Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Grand designs

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Grand designs

    So, it's been a rum old lot in this series so far, characterised by more and more "eco homes".

    Last night's was surely the worst so far - a bizarrely designed house with really narrow corridors, small rooms and the interior designed to look like the inside of a football ground (i.e. bare breeze blocks). To top it all it was powered by a wind turbine. Which didn't work.

    Another (anti) favourite of mine was the one built primarily underground in the Cotsworld with bare breeze block walls again and industrial ceilings. That one had some interesting features (passiv haus) but smacked of a couple of architects chucking every latest fad into the building with no client to moderate them a bit. I also found it a bit strange how they seemed to want to hide their kid away (a separate 'media room' to hide away that ugly TV, bedroom in the corner with a nice view of some retaining wall and a crap waterfall).

    #2
    Grand designs

    I reckon there'll be a lot more 'eco-homes' in this programme because feed-in tariffs mean they can earn a fair bit out of solar (if they're grid connected and it's put in by an MCS accredited installer).

    (that's if feed-in tariffs aren't scrapped)

    That Skyrota wind turbine was a ridiculous idea though. I know he went for solar hot water, but he should have used the space for solar PV.

    Comment


      #3
      Grand designs

      Kevin's quite keen on the sustainability thing, of late the programmes have moved away from the insane playthings of multi-millionaires installing dodo-skin rugs in houses made of mahogany and platinum towards the more green way of building.

      I haven't seen the latest one, but I caught up with the last two yesterday, the woman whose husband died but still carried on was a real tear-jerker, but the one with the ex-BP guy was hysterical. You could tell he was a former senior manager used to getting his own way as he did everything. The wife's roll of the eyes and pained expression at the start as he talked about prevous projects and the fact she had absolutely nothing to do with the project apart from putting her foot down over the garden made for great TV.

      Comment


        #4
        Grand designs

        I think I fell a little bit in love with Kathryn on last night's programme.

        Comment


          #5
          Grand designs

          Hah - you're not alone there HO - The Horse made a similar comment on Twitter.

          Comment


            #6
            Grand designs

            Looks like an interesting program.

            It's too bad "eco homes" have this reputation of being weird and impractical, when in fact a well-designed green home is actually more comfortable and livable than a regular home. Features like passive solar (designed with large fenestration facing south in order to get a lot of winter rays) and good ventilation really add to the comfort level.

            Comment


              #7
              Grand designs

              Why is The Horse everywhere apart from here? I can't understand that at all.

              Comment


                #8
                Grand designs

                I missed last nights unfortunately; hopefully it will be on 4OD.

                Definately nothing wrong with eco homes, it's just a fair few of them chuck every latest fad at the home without working out what would work and make sense financially (in a reasonable time frame).

                I worked on a project recently where the payback on solar was 150 years. Wind turbines often don't work either, unless they're at a reasonable height (35 m plus). Micro turbines are notoriously rubbish.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Grand designs

                  I think I fell a little bit in love with Kathryn on last night's programme.
                  Kevin appeared smitten as well. She did seem lovely.

                  I prefer Team Time as a source of unexpected sexual tension though.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Grand designs

                    noj wrote:
                    I worked on a project recently where the payback on solar was 150 years. Wind turbines often don't work either, unless they're at a reasonable height (35 m plus). Micro turbines are notoriously rubbish.
                    Indeed. In fact there was a fairly recent study on home wind turbines conducted by my current employer.

                    Wind turbines don't necessarily have to be high up though (although you obviously will get the higher speeds at altitude) - the most important factor is turbulence, so they need to be much higher than any trees and buildings around them.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Grand designs

                      Photovoltaic solar is still not economically practical (in purely financial terms), but solar water heaters are. Mostly though, what you need in a green home is a southern exposure with lots of windows, good insulation throughout and good air circulation systems. Those things don't add much to the construction costs and end up saving a good chunk of the heating (and cooling) costs.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Grand designs

                        Last weeks was my favourite so far. A really fantastic, beautiful house with a real story behind it. The couple building it seemed really down to earth likeable people too.

                        I loved the internal drystone wall and the rose/pink strips on the outside too. And that view was just immense.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Grand designs

                          Oh god, I thought he was a massive massive tool.
                          Not that you ever want anyone to fail, but his insistence on, when being short of cash still building the visitors wing first was ludicrous.

                          My favourites this year have been Kathryn the designer's house and the chap who was prototyping a house to try to rescue his business. He seemed like a brilliant bloke, the sort of person you really would want to work for.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Grand designs

                            This and this are my favourites ever, though.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Grand designs

                              Oh god, I thought he was a massive massive tool.
                              Not that you ever want anyone to fail, but his insistence on, when being short of cash still building the visitors wing first was ludicrous.
                              Heh. Bit of a difference of opinion there then. Some of his decisions were a little odd but I thought the final building was fantastic. I think I'd also got fed up of people with massive budgets who then seemingly have no problems going another hundred grand over budget.

                              The Chesterfield one was good. I also liked the one in the old castle (in Yorkshire?) where they had loads of messing about with English Heritage (since it was a protected ancient monument).

                              Last weeks was a bit rubbish. They're going to have so much damp come through those tyre walls.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Grand designs

                                I haven't watched it for a few years, but I used to really hate it. I used to call it "the middle class show-offs program". It always seemed to be about "how I converted a medieval barn into a modern stainless steel masterpiece whilst simulatenously holding down a top job in the City and raising six children.. with the help of a 400k loan from daddy of course..."

                                It might be more bearable now that it has gone all eco...

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Grand designs

                                  I just love really cool houses. Maybe because I don't own one and have no intention of doing so, so it's like admiring art or something.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Grand designs

                                    Yes, same here.

                                    It's also because so many homes in the UK are utterly, utterly horrible.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Grand designs

                                      And apparently the smallest in Europe too.

                                      Comment

                                      Working...
                                      X