[Closed] Grand Designs new series next Weds

Oh goody, we get to see rich people acting as project manager on their building projects despite having no experience and then inevitably running over time and budget with a build lul in the winter 2/3rds of the way through the TV show to add some doom and gloom (as they're living in a caravan on site) before they finally finish in spring just after dropping a sprog and everyone's happy.

I like the show but it is a bit sort of the same each time,

As reality TV, its shite.

Its value is in seeing ideas/materials/construction methods that inspire, and people with the balls (and cash) to go for it.

Time for a baby boom?

Time for a cull of the middle class ****ers.

Good stuff.

[justathought]May I suggest that if you don't like it, or the people who tend to be on it, that you should consider watching something else?[/justathought]

before they finally finish in spring just after dropping a sprog and everyone's happy

I've lost count of how many children Kevin has sired during the run of Grand Designs. I'm looking forward to the series featuring all of the offspring from Grand Designs and Sarah Beany's property ladder titled "Grand Designs the Next Generation: Self Build Village of the Damned"

[img] [/img]

ahhh, tasty home pron to glaze my brainhole:

It's invariably the location/ideas/build methods that inspire, the "owners" are always little more than puppets and Kevs dry sarcasm's lost on most.
I tend to record it, skip through the adverts and arty shots of concrete trucks reversing into spaces little bigger than a park bench, which means I get 54% of my time back, so to speak.

Why don't channel 4 just have done with it and rename it Big Cheque Book, Bigger Ego!

Blah, blah, blah...... £250,000 windows imported from Germany... blah.... Yes, we went 1.2 million over budget.... blah....

No thanks!

"It's winter, and they still haven't got the **** roof on...."

It does seem to have turned into an advertising platform for aspiring architects. Always prefer the self-build ones doing it on a shoestring but don't seem to be so many of those anymore.

George Clark's Amazing Spaces seems to have taken up the mantle of normal people doing creative stuff on real world budgets.

There's not much of interest about Grand Designs - watching some retiring city banker or CEO spaff their enormous pension on some massive, predictable and unimaginative vanity project in Tuscany

George Clark's Amazing Spaces seems to have taken up the mantle of normal people doing creative stuff on real world budgets.

It's just a shame it has to have George 'watch me draw on a wall then knock it down' Clark featured so heavily...

I predict:

Concrete
Oak panels for the exterior or Beech or Bubinga
224mtr Sq frameless windows, with integral blinds/shades
Square box architecture
Swirly staircases
Stainless steel or polished alloy handrails/staircases/bog seats
Open plan everything, so you can shit in one end of the "space" and keep an eye on your 14yr old daughter playing with her new best friend at the other end.
Airport escalators to enable easy movement around "the space"
A snooker room complete with bar in the basement.
Wife who gets better looking as the programme catches them at the groundworks stage then when they move in.
No animals, not even a Hamster.

Kevin's just a nice chap trying to make himself a living. The fact he uses rich ex bankers etc to do that is perhaps a wee bit old hat now, but if I win the lottery, I'm gonna watch all the old episodes for inspiration - oh aye! You can then watch me gloat on telly as well

I loved the one where the welsh farmer/actor got into a massive row with the architect and basically told her he hated her work.

I've lost count of how many children Kevin has sired during the run of Grand Designs

along with Sarah "permenently pregnant" Beeny theyre creating a future property boom between them.

I loved the one where the welsh farmer/actor got into a massive row with the architect and basically told her he hated her work.

the best one was the kids-home-resident-made-good who was building something lavish/grotesque (to prove his worth in order to conquer his own insecurities) including planning to have a Ducati mounted on the living room wall, then had a heart attack and a complete change of attitude and priorities. Though it appears he went ahead with the ducati in the end.

apologies only link I can find about the story is the daily fail.

http://www.****/property/article-1254568/It-cost-1-8m-heart-bypasses-Grand-Design-paid-end.html

Kevin ponders whether the build is too ambitious / not risky enough / unsuitable for the local area.
Then says he likes it after all
** walks out of shot **

Kevs dry sarcasm's lost on most.

This. Once you realise he's taking the piss most of the time it becomes a lot better. I enjoy watching the aspiring upper classes make a hash of things and get it all horribly wrong and wondering why, when really it should be obvious.

It'll also be interesting to see how many of the mega modern, minimalist glass/concrete things manage to look homely and like houses rather than fancy offices or visitor centres.

It does amaze me that these rich blokes haven't yet learned the first, most important lesson of Grand Designs.

That letting your wife play at being project manager will end up costing you a damn site more than if she just carries on doing lunch with her mates in expensive restaurants, and going shopping for shoes and handbags in Selfridges every day.

Yeah but you do get some great ones, I don't bother watching the boring ones but there have been some gems such as the people in Italy who pretty much did it all themselves and the guy that lived in the woods. And the mud mansion man, oh and some of those castle renovation ones.

