lovely.

Yeah, I guess I'm quite open to new ideas for this room,

but hopefully they'll be able to bring it to life a bit.

Simple, pared back.

Doesn't say much, does it?

But what I like about these buildings

is that when they were built they actually addressed storage,

which actually often in modern buildings today they don't.

And in fact, what probably would have happened originally

is secondary wardrobes would have been placed

where they've slightly lowered the ceiling.

Well, this room's just a white box, really. Isn't it, Daniel?

It's just crying out for some design.

I just think it's an opportunity to do some visual tricks in here

to help this room feel a bit larger.

I mean, those short curtains,

don't they look just a bit mean in a small room?

And actually by having floor-length curtains,

you create a vertical line

which will help the room feel a bit taller and bigger.

Given the task of making Chris's bedroom

both practical and presentable is 65-year-old Susan,

a grandmother and housewife from Maidstone.

Having already wowed the judges with her use of bright, feminine colours,

Susan now needs to show versatility to deliver a bachelor bedroom.

I know you didn't like your Swedish furniture

but budget really wouldn't permit me to change it.

So I have upcycled it for you and I hope you like the design for this.

And I'm sure you'll grow to love it again, once you see it finished!

-OK?

-I like the dashes of colour.

I don't like lots of bold cover everywhere

-but this looks really nice.

-Yeah.

Susan's ideas for upcycling the furniture

deliberately pay homage to the high-rise,

with blocks of colour.

She's not only making use of the existing storage

but she'll also be adding new fitted wardrobes.

-So all your shoes and clutter can go inside the wardrobes.

-Excellent!

-And your room'll be lovely and clear.

-That's great.

-It actually sounds really dull but I need some more storage.

-I know.

-You're going to loads there, as well.

-Yeah.

These are the colours I would like to use on your walls

which is a grey but it has a lot of blue in it

-cos I know that's your favourite colour.

-Mm-hm.

I was absolutely fascinated to see how Susan,

whose whole love of colour,

was going to work in this kind of building

with a single guy who likes grey.

How was she going to get her head around that?

But I love it. She's managed to slip the colour in there.

It's really good to see she's shown us her versatility, there.

She might not have much bright colour in that room

but where she's got it, it's going to really pop.

It's going to look fantastic.

I'm going to put fitted wardrobes in this alcove.

I'm going to upcycle both of these chests.

I suppose we better start clearing the room.

I think that sounds like a good idea.

What a lot of shoes he's got.

I think we need to open a window.

Yuk!

The fourth and final apartment belongs to Freddie and Iesha.

They're longing to turn their bedroom

into a sleek and functional space

for themselves and their two children.

Quick, go and get him!

Where are you?!

It's not just a bedroom.

We do everything in there.

We change the children, we play with the children,

we all sleep in there.

So I'd like it to feel comfortable

and I'd quite like a bed!

Cos at the moment we have mattresses on the floor.

I'd love to see an interior that was much more in keeping

with the rest of the building.

Because at the moment, it's sort of a beige box

and it feels like it could just be in any house, anywhere.

Mattress on the floor gives it the feeling

-that somebody's only just moved in.

-Mm-hm.

The room itself is rather pleasant.

Especially as its got the original Crittall windows

as, like, the entire building still has them,

which is quite rare these days.

And Crittall windows are metal windows, very lightweight,

and it means that they actually are very thin.

So there's more glass than frame,

which means the light can just pour through into the room.

But our designer has got a task on their hands.

This is a family bedroom

with a baby and a toddler all sharing this space.

So the designer's going to need to think about

how they're going to incorporate all of the essential kit

that comes with having babies.

But also giving them a space that they can hold on to.

Cos the children aren't going to be in here forever.

It's just a temporary measure.

So quite a lot to think about for our designer.

The job of giving Freddie and Iesha their family-friendly bedroom

goes to 24-year-old mother of two Kimberly from Oxfordshire.

In her heat, her choices of colour and material

showed sparks of genius.

But she struggled with the demands of the job.

This time, it's vital she demonstrates better project management.

So your brief was contemporary,

industrial

and you like your muted colours.

But what I did want to do was

put in an extra complimentary colour

that made the scheme pop.

-So I've gone for a copper.

-OK.

I am going to be using copper piping.

-OK.

-Right.

