They’re billed as probably the most ‘shocking’ houses which have made the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)’ Home of the 12 months shortlist… and the primary episode of Grand Designs: Home of the 12 months didn’t disappointment with a outstanding set of houses.
Within the first programme of the sequence, airing tonight on Channel 4, Kevin and his co-presenters, architect Damion Burrows, and design skilled Michelle Ogundehin, visited 5 shocking houses battling it out for a spot on the shortlist, all of which push the boundaries in standard design.
Every week he’ll solely reveal which homes the RIBA judges have put via to the shortlist, and within the closing programme announce the winner of this prestigious prize.
The primary episode, which focuses on RIBA’s decide of the nation’s most imaginative houses, encompasses a Sixties-inspired water tower, a glossy seashore home and a farmhouse with a space-age extension.
They’re billed as probably the most ‘breathtaking’ houses which have made the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)’ Home of the 12 months shortlist… and the primary episode of Grand Designs: Home of the 12 months didn’t disappointment with a outstanding set of houses (pictured, the Home on the Hill)
Within the first programme of the sequence Kevin and his co-presenters, architect Damion Burrows, and design skilled Michelle Ogundehin, go to 5 shocking houses battling it out for a spot on the shortlist, all of which push the boundaries in standard design (pictured, Home-Inside-a-Home)
The primary episode, which focuses on RIBA’s decide of the nation’s most imaginative houses, encompasses a Sixties-inspired water tower, a glossy seashore home (pictured) and a farmhouse with a space-age extension
The primary long-listed home on the programme was the futuristic Sixties-inspired water tower, designed by architect Tonkin Liu (pictured)
Elsewhere, there is a 14th-century fortress with a radically up to date inside and a Twenty first-century addition to a Victorian London avenue.
Kevin defined: ‘These are buildings that make you sit up and take discover, that jolt you out of the humdrum of on daily basis life.
‘Some leap out at you want brash associates that you simply had misplaced contact with a few years in the past and others simply faucet you on the shoulder quietly however brewing with eccentricity.
‘Be they mansions, maisonette or seashore homes, these are all houses that refresh and invigorate.’
A Sixties-inspired water tower in rural Norfolk
The disused historic Water Tower in Norfolk was bought by its house owners for the equal worth of scrap steel
The primary long-listed home on the programme was the Sixties-inspired water tower, by Tonkin Liu.
The constructing was impressed by Sixties sci-fi and was dressed with industrial metal cladding, vertical glass partitions and a management tower lounge match for the Thunderbirds.
It was the eagerness undertaking of Dennis, a photographer, and Misa, a dressing up designer, who each lived within the tower.
They purchased the long-redundant water tower when it was a rusting hulk, and gave it new life.
Dennis mentioned: ‘I’ve by no means been afraid of taking one thing aside to restore it. My father was a TV engineer, he was at all times taking issues aside and placing issues again collectively. This was fairly a giant factor although.’
Misa added: ‘My dad and mom have been each artists and really, we used to go to the dump collectively as a amoily outing. We’d decide up issues to repurpose to show into sculptures.’
The constructing would not fall down due to the ingenious wood staircase which acts as an anchor for the home
Standing tall inside a setting of fields of Barley, all the construction of the Water Tower has been ingeniously engineered to account for the absent weight of water and the extra distribution of latest lodging hundreds
On high was a large roof terrace, whereas under, on what was the outdated water tank, was the open plan kitchen and diner.
Under that, have been two double en-suite bedrooms, whereas there was additionally a set of stairs main upwards to the residing house.
Michelle in contrast the constructing to ‘a Bond-lair’, with Dennis confessing: ‘It is a very very uncovered spot. When the wind is up that sturdy, the rain is normally coming with it and it is horizontal. You might be splashed about and blown about in each course. You are actually in there.
‘It’s thrilling. Thunder, lightning, storms. It does wobble about within the wind.’
The constructing would not fall down due to the ingenious wood staircase which acts as an anchor for the home.
It was produced from 182 blocks produced from superstrong timber, layers of wooden glued alternatively at proper angles. They kind a large corkscrew that helps to pin the tower to the bottom.
Dennis mentioned: ‘Every was numbered individually and labelled.’
The roof was praised by the judges, as have been the floor-to-ceiling home windows within the bedrooms, and the residing space in the principle tank itself.
The principle house featured a concrete polished ground, a wood kitchen and a Twenty first century wrap-around window.
Michelle mentioned: ‘There are bits of construction on show in every single place however you’ve got by some means made it really feel so stunning…it suits fantastically.’
At evening lights inside the water tower reveal a vivid and comfy inside, with loads of house to stay
Dennis and his son acted as the principle contractors and did the demolition work themselves on the property.
Dennis mentioned: ‘I used to be bodily right here quite a bit, we transformed a transport container and I stayed there on the weekends. At some point I got here out and I regarded up and thought, “I’ve actually taken on an excessive amount of. That is an excessive amount of”.’
