Published June 5, 2023, 12:20 p.m. by Naomi Charles
Donate me to watch more videos: https://www.paypal.me/nhatceo
You may also like to read about:
it's just a bit embarrassing when you
tell people where you live the front of
the house is depressing for me
i do feel a sense of dreadful shame
across the country
there are people stuck with an
embarrassing problem there's no curb
appeal there's nothing nice on the
outside of the house
it is a bit of a i thought that's a nice
reading
i feel for the neighbors really and
these aren't
just the unlucky few thousands of us
feel burdened with houses that are dated
and dreary but a fresh eye can
transform even the ugliest house into a
dream home
the role of an architect is to bring a
client's thoughts and hopes and dreams
to life and then give them so much more
i'm given the owners of some of
britain's
ugliest houses the services of some of
our most talented architects
keeping clients happy can be extremely
difficult it's a game of trust
they're more used to working on grand
schemes with budgets to match
seoul with money tight the budget has
been
blown out of the water really and
ambitions high
delivering a vision that everyone can be
happy with
won't be easy i know you've got a
breakfast here to make an omelette
but we weren't expecting to break that
many eggs to make this
chances are something has got to
backfire
i just don't want to end up with
something that looks
rubbish but if they get it right they'll
prove that great architecture
doesn't have to cost the earth when you
drive up onto the drive knife i sit in
the car thinking
oh my god that's my new home
how much do you love it i think i love
it well i love him
[Music]
you might think that housing estates
were a relatively recent invention
but here in nottingham a 150 acre deer
park
was turned into a huge development in
the 1850s
giant red brick mansions and manicured
public spaces
made this a very desirable place to live
now as an architect when you're
presented with so much consistent design
you can go one of two ways
you can design something very
contemporary and markedly different
or you can take your cue from the
surrounding buildings and try to blend
in
so the question has to be what on earth
were the planners thinking
when they approved this it's just ugly
not in keeping with the surroundings
carved out of the back garden of one of
the neighboring properties in the 1980s
and dominated by its two garages it has
all the charm of an industrial estate
lock-up
a friend actually came down the road and
said andy can't live in a house like
she didn't think it was my house because
she didn't think i'd live it
the outside it's just a horrible nasty
red brick
two horrible flat windows double garage
nasty wood effect front door in spite of
its problems
midwifery sister mandy bought the house
for 397
000 pounds six months ago haven't always
wanted to live in the park
i love going for a run and seeing all
the beautiful architecture
and i just feel sorry for people who
opposite me
they're looking at my ugly horrible
house and i've i've got the best views
the park is is such a beautiful area i
do think this particular house
maybe does let the side down and isn't
entirely in keeping with
the other properties it's truly hideous
a stick of dynamite would
improve it immeasurably in my opinion
squashed into the hillside
mandy's house also has a topsy-turvy
layout
with bedrooms on the ground floor and
living accommodation
above it generally feels quite a dark
house even though it should be
really light and sunny i don't
necessarily need
more space i think it's just a better
design
[Music]
what a door
mandy hi george nice to see you how are
you coming out
let's have a bigger look at your house
it's slightly embarrassing
are you embarrassed by it yeah
absolutely absolutely so why did you buy
it
because it had three cool sized bedrooms
and a big ensuite
and the living room was quite spacious
and it had potential well it's got a lot
of potential there's no doubt about that
i can't believe that someone actually
specified that brick
it's awful i like that red brick that
red brick is gorgeous
it's fascinating as well how you can
have this lovely piece of victoriana
yeah with beautiful brickwork and lovely
detailing
and then at a later date they've got
let's just spill something really ugly
next to it
and then i've just noticed your
staggeringly awful
conservatory and it's not like it's a
kind of side extension
or a rear extension it's a full blown
front of house conservatory it is the
outside is
very bad is the inside worse no the
inside is better is it good surprisingly
come on
on the ground floor of a narrow hallway
are the bedrooms for two of mandy's
three children
and at the back is her master bedroom
with its own very large
ensuite so this is it
this is it home sweetheart oh my god
it's dark it's
very dark it's really dark it's known up
to a light
and because it's built into the slope
you've got a solid
back wall there yeah it starts to feel
like a bit of a dungeon
down here can we go up your very narrow
steep
dangerous staircase thank you about my