-I've gone for another element

which I haven't managed to put on the board...

which is concrete.

-OK.

-We like concrete.

-Good! I love it.

Moving on, I have commissioned a specific piece of artwork.

And the idea behind the "&" is that, you know,

you're all living there,

like, it's, you know, Mummy and Daddy and brothers and family.

I'm slightly...

..uneasy about this "F & I".

It's the kind of thing...

I would typically not have in a room.

Kimberly's multifunctional family bedroom

incorporates a dressing table for Iesha

and a nursery area for their youngest.

I didn't want to go for hard floors

with having the baby and your young son in the room.

And being a bedroom,

-it's quite nice to have a sort of cosy feel underfoot.

-Yeah, sure.

Kimberly, yet again, very, very thorough,

well thought-out presentation.

Clear, easy to understand, beautiful scale drawings.

I mean, her presentation skills are the best, aren't they?

Yeah. And that colour scheme

with the pale blues, the greys and then the copper thrown in

is going to be really peaceful

and yet with a little glimmer of excitement going on, too.

I think I'm going to be making lots of lists this time.

That's the one criticism I got from the judges

and I'm keen to improve my project management

and my organisation.

So that's what I'm doing. I'm just making sure everything's organised.

I know what we've got to do and when.

-OK, so we need plywood bedside tables.

-Yeah.

Get the bed up so we can measure everything.

-OK.

-And I need to get all the concrete work done...

-Yeah. Yeah, sure.

-..today.

-OK.

-So it dries!

-All right.

Today, concrete might not always be seen

as the most attractive material,

but 60 years ago, it was considered cutting-edge.

Keeling House is a perfect example

of the architectural movement called brutalism,

coined in the early '50s by the British architect Alison Smithson,

after the architectural great Le Corbusier

started experimenting with it in France.

In fact, the term comes from the French for raw concrete,

beton brut.

And you can identify brutalism by its use of this raw concrete

and by the structural frame expressed on the exterior

that holds up the whole building

in bold sculptural and geometric forms.

Construction is typically made

by pouring concrete into wooden board moulds.

Once dry, the concrete bears the evidence of the process...

..a rough, wood-patterned finish.

This building dates from a time in the late 1950s

when Britain was really excited about the future.

And you can see reflected all over the architecture -

in its structural efficiency,

in its futuristic use of concrete,

in those bold geometric forms,

like these wonderful overhanging porches,

a far cry from most people's images of brutalism

of devastated utopias and crumbling concrete.

One of our modern-day designers, however,

is finding his modern monochrome scheme doesn't quite measure up

to the building's rather compact rooms.

Oh, God, that's tight!

I really wanted to put an old wardrobe,

but I just don't think it's going to fit.

Yeah, I'm going to have to have a rethink already.

That is the theme of my...

..my designing, I think. "Have a rethink!"

Eight floors down, Luke's industrial warehouse theme

has also hit a snag.

I still haven't quite made my mind up about the colour.

I like the colour but it's whether Sara's going to like the colour.

My hope is that Sara doesn't have a huge aversion to any forms of pink.

I'm just going to have to have a quick...

think about it

and what we're going to do.

So I'm going to stand here and stare at the ceiling for a bit.

HE HUMS AND HAWS

Down on the first floor,

Susan's first step to creating Chris's bachelor bedroom

is to rip up the carpet.

You don't expect to see floorboards in a concrete building, do you?

When Keeling House was instructed,

the architects used wood flooring rather than concrete in the bedrooms

to lighten the load placed on the building's structure.

I'm sure they'll look wonderful when we've finished but unfortunately,

it's going to take a while to clean all this up.

Something that I didn't expect - there to be plaster here.

Upstairs, Kimberly's meticulously planned schedule

for her multifunctional family room

has taken a massive blow.

Her key materials of concrete, plywood and copper

have yet to arrive.

I'm just really frustrated cos it feels like

I'm not getting everything done that I need to get done

and I'm worried about time

and whether it's all going to be enough.

I think the stakes have been raised and...

Every minute counts on this one so...

It's high-pressure and it's getting to me a bit.

Tears on the first day!

As the end of day one approaches, it's not just Kimberly

who's apprehensive about finishing on time.

NEIL: I thought I could have made more progress than I have,

but that's, sort of, just how it is.

In a way, it is still quite a fumbling process for me, as well.