Yeah I watch it for the houses. Some of the contestants on it really wind me up.

Oh and I like Kev.

From Weds 3rd Sept 9.00 C4. Cant wait

Time to get a pair of new batteries for the night riding season.

Always prefer the self-build ones doing it on a shoestring

+1

Always prefer the self-build ones doing it on a shoestring

Its been an awful long time since they've had one of those. I'm pretty sure that, with weary predictability, everything will look exactly like this...

[img] [/img]

Another series of Grand Designs? Oh good.

The next housing crash will occur in two years, one month and 6 days.

Approximately.

It does seem to have turned into an advertising platform for aspiring architects.

Er, I don;t think there are many "aspiring" architects, more some pretty well known ones from large, well established practices.

TBH, many years ago it was great. Now it's just a caricature of itself, although Kev treads a fine line between humorous pisstaking and heading up his own (well lined) fundament.

Kevin's just a nice chap trying to make himself a living. The fact he uses rich ex bankers etc to do that is perhaps a wee bit old hat now, but if I win the lottery, I'm gonna watch all the old episodes for inspiration - oh aye! You can then watch me gloat on telly as well

very much this 😆

I enjoy it but I never understand 2 things

1. Where they suddenly find all the extra cash from when they go fantastically over budget
2. The number of what appear to be school boy mistakes the architects make. It's not a good advert for the architect profession.

1. Where they suddenly find all the extra cash from when they go fantastically over budget
2. The number of what appear to be school boy mistakes the architects make. It's not a good advert for the architect profession.

1.
[img] [/img]

2. I'd say it's a fairly accurate representation...

From Weds 3rd Sept 9.00 C4. Cant wait
Time to get a pair of new batteries for the night riding season.

Hmm good point I will be riding - better remember to set the recorder thingy 🙂

I have a love hate relationship with the show

My pet hates are the un written tag line

"Because I am considerably richer than you"

and

The owners pretense that ripping a whole in hill that's an hours drive from where they work, pouring in 80 lorry loads of concrete and then having all the external walls made of glass becomes "the sustainable home we always dreamed of" because they fitted a couple of LED lights

A handful of the homes, and characters, have been inspirational though -- real laid back folk, taking their time to get it right. Thinking of the female couple on Skye, that was a lovely build and a lovely couple..

You couldn't wish for bigger failures on some of the absolute tossers though, the Thames riverside house springs to mind; house was just too much but they made such a meal of it, and their neighbours, that that tipped me over into boundless dislike.

You couldn't wish for bigger failures on some of the absolute tossers though

basement disco, anybody?

It's a load of ostentatious crap masquerading as some kind of worthy self-improvement handbook.

"Look at me, look at me, I've got loads of dosh, but I don't want to appear too vulgar by buying a big car, so I'll convert some old derelict factory into a dream house instead".

As Withnail said, "you can stuff it up your arse for nothing and f-off while you're doing it".

And Kevin McCloud gets on my tits with his fake credulity as the poser in question finds out that it is quite expensive to coat an entire derelict factory in stained glass.

Blurgh.

My 2 favourites are the timber house overlooking the lake and the old water tank.

Loved the cob house, proper grafter doing some improvising that was. Also the on site machined one, even if they did need a proper modular designer on board (which I was at the time) loads of schoolboy errors here that they'd have spotted with a bit of experience but it does seem to be a brilliant system. Wonder if it's got anywhere?

I'm sure there are others but can't think of any, usually there's something that goes against it, either the crap design, idiot architects or "how on earth did a t**t like that get enough money to do this?" client/patron/project manager.

Always disappoints when they're on the market just after airing too. Just makes it look like a massive advertisement.

And Kevin McCloud gets on my tits with his fake credulity as the poser in question finds out that it is quite expensive to coat an entire derelict factory in stained glass.

Ooh no, that's the best bit... he is millimeters away from looking at the camera and rolling his eyes most of the time 🙂 Where's the Fast Show when you need it?

Ha ha I'd never made the pregnancy connection before 😀

maccruiskeen - Member

before they finally finish in spring just after dropping a sprog and everyone's happy

I've lost count of how many children Kevin has sired during the run of Grand Designs. I'm looking forward to the series featuring all of the offspring from Grand Designs and Sarah Beany's property ladder titled "Grand Designs the Next Generation: Self Build Village of the Damned"

"Have they bitten off more than they can chew?"

Speeder, that's Facit homes. They're doing well and are very busy by all accounts.

I think with the Architects, the more realistic story is the clients didn't want to pay for more than planning drawings which, surprisingly, weren't enough to build off.

Oh, this episode has everything bar the baby so far.

Time yet

I'm 5 mins in, knobbers.

Must be hard being well heeled.

Not being funny, but that bridge should of been factored in for the movement of materials

And the mud mansion man

I haven't seen many of these but I do remember this one. Although I didn't see the end! I remember that it kept raining and the mud/straw blocks wouldn't dry.

Did he ever finish the mud mansion?