For his or her architect Mike Tonkin, he mentioned: ‘If you start, you need to perceive who the persons are, what their need are. Dennis undoubtedly had a style for thunderbirds, that was necessary to him.’
However it was additionally necessary to Mike that no matter they did can be embraced by the native folks close by.
He mentioned: ‘Plenty of them had climbed it as a child. No matter we did needed to be fascinating. Dennis had an open day and like 1,000 folks turned up. All of them needed to see inside.’
Michelle mentioned: ‘Once they took on this construct, it was fairly a bet….reinventing a neighborhood landmark, not understanding how a lot it will value…however typically, you must take a danger to see somethings true potential.’
A Twenty first-century addition to a Victorian London avenue
Home-Inside-a-Home stands out amid Victorian homes on a avenue that suffered bomb harm throughout World Struggle II. It was a nondescript constructing constructed within the Sixties, however has been remodeled by constructing a ‘pores and skin’ across the present construction
Additionally on the line-up is a ‘residence inside a house’ in south London – the place the architect designed a ‘pores and skin’ to be constructed round an present two-storey Sixties residence constructed in an area left behind by World Struggle Two bomb harm.
In glistening reward of the construct, the jury wrote: ‘One can really feel the stress of on a regular basis life begin to recede the second one enters the entrance backyard of this charming three-storey, six-bed, indifferent household residence in a conservation space.’
The ‘pores and skin’ brings the constructing as much as up to date requirements by including a component of insulation, ‘wrapping the retained exterior partitions in a thick heat coat’, based on the jury.
The jury added: ‘The composition of the elevations, having retained numerous the unique opening, may be very pleasing, poetic and fluid. Mixed with the pale gray color of the brick cladding, the general impact is respectful of its context and properly restrained, speaking in a gorgeous whisper.’
It is residence to Michelle and Dan, who needed a house for them and their youngsters from earlier relationships.
Michelle mentioned: ‘We met in 2011, I had one boy and Dan had three boys, after which we had a boy collectively so we ended up with 5 boys. We moved right into a rental property after which we began planning for our personal house.’
Dan mentioned: ‘We needed plenty of house which was communal the place we may get collectively and hang around.’
The bottom ground had a play room, a examine and a lounge and kithen diner, whereas the primary ground had three bedrooms and the highest ground featured an additional main bedroom and two youngsters’s rooms.
Kevin mentioned: ‘It is a fabulously proud Twenty first century conversion of subsequent door.’
At Home inside a Home the within options trendy decor, with a big kitchen island dominating the centre of the kitchen and a ground to ceiling window letting in mild
The outer layer of the home acts as a shell to maintain the house hotter and higher insulate the unique Sixties constructing
Dan mentioned: ‘We’ve got lots of people cease by and take a look, and it does take folks again somewhat bit as a result of it’s completely different from the entire surrounding areas. We’ve got optimistic ideas and we have now individuals who do not prefer it a lot.
‘Initially there was a type of which was bombed, so that they needed to construct one thing a bit later, after the conflict.’
Michelle mentioned: ‘We stored [the old thing], it is inside. It was an important factor [to use the 1950s house].’
They stored the outdated ground slab and outdated floor ground partitions, saving 12,000 bricks from landfill. then they employed a timber body to construct an additional ground.
From the surface the gray brick gives a contemporary really feel, with up to date home windows separating Home inside a Home from its older neighbours
Inside, the judges admired the uncovered timber rafter which mixed magnificence with indestructible practicality.
Kevin known as the home inside a home ‘relaxed’ and ‘unfussy’, praising the sundrenched stair means and vaulted ceilings.
The constructing took two years to finish, with Michelle undertaking managing and so they have been each as arms on as they could possibly be.
She mentioned: ‘We would at all times imagined we would have a concrete ground downstairs and we tried with our contractors, however we needed to abandon that one. It was a horror present.’
A glossy seashore home beside a busy south coast boatyard
Harbour Home in Hayling Island, constructed by John Pardey Architects, was described by Kevin as ‘good-looking, angular and well-chiseled’ (pictured)
It was a constructing that took beachside residing to a different degree. As an the wrong way up home, the bottom ground was given over to 3 bedrooms, a moist room and a household room, whereas the principle residing house was on the primary ground
Harbour Home in Hayling Island, constructed by John Pardey Architects, was described by Kevin as ‘good-looking, angular and well-chiseled’.
It was a constructing that took beachside residing to a different degree. As an the wrong way up home, the bottom ground was given over to 3 bedrooms, a moist room and a household room.
In the meantime upstairs, there was a main bedroom with a kitchen, residing and eating room space.
It was residence to Simon and Lisa, who labored in public relations and the furnishings commerce, who lived there with their three youngsters.
Simon mentioned: ‘Lisa and I met by the ocean, we received married on a ship on the ocean, we raced collectively at sea. So the very last thing left to do was stay by the ocean.’
Lisa added: ‘I used to be significantly eager on inside-outside residing, climate allowing. Once we get 100mph winds coming from the South West, it is fairly outstanding the home really stands up and withstands the weather.’