Tomorrow's a big day.

That is the day when we have to complete most of our tasks.

It may only be a small room but there's still a lot to do.

I just really want to win.

I just have my little mantra, "Just really want to win,

"really want to win, really want to win,

"really want to win, really want to win..."

After the first day, the painting has started, plans have changed.

But on day two, with so much at stake in these quarter-finals,

the designers really have to up their game.

I'm confident at the moment.

Everything is organised, everything is here.

So just got to push, push, push.

I'm feeling much better about the paint.

Overnight, Luke has decided his pink ceiling

is right for his industrial warehouse design,

leaving him free to get on with his other creative tasks.

This is a map that Sara wants to have on the wall

so we're going to give her a frame.

So I'm just having a measure up of actually how big it is...

work out what frame we want.

One designer's rubbish is another designer's treasure.

It should clean up all right. I'll probably just sand it anyway.

Salvaging is a great way to save money

but it's always important to get permission,

from the person who has discarded the items

before taking them.

Take that just in case.

'My mind is always ticking over with ideas.'

I can plant something in the back of my mind

and it just ticks over, and then once it's agreed an idea,

it seems to just pop into the front of my head.

Then I just do it!

Which reminds me, I've just had another one.

These are two fairly nondescript side tables.

These are the legs.

So I'm going to paint them.

But I'm just going to load the gloss paint here

and then just let it drip and slide down.

And then let them dry.

And then when you invert them, to stand,

the drips will be going up the legs.

Just another idea.

Popped into my head about one o'clock last night,

as I was trying to go to sleep.

While Luke is dripping with ideas,

Neil is suffering a creative block with his modern monochrome scheme.

I'm sort of worried it's very unambitious, this one.

In a way, I've just got a room that's painted a bit grey, at the moment.

So I sort of, once, maybe, some of the things start coming together,

the more creative things that I'm like,

"Oh, yeah, that's really cool," then maybe I'll feel better about it.

-How's it going?

-Well, I'm hoping to get loads achieved today.

I have came in this morning and thought,

"Oh, God, I haven't really done a great deal."

-Still a white box.

-White wall.

Grey wall here, grey wall here.

Yeah, hopefully we'll get some more creative things done today.

I've been pondering my letter M, you know,

and what shape it should be and what font it should be.

-Less ponder, more do.

-OK. Yes, fair enough!

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

Neil's had the best part of a day to get his work started

and what I've seen up to now are two grey walls.

Now, I know this man is a creative genius

and he needs his thinking time,

but thinking time is over. He's got to get on with it.

After yesterday's delay,

a delivery of seven pound quick dry concrete

means Kimberly is finally making her bedside table tops.

A release agent, such as cooking oil,

is applied to the wooden moulds

so once dry, the concrete will slide free.

This is actually called postcrete, isn't it,

which has got a chemical agent in it so it goes off very quickly.

-You've got about 15 minutes to work this, haven't you?

-If that, yeah.

Whereas a traditional concrete would take about 12 hours to set,

you haven't got the luxury of that kind of time, have you,

-this time round?

-I haven't, no. So we just...

-Hopefully...

-Oh, cool!

..it should fill all the gaps so there's no air bubbles trapped.

The concrete mould will be left to dry outside overnight

on the shared balcony.

When Keeling House was built,

many felt these communal areas were cold and soulless.

The brutalist architects wanted to be anything but brutal

to the people that were using their buildings.

Architect Denys Lasdun wanted to continue the tradition

of East End terraced housing

with its sense of community and sturdy design.

He studied the street life of the area,

hoping to combine its neighbourliness

with all the benefits of modern design.

So he basically took the Victorian terraced street,

upended it...

and shot it into the sky.

He incorporated communal areas all through the building,

full of greenery and space

to hang out your washing and meet the neighbours.

And he angled each tower so it faced the next one

so you could wave to your neighbour

or at least give them a piece of your mind.

Brutal in name, but rather thoughtful in design.

Unfortunately, over the years and without regular upkeep,

the communal areas became vandalised.

What greenery there was disappeared.

Keeling House fell into disrepair.

It was even threatened with demolition.

Fortunately for our designers,

today the building is standing strong.

I think I feel as though I'm on track this morning

and I think we're going to be fine.

In her scheme for a bachelor bedroom,

Susan is finishing painting the walls.