head as well
the stairs lead up and out onto the
living room behind which is a porky
kitchen
and semi-open plan dining room with the
only doors directly onto the garden
the tacked onto the front is the ugly
and very out of place conservatory
it's awful it's honestly it's one of the
worst concerns i've ever seen in my
whole life
thanks the materials are completely
wrong this roof is just
it's greenhouse stuff it is
well i'm not surprised it's got
underfloor heating has it
does it work i don't really know how to
turn it on
the property does have one saving grace
a large amount of outside space
the stepped grassy garden at the back of
the house at the side
a small patio with steps down to a
ground level mini courtyard
and above a bridge which leads onto the
flat roofs of mandy's garages
the problem is it all feels disconnected
from the house
rendering a tantamount to useless
oh my word you can't access it from
the kitchen the kitchen's in there
somewhere you come out onto a brick wall
i can't imagine this ever really gets
used
no another terrace yeah with dining
and then this must be the flat roofs of
your garages
yeah thank you you know you really want
to be able to link
those internal spaces to this fantastic
outside space yeah yeah absolutely
what's your budget
about 8 000. is that the absolute limit
there is a bit
full continuity it's always gonna have a
bit of contingency
yeah you could sound like conservative
for about eight quid just to top your
budget up if you need to
okay well budget it's eight eight two
thousand and eight pounds
i'll be honest this is a really
difficult plot to build on and the
existing house makes no use
whatsoever of those fantastic terrorist
opportunities to the side and being able
to link
the inside of the house to the outside
some people might actually consider
demolishing the house completely but i
don't think you have to
it's got a lot of potential you just
need a fantastic
creative architect because good ones are
worth their weight in goals
[Music]
sheffield based architects howard evans
and prue childs
have a talent for unlocking the problems
of unfashionable and disused buildings
to create stylish comfortable homes this
project more than any other sort of
exemplifies what we enjoy doing as a
practice
and that's working with natural
materials that respected the history of
the building but made
a contemporary living space their
15-year collaboration
is built on a few shared architectural
principles
good design can change the way that you
live entirely the thing is
not to raise people's expectations too
far but on the other hand to let them
dream
[Music]
the transforming mandy's house into her
dream home on her budget
is going to be a very tall order
it just doesn't even look like a
domestic building it is one of the
ugliest properties we've ever seen i
think
yeah and we've seen a few so the big
idea is to surgically remove
the front facade and rebuild it
in a much more sympathetic brick what is
really special
is the kind of levels cascading down
to the street front and the views that
mandy could get and the relationship
with the inside the outside is
just not exploited at all and clearly
that's another big
big drive for the project
after a few weeks hard work howard and
prue are ready to reveal their scheme
i'm really looking forward to seeing
their designs i'm expecting them to be
quite ambitious
if i've got any concern at the moment i
think it'd be how much can be done for
the budget
what do you think of the existing house
come on be brutally honest
i think there's room for improvement
that is so
diplomatic it's unbelievable we really
thought it was an amazing challenge
because you've got to completely rethink
it
howard and prue's first big idea is to
totally transform the front elevation
by stripping back the outer layer of
cheap red brick and replacing it with a
brand new brick facade
more in keeping with the area the
windows will also be replaced
and upstairs that leaky conservatory
will go
[Music]
the next bigger and even bolder idea is
to relocate the existing entrance and
staircase
to the side of the house taking the
place of what's currently mandy's first
garage
and oversized ensuite bathroom
an open courtyard will lead from the new
front door and a double height glazed
atrium
will house the new staircase outside
mandy's disjointed space will be
re-landscaped to include a series of
hanging gardens
[Music]
you walk in and instantly see through
your house to the garden beyond
moving an entrance to a building and
moving the staircase to the building
is always going to be radical it affects
every room on the ground floor it
affects every room on the first floor
downstairs off the new entrance are two
doors one leading to a new hallway
and a now slightly smaller family
bathroom and two bedrooms
while a second door leads to mandy's
master bedroom
with the existing stairwell becoming her
new ensuite
on the first floor the new staircase
opens out onto a smaller living room
which makes space for a utility room and
club room
behind which will be a new rearranged
kitchen diner
mandy what do you think it's absolutely