Homeowners Simon and Lisa mentioned they have been ‘significantly eager’ on indoor-outdoor residing and needed to include pure supplies into their construct
In the meantime architect John mentioned the ‘scruffy high quality’ of the native environment have been what ‘actually impressed’ him with the beautiful constructing (pictured)
Harbour Home not solely has the seashore, it has a pool set into the backyard.
Edward Rice, undertaking supervisor, mentioned: ‘Every little bit of glass weighs within the area of three-quarters of a ton so we needed to crane it in from the yard subsequent door.’
In the meantime architect John added: ‘The scruffy high quality of this space actually impressed me. It is horrible being considered an architect who simply does posh homes.
‘I get actually excited by individuals who haven’t got a excessive price range, those in areas that are not excessive finish.
‘It makes you simply work a bit more durable, I do not need it to be too showy, simply unpretentious in its means. I needed the home right here simply to slot in.’
A Georgian farmhouse with an angular, space-age extension
The Home on the Hill, within the Welsh borders, was half conventional Georgian farmhouse and half space-age monolith with jagged partitions and minimalist surfaces
In quest of shocking combos, Michelle travelled to the distant Welsh borders to seek out the Home on the Hill.
It was half conventional Georgian farmhouse and half space-age monolith with jagged partitions and minimalist surfaces.
In the meantime, inside it was a temple for mild. The outdated home now encompasses a triple home artwork gallery, a bed room and a examine.
In the meantime the extension home comprises the principle residing space, and kitchen and eating house. There are additionally two en-suite bedrooms and an workplace which opens onto a balcony.
The design mastermind behind the constructing was the architect Alison Brooks.
Architect Alison Brook mentioned she initially had points getting the planning for the extension via, saying: ‘It was the primary time I had a planning utility refused’ (pictured)
She mentioned: ‘I at all times suppose that whenever you’re working with historic buildings, it is far more efficient to do one thing that contrasts it. The farmhouse is critical and imposing and the west wing is far more casual.’
She mentioned she initially had points getting the planning for the extension via, saying: ‘It was the primary time I had a planning utility refused.’
However the uncommon mixture does work,. with the brand new West Wing providing a quieter and extra subservient house, as if it have been an angular servant of the farmhouse.
Inside, there was no sense of separation between the brand new and the outdated, with residing, eating and cooking areas joined collectively.
The judges praised the skewed geometry which leads the attention. The undertaking took 10 yeas to finish and was completed in phases, with the grand finale being the pool space which is inside a walled backyard.
Michelle defined that whereas structure like this doesn’t come low cost, Home on the Hill exudes excellence. It is designed with an obsession with geometry and constructed with dedication to craftsmanship.
Michelle mentioned: ‘There’s plenty of issues that should not actually work right here, however they do. That is fully as a result of precision and element of the structure.’
A 14th-century fortress in Cumbria with a radically up to date inside
Pele Tower Home, construct by Woollacott Gilmartin, was a formidable Grade II listed fortress, carrying an impenetrable armor of rugged stone (pictured)
From the surface, Pele Tower Home, construct by Woollacott Gilmartin, was a formidable Grade II listed fortress, carrying an impenetrable armor of rugged stone.
However mendacity in wait behind the 5 foot thick partitions was a welcoming, up to date household residence, stuffed with glass, mild and Twenty first century options.
It was designed by Katie Woolacott and Patrick Gilmartin, who have been drawn to the romance of working with a 14th century tower.
Patrick mentioned: ‘For me, one thing a couple of tower, it brings out the kid in you, you need to climb it. You need to discover it, you need to uncover issues and be stunned by it.’
In the meantime Katie added: ‘All that eccentricity and character was one thing actually necessary to us.’
Totally different chunks of the home have been construct at completely different occasions – the central part was initially constructed within the fifteenth century, whereas the oldest half was the tower itself, which now homes a library, bed room and a rest room.
The judges recommended Patrick and Katie for sensitively modernising the tower whereas holding on to the historical past, with the pair constructing a lightweight effectively to flood the house with brightness
Patrick mentioned: ‘That was actually the problem, how one can make it a household residence that was intimate and never gloomy.’
The judges recommended Patrick and Katie for sensitively modernising the tower whereas holding on to the historical past.
Their grasp stroke was creating house between the outdated partitions and the brand new roof of the constructing, completely ‘slotting’ the brand new into the outdated house.
Katie mentioned: ‘We actually needed you to really feel you have been contained in the break. When you’d gone to the perimeters, you would not have felt that means.’
From outdoors, you’d by no means guess such decadence lay behind the arrow slit home windows. In the meantime they’ve additionally left an area between the partitions, in order that one aspect of the tower turned a lightweight effectively.
Patrick mentioned: ‘Most of the issues we encountered inside the tower have been uncommon issues you encounter inside an city setting. The sunshine effectively served effectively for that goal.’
The primary episode of Grand Designs: Home of the 12 months airs tonight on Channel 4 at 9pm