I'm happy with the colour, I'm happy with my design,

I'm happy with everything.

Very excited about opening my tin of paint for the furniture.

I am now putting on the first coat of eggshell.

An expert in the art of upcycling,

Susan is in her element renovating the flat-pack furniture.

I love the fact that you can make a piece of furniture,

perhaps that you've had for years,

and you can give it new life.

I don't like things dying.

I like them to live and carry on living!

To address the storage, Susan has designed a huge fitted wardrobe.

Splendid.

-What progress!

-Yes.

-Wardrobe up.

-Yes.

-Paint on the walls.

-Yes.

But is there enough progress?

-Yes!

-And all the accessories and all the bits

are all ready to install?

-Yes, yes.

-Oh, your in plan, aren't you?

-Yes.

-It's rather irritating!

-HE LAUGHS

This is sort of the idea to do the lampshades.

Up in the penthouse, a six pound roll of wire

has finally got Neil inspired to make a handmade lampshade.

There is this worry at this stage

that it might just look really awful!

I don't know. I wonder if it could look a bit...vaguely atomic.

On the tenth floor,

Kimberly's plan for a family-friendly bedroom

is coming together.

The walls are being painted concrete grey,

while in the nursery area Kimberly's design adds warmth,

with playful metallic stencilling.

Stencilling is something you always associate with the '90s!

But, I mean, circles and, you know,

going for a very contemporary look,

it's really easy to do and super effective.

Kimberly's using an £11 can of spray paint

as it adheres to almost any surface and dries in minutes.

I'm really, really pleased with that. It looks brilliant.

I like the way it shines.

With the walls done,

Kimberly is now considering a radical plan to strip the floor.

-I would love to do this.

-If you want to do it, do it.

I mean, it's...

-I think I need...

-It's your...

-I need an edge in this room.

It's your thing, isn't it? I mean...

If she goes ahead with a new plan,

it will impact on an already hectic schedule.

It's a risk.

Today I've got eight hours left.

Yeah...

Are we going to do it?

Yeah, we're doing it. OK, decision made.

So how is it all going?

The flooring has lifted my confidence a lot.

-The flooring?

-It has.

-What's happened with the floor?

-We found some amazing floorboards underneath the carpet.

-Right.

And we had some budget left

so we are getting in a sander and stripping the floorboards back.

She's deciding to strip the floor which, honestly, to me,

seems like a complete moment of madness.

It's not appropriate for a bedroom.

It's not appropriate when you've got toddlers crawling on the floor

and I don't actually think it's going to add anything.

And it could make her run over...

Has she not learned anything from her first project?

I'm seriously concerned.

As our designers grapple with their rooms,

it seems unbelievable that just 20 years ago

Keeling House stood derelict and unused by Tower Hamlets Council.

The renovation of Keeling House only really got under way

after English Heritage gave it a Grade II* listing in 1993,

calling the building an architecturally outstanding example

of 1950s social housing.

Six years later, in 1999,

house prices in Bethnal Green were rising fast

and a new generation were attracted to the high-rise towers

that had previously been spurned.

Foreseeing Keeling House's potential,

developers bought the tower block

for the trifling sum of £1.3 million.

This building is now lauded as one of the most successful examples

of converting social housing into private apartments.

A flat here will cost about £400,000

but it's a far cry from its original purpose -

providing social housing for the needy

after the Second World War.

It's the end of the second day.

Tomorrow Sophie and Daniel will decide which two designers

leave the competition and which two go through to the semifinal.

I'm finding the creativity level extremely high.

Concerned about timing this morning,

but they all seem to be catching up by this evening.

It's down to project management now.

Who is going to finish and to a high standard?

Because we won't be judging kindly if nobody finishes on time tomorrow.

As the other designers leave for the evening,

Kimberly's last-minute design change

means she'll have to work into the night to finish on time.

We need to get the rest of the sanding finished off.

It's power tools down eight o'clock, we can't disturb the neighbours.

So I'm finishing off with hand sanding.

Once that's done, sweep up, get it varnished, get it painted.

We need to get that done tonight so it's got time to dry,

so we can crack on in the morning.

I need to be finished tomorrow. I have to be!

It's now D-Day for our amateur designers.