Sometimes when watching these programmes I feel a flicker of sympathy amongst all the schadenfreude ....... Not this week.

Swelper - Member
Must be hard being well heeled.

I think the problem is, they aren't.

Kids are knobbers too.

And lolz at the storm.

60 years until the cliff erosion means the house falls into the sea. Oh hang on a minute. One nights storm this February brings 15 years worth of erosion.
Oh dear.

Who's going to clear up the mess when it falls into the sea? Especially if it happens in 50 years time when they're dead.

should have built it on wheels so they can keep pulling it back from the edge. Didn't NASA sell their orbiter transport thingy the other year?

Bloody idiots, the pair of them! No idea of erosion and it's variability, no idea about factoring access issues in which all the tender's probably did. Hopeless & council should never have granted planning permission.

Nice house built in a daft place.

I couldn't understand why the council wouldn't grant permission to put erosion defences in?

Hideous. 😐

Awesome house, shit location.

I couldn't understand why the council wouldn't grant permission to put erosion defences in?

They are probably trying to discourage people from being idiots and building in unsustainable places.

What a pair of nobbers! Building so close to a cliff, bloody big white/glass box and no blinds. Add in the piss poor planning re the bridge.

Have little liking for many of the people who star in Grand Designs but few have irritated me as much.

just watching on +1. How on earth are those balancing rocks going to cope with a stiff wind?

Glad I missed it,

Couple seemed alright to me, seen far more irritating people on GD. I liked the house and, whilst it seemed foolish to build so close to the edge, I hope it at least lasts their lifetimes

I actually quite liked the idea of having a home in such a location but I'd have built something far less substantial and more temporary given the risks

Utter madness. I feel for them, it's like they had no voice of dissent and talked each other into it. Flooding and erosion is my job and we're anticipating an increase in the frequency of events like last winter.

The council & NRW won't let them defend because it's pointless. They'd just end up with a promenantry unless they defended the whole stretch.

Leaving aside the long* term suitability of the location, the house was very pretty in a "we haven't the imagination not to rip off Mies van de Rohe" way.

Much as I love modernist architecture, I could never bring myself to build a pastiche (albeit a very nice example) of something from over half a century ago.

Oh, and I just watched the last 10 minutes. Solved the ****in-eejit-blood-pressure interface.

*short

I really want to see an episode where someone builds a smart but modest home in a forest and spends the majority of his/her money basically building a trail centre. That would be good TV.

Range Rover? Check. Small budget that suddenly is hundreds of thousands of pounds off? Check. They instantly get the funds from nowhere. Check. Vanity project that they didn't need to live in? Check. Everything white? Check.

Nice to see GD working to form.

Loved the fact that "we ran out of money" so he had to go back to work for TWO MONTHS to raise over £200k. How profitable was his business?

Basically a couple able to spaff what looked like £1m just to get on tv.

Here you go mudpackerdan (apologies for Ed Leigh content):

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/25683959

On Grand Designs, I though it was a pretty tame episode, they didn't particularly annoy me, and as much as I dislike white box archtechture, I thought the house was quite well done.

It may not be brilliant but it is a hell of a lot better than some ex (so called) celebrity dancing, diving off a diving board, sitting in a house all day etc.

Thanks for the heads up OP.

I want to know, did Kev look down his nose at the camera, then smirk?

Thats all I want to know.

Were their huge windows imported from Germany? At enormous expense? Which then didn't fit?

Funny how a petrochemical researcher and an events manager have no idea about the potential of climate change.

It would have been good to see the rock balancer actually balance some rocks too.

Unfortunately not. Money goes to money eh, just invest £50k and start making a profit instantly! Money they spaffed on windows would be enough to make me go part time...

Next weeks looks promising if it truly is a self build.

monkeyfudger - Member
Unfortunately not. Money goes to money eh

Gordon Gecko - notamember

A fool and his money were lucky to get together in the first place.

I found last nights episode pretty dull. These concrete and glass structures are hardly cutting edge architecture.

Anyway what I didn't understand was the door 'incident' at the end when they went downstairs. She had to tell him how to open it and then she didn't know how to close it. How can you not know how to work a door in your own house? It gave the impression they didn't live in it.

I couldn't understand why the council wouldn't grant permission to put erosion defences in?

because they manage the coast as a whole. You defend one spot and it just increases the erosion elsewhere. or just erodes around the side of it.

It would have been good to see the rock balancer actually balance some rocks too.

I was in Criccieth (where this week’s house is… for now) earlier this year and the rock balancer was doing his stuff on the beach. Not to that scale, but there were plenty of magically balanced 18” pebble towers knocking about. It was like Blair Witch meets Cockle Shell Bay.

This geezer has some very nice work clothes 😆
And it would appear little knowledge 😯

Why are they only building a 2 bed house? I'd have thought that a bedroom each for their kids would be more useful than a boot room and study?

Bet it creaks in a breeze