They've just got a few hours left

to get their rooms dressed and ready for our judges,

Dan and Sophie, to cast a critical eye over their efforts.

Nervous energy' kicked in now. My heart rate's accelerating.

I haven't actually got that much time left,

which I sort of didn't really realise.

I think time's just crept up on me.

On the first floor it's still an oasis of calm.

I don't feel at all stressed!

Well, maybe when people start shouting at me,

"You've only got 10 minutes to go."

I'll think, "Oh, I don't know. Oh, be quiet."

I don't look at my watch.

I just keep going until somebody tells me I've got to stop.

With just hours until the deadline, Neil is finally hitting his stride.

Churning out his characteristic quirky creations including

some handmade monochrome cushions.

I had this idea, just take an existing plain cushion cover

and then just scribble a print on with a permanent marker pen.

What I love about this is you can literally by a cushion pad

from a department store for a couple of quid.

This is just a bit of calico, so what's this in fabric, 50p max?

-Yeah, really cheap.

-I want to see you in action.

Neil uses his imagination and different sized

permanent marker pens to make a design that is truly original.

So you are getting bespoke,

one-off designer cushion for less than three quid, I've worked out.

-I think that's really good.

-I know, shall I sign them on the back?

SHE LAUGHS

Outside, Kimberly still has a lot to do to complete her ambitious

family-friendly bedroom.

I'm really nervous about these concrete tops.

I really, really want them to work.

The moment of truth for this one, hopefully.

Ta-da!

I'm really pleased.

And I love the bubbles, they add to the texture

and the roughness of them.

From concrete to copper.

For an instant industrial look, Kimberly gives the plastic

light fittings a spray of metallic paint,

and her homemade baby mobile receives the same treatment.

This is going to be dangled from the copper piping

that I'm going to bend and put above the cot.

It will become a really pretty little mobile.

Ah! There.

So, the cot's going here.

The mobile is made from materials which may not be safe for children

to play with, so Kimberly is hanging it right out of their reach.

Taking the protective tape off the front of our copper.

Luke's decided to cover the MDF wardrobe door in copper sheeting,

held in place with a super strong contact adhesive.

Copper looks great, I think it looks really nice.

I'm happy with that door. Happy with that whole look, really.

And the quirky loft theme continues,

as Luke adds industrial bedside lighting with concrete fittings.

Architecturally, this just gives us a knowing nod to the building,

the architecture, the Brutalist concrete.

I didn't want to bring too much concrete physically into the room.

I'm not entirely happy with that.

It needs just more playing around for dressing

and making it look good, but I don't have the time for that, so...

I'm saying that a lot now, but I don't.

Is it going to happen?

As the quarterfinal draws to a close,

serene Susan is playing with blocks of primary colour.

These are what I call my building bricks.

I've tried to make this chest of drawers represent the buildings.

-Is that better?

-It's high on that side.

Susan has also hand painted the vibrant artwork,

which she hopes will tie the room together.

It says go north, go up. It wants to come down on the side.

This comes down on that one, yes.

Because I tell you what, old Dan's got an eagle eye

and he notices things that are crooked.

Up in the penthouse, Neil has managed to source a flat-pack

wardrobe that will fit the room.

But, at £300, it's taken nearly a third of his budget.

Fortunately, Neil's saved money with his adjustable bedside lights.

La-la-la-la! I do like those.

Two pulleys costing £1.50 each are attached to the ceiling

and threaded with electrical cord.

Neil simply finishes with an oversized bulb

and his bespoke lampshades.

Like all lampshades, no metal parts

are in direct contact with electric components.

With just minutes to go,

all the designers are adding their finishing touches.

Oh!

Desperate to prove she can manage her time, Kimberly is working hard

to ensure she hits the deadline.

I'm feeling a bit stressed, it's touch and go.

I want to dress it nicely

but that seems like it's going to be a luxury at the moment.

Luke is hoping to win over his meticulous graphic designer client

with a few personal touches.

These are from the homeowner's bedroom door.

It's going to be a door handle.

It looks like something might have to give at this point,

like the blinds might not have to go up.

That's it, that's as far as I can take it.

It's dressed, it's complete.

With only £1,000 and just under three days,

our quarterfinalists have risen to the challenge of transforming

four blank canvas bedrooms into works of art.

First up for the judges' scrutiny is Luke.

His industrial warehouse design

must prove he can deliver a coherent scheme.

Three days ago this room felt cold

and lacked any reference to its Brutalist surroundings.

Now it feels warm.

Luke has been bold with colour, adding flashes of bright pink

and orange in contrast to the grey walls.

Details such as his paint dipped side tables

and copper coated cupboard mix style with storage.

Luke has used bare bulbs

and exposed wires to reflect Sara's desire for industrial features.

And his innovative ideas, such as the scavenged wood frame

and door handle, add a handmade, personal touch.

-You like it, don't you?

-Yeah, I do, I really like it.

I think this is to brief.

It's got the industrial elements.

Funnily enough, I rather like the pink, of course,

-and the orange that we're seeing in the room.

-Yes, beautifully done.

These units are rather interesting on either side, the bedside tables.

I like the splayed leg

and how they've been painted with a pink leg at the bottom.

They're super. I'm really into this sort of idea of dropping lights.

Instead of having bedside tables,

is dropping lights from the ceiling on either side.

It's always fun.

But for me here there's too much wire wrapping.

I would want to cut the wires and just neaten it up a little bit.

-So this is just too messy for you?

-Too messy. Yeah.

But what a nice idea. These are wooden hoops attached to the wall.

The wardrobe, I like the design,

I like the way he's built it into that space.

It kind of disappears in the room, which I like.

This line should have been addressed.

Rather than just buying a piece,

glueing it on and hoping for the best.

In terms of Sara's brief,

I feel that he's given her a room full of personality.

I don't think it is what Sara would do for herself,

I think he's definitely pushed the brief.

How well they have fulfilled the client's brief is a key criterion

on which the amateur designers will be judged.

This will be the first time Sara has seen her room since it was finished.

Wow! Oh, my God! I'm very impressed.

-Wow!

-Yeah.

-A great endorsement.

I know. But I love it. It feels bigger.

Yeah, it feels cosy, and that's what I struggled with before.

-It was like a cold room.

-He's brought out the warmth in you.

HE CHUCKLES

Next up is Susan's bachelor bedroom.

Her challenge was to break from the comfort of her shabby chic style,

to produce something cool and modern.

Three days ago this bachelor pad was a beige box, cluttered, colourless

and choc-full with flat-pack furniture.

Now it's stripped back and de-cluttered.

Susan has whitewashed the floors and used deep blues

and punchy primary colours to give a masculine feel.

She has repainted the flat-pack furniture and added colourful blocks

to reflect the Brutalist style of the building.

Her addition of a huge built-in wardrobe has solved storage issues.

Longer curtains play a design trick and make the windows feel larger.

To being the scheme together, Susan has hung a piece

of her original art, created specially for the building.

HE LAUGHS

It's a real boy's room is my first impression.

But absolute serenity, as well, it's not crazy.

It's clean, it's uncluttered,

it's functional, it's masculine.

Chris did request on the brief

that he wanted to get rid of his flat-pack furniture.

Who would have guessed that, actually, that IS his flat-pack

furniture, which is dressed up to make it look like a million dollars?

We are seeing a room here

that works 360 degrees, doesn't it?

Everywhere you look, there's a visual reference.

And her spatial planning is spot-on.

She's taken the lowered section

of the ceiling and slotted in

the wardrobe, where it should be,

and I love the fact that she's got the lines,

which are decorative,

but also they're handles.

I would have liked the bed to have been slightly dressed.

I think that if... I know boys don't like cushions,

but the pillows could have been a bit of fun.

Yeah, you're right. It's a little bit too utilitarian.

Colour-wise, I think this has been a very interesting exercise

for Susan, cos we know that she loves to celebrate colour,

and she's had to tone that right down.

I think the other thing that needs to be acknowledged here

-is it was a very well-managed project.

-Mm-hm.

Good quality.

Oop! Paint's still tacky.

THEY LAUGH

Wow.

-Different, eh?

-Yeah, it does.

It looks great. Oh, wow.

-You wanted storage.

-I did! I did.

-You've got storage.

-Do you think she's interpreted who you are?

-I do.

It feels like somewhere that

I would want to lie in on a Saturday

-morning, or spend time in.

-And how

does it compare to the mood board?

Does it fulfil what you were promised?

It does, and that's the weird thing,

is I'm sort of walking into a room I feel like I know.

Neil's laid-back approach meant his modern monochrome design

was always a work in progress.

And he had to prove he could pull the whole scheme together.

Three days ago, this room was an uninviting space,

dominated by a monolithic wardrobe.

Now Neil has painted the white walls a soft shade of grey.

He's moved the bed to reveal the built-in drawers,

which he has painted, and added new brass handles.

Across the room, the black wardrobe has been replaced

with a lighter, smaller version.

Neil's ingenious lighting on a simple pulley,

handmade monochrome cushions,

and a quirky nod to Mani's name,

constructed from wood all make the room truly unique.

Neil IS able to do minimal.

I was worried that he might not be able to pull that one off.

I love the fact that he's gone for quite a strong,

dark graphite grey, cos this room can take it.

It was a real hot box. Do you remember?

-It was a bright white room.

-Yeah.

-And that colour, for me, was an excellent choice.

-Yes.

-These lights are just brilliant. Look at them.

-I know.

They're cool, aren't they?

It's on a little pulley that can go up and down. And they're...

They're fun, they're slightly

industrial but not too busy,

and so creative, with the metal.

Bit surprised with the wardrobe.

It's just a wardrobe.

I would have thought he would have gone a bit further with that.

It looks like he's just shoved this one in.

My concern is maybe this got a bit rushed

and he didn't have the time

to really put those finishing touches in.

I remember when I looked at his last project in the heats,

everywhere I looked I was like, "I love that! And I love that!

"And I love that." And here...

He's designed some lighting

and the M, but, really, I don't know...

It's just not the ingenuity of Neil that I'd come to expect.

But there's also restraint.

You know that old saying of when you get dressed

and you put all your jewellery on, then take one piece off...

Well, this is what this room is.

Wow.

This is incredible.

Well, explore your room.

It's totally transformed.

It's gone beyond my expectations

of what I perceived the room might be, so, yeah, it looks amazing.

Last to be critiqued is Kimberly's family-friendly bedroom.

She had to show an improvement in her project-management skills,

as well as deliver style.

Three days ago, this room was an impractical space,

lacking in both style and function.

Now it's a room for the whole family.

Kimberly has moved the mattress onto a bed frame.

To complement the brutalist building,

she made concrete tops for the side tables

and added copper-coloured lighting.

Her handmade metallic mobile

and a compact play area should keep the children happy,

while a rough plywood dressing table

and geometric mirrors

give Iesha her own space.

And, in a last-minute decision,

Kimberly has stripped and varnished the floor.

SHE GASPS

-Kapow.

-It's gorgeous.

It's beautiful.

I can't resist it. I've just got to play

with this mobile a bit. It's lovely.

I could spend hours on this, let alone the baby.

-Stick you in there with a gin and tonic, then.

-Oh, God, yes.

How's that concrete turned out?

Love it. I would have liked to have seen more of it, in fact.

-I love that rawness.

-It's not easy stuff to work with.

I think she did very well, actually.

She's restrained herself. She's kept it quite minimal and cool,

you know, like the ampersand there.

It's a little bitty, if I'm honest.

It's little bit disparate, in so much that you've got

this cupboard in the corner and then another bit there

and another bit going on there,

and I'm wondering if it follows round smoothly.

One big flaw for me in this room is I can see

there's no window treatment - no blind, no curtains.

And, look, this is a room with a toddler in it.

As soon as the sun comes up, they're - ping - awake,

so you really need a very good blackout blind there.

And now I'm thinking, has she really thought of the practicalities?

Is this floor, lovely and rustic though it is, very practical

for a young family?

As a picture, it's stunning.

The rawness of ply,

the raw floor, the concrete.

My question, just like yours, is, "Does it work practically?"

SHE LAUGHS

It just feels like a really nice mix

of adult and child.

I don't feel like I'm in

a children's room.

I really like the way you've got the concrete and the hard edges,

and then the bed, so you've got the soft fabrics and the hard edges.

I really like that.

The judges have seen the rooms.

Now they have to decide which two designers are out

of the competition, and which two are through to the semifinal.

'Designing for people, it feels so amazing.

'It's so fulfilling, and it makes me feel'

like, you know, I just want to do it again and again.

'Maybe it's the masochist in me,'

but I just love it. I just really feed off it,

and so far we end up getting to do it again, which is great.

'Confident? I don't know.'

I don't know what everybody else's rooms are like

and how they fulfilled their briefs, or what they're looking for,

so I haven't got a clue.

I've got no idea if I've done enough to get through to the next round,

but I am pleased with what I've done.

So, Dan and Sophie.

It's a very strong building, with a strong personality.

Did Luke fulfil his brief for Sara?

Stylistically,

I thought it was very successful. I love the fact that he brought

colour into Sara's life.

What I liked, there were little elements that were real fun,

but did he pull that all together

as one cohesive look?

I mean, what about Susan do? She did everything that she said she would.

My criticism was it was a very hard look and quite cool.

She'd chosen cold blues, and it just felt a bit chilly.

Though Chris did love the room, and loved the colour.

Yeah, but it was a bloke's room, and it worked as a bloke's room.

Not many colours in Neil's room for Mani, though.

No, that's true, but that was Neil being restrained,

and what I was seeing was thoughtful, intelligent design.

Loved the little simple pulley system for the light with the wire.

It was going really well, and then he put in this nasty

flat-pack wardrobe in the corner.

We know Neil doesn't have well-thought-out plans.

He turns up and he kind of makes it up on the spot,

so it's hard to judge, really. Was it a plan or did he run out of time?

Kimberly have to fit in two children, two adults,

in one small bedroom.

But Kimberly yet again approached it with oodles of enthusiasm,

loads of creativity.

Had me seriously worried quite a few times that she was

being overly ambitious.

Slightly edging on middle-of-the-road.

A little bit to bitty and a bit

overly handmade, in many respects.

Well, you've got to make your mind up. Two have got to stay.

Two have got to go. Who's it going to be?

'Finally, after three days of paint, sweat and tears,

'it's the moment of truth.

'Which two designers will go through to the semifinals?'

So, designers. Well done. You're all talented,

but it's got a whole lot tougher.

Absolutely.

We've been thoroughly impressed to see how much you've all

come on since the first heat.

That's genuine, and absolutely impressed with the sensitivity

and the thought and the care and the way you handled

your clients and their needs.

Two of you are going to go through to the next round.

And the two designers going through...

are Luke...

and Susan.

THEY LAUGH

Stunned silence!

Well done. Amazing.

I am disappointed that I didn't get through to the next round, obviously.

'You know, there are gaps in my methodology.

'I did totally rejig my plan after I arrived,'

so I sort of was aware as I was going along that that wasn't probably

putting me in...

You know, sort of showering me with glory.

-Well done, though.

-Thank you.

I'm gutted.

SHE LAUGHS

Yeah.

'I feel like I nailed the brief,

'So I'm going to take all the experience,'

everything I've learned. That has given me huge confidence.

Yeah, so hopefully you'll see me around.

Well done, Luke.

I'm just really pleased. I'm just shaking.

I think it's nerves and adrenaline and relief.

I'm very much looking forward to the semifinal now.

The roller coaster continues.

-I love it.

-Amazing.

-Yeah. Really.

-I'm really happy.

Luke has shown us, not only on this project

but his other projects, that he can think outside the box,

go beyond people's expectations,

and come up with something new and innovative.

I'm aware that what he did for Sara was quite eccentric,

and not to everyone's taste,

but it was right for her and she loved it.

-You're enjoying it, though, yeah?

-I love it.

I am proud of my design. Yes, because I think

it works with the building,

which he wanted it to, and I think I've fulfilled the brief completely.

-I came in and I was blown away. Fantastic.

-Really?

Yeah, no. Really good. It's really, really good.

Susan has a very distinctive sense of style, but on top

of that, she was able to adapt to a very different brief and come out

successfully, and I think she's going to be able to do that again.

When Keeling House was rescued and reborn in the 1990s,

its original architect, Denys Lasdun, was invited to come

and help design a new lobby.

Though he wasn't happy about his social housing

falling into private hands, at least the new residents

have respected Lasdun's architectural ideas.

It's been exciting to see our designers do the same,

proving that brutalism is not a spent force.

It's as relevant and modern today as it was when it was born.

Next time, it's the semifinal,

and the designers take on grand Victorian splendour.

I just worry that it's just going to be dull.

-I just don't see it working, OK?

-There is a lot to do.

How is he going to get this room finish?

Hey, that's the gig right?