brilliant i didn't think anything was
going to be done with the downstairs i
thought the downstairs was
what it was and so i'm quite shocked at
that that
ball one every room in the house is
being changed
and what do you think about the
brickwork being changed at the front
that's brilliant if they can do that
within budget yeah
absolutely just how achievable is all of
it
i think it will be tight yeah but if we
really can't afford it
do we keep the kitchen and dining room
exactly as they are
for me the thing that's really special
is that every room has a relationship
with the garden prune howard have come
up with a
very radical scheme just by moving the
staircase
changes virtually every single part of
the house
but the budget has to stretch a very
long way to make that happen they are
going to have to be
super creative
nottingham's beautiful park estate is a
conservation area
packed with lots of high-end domestic
architecture of the victorian age
and a terrible 1980s exception
want a nice house to come home to
i think whatever we do will look better
midwifery sister mandy is desperate to
start work on her house
that currently looks more like a row of
lock-up garages
but with planning permission already
approved there's a problem
her architect's initial design has come
in higher than her 80 000 budget
i was quite disappointed and it's almost
like i'm being promised something that i
can't have
to go back from that would be quite hard
howard and prue are determined to rework
their dream scheme with mandy
to make elements of it more affordable
[Music]
for me it's always about finding where
the compromises lie
you know we've drawn the kind of dream
and now it's
where does that financial elastic
stretch to
what can be achieved and what has to go
how much of the budget
is taking what are we doing in front i
think 7k
that's not an enormous knockout i
thought it would be much more than that
so there's one way to cut a large chunk
of the budget which would nearly get it
down
into budget and that is not moving the
stairs
that is quite a large amount of work
howard improves new scheme will leave
the existing hall and staircase
exactly where they are but they'll make
the space more welcoming
with a large recessed front door and a
dramatic glazed roof
the rest of the downstairs will stay as
it is
outside instead of the elaborate hanging
gardens the space will be landscaped
more simply
if that is mandy decides to go ahead
with it
i just don't want to end up with
something that's half
finished or half done or half-heartedly
done
so it looks rubbish you know
so i'm not quite sure what we're going
to do about that
it's back to the drawing board for
howard and prue as this new
scheme will have to be redesigned
recasted and then resubmitted to
planning
but the big question remains how on
earth did mandy's house ever get through
planning back in the 1980s
nestling under the shadow of nottingham
castle the park
is one of the city's more select
residential areas
it was once the duke of newcastle's back
garden but now there are over a thousand
properties on the site
was owned by oxford university until
march this year
when the residents set up their own
private company to manage the estate
despite being a pioneer and example of
victorian urban
design when it was first developed by
the mid-20th century
the estate had fallen in the decline
with many of the plots subdivided and
infilled
with little regard for the historic
architecture
it wasn't until residents like mike
siebert took ownership in the late 80s
that the estate began to be restored to
its former glory
it's not about trying to preserve a
victorian estate as much as
just make sure that whatever is built is
an appropriate intervention
as we say in the 90s a conservation
trust was set up to preserve and enhance
the architecture
but these planning protocols came in way
too late to save the estate
from mandy's monstrosity
[Music]
it's at the shocking end of the spectrum
i guess isn't it it can't get worse
so any change is going to be an
improvement
eight weeks later the brand new scheme
has been recosted
and green lit by mandy and planning so
work is finally underway
very exciting day today the conservatory
is coming down i've been waiting for
this day for a long time
trying to recoup every penny mandy's
even managed to vlog it online
i can't wait to find out what she's got
for it
that's the bit i was waiting for the
light in here now is incredible
absolutely incredible also coming down
is the ugly 80s red brickwork which will
make way for the first of howard and
proves big transformative ideas
so we're going to literally demolish the
whole of the front facade
and rebuild it when it comes to cladding
brick is making a massive comeback as an
architectural material of choice
giving timber and render a run for their
money
from color to texture to pattern as well
as different mortar bomb techniques
it's all about the details and a good
architect
can achieve strikingly different looks
back in the 19th century the park estate
was developed largely for nottingham's
wealthy lace factory owners
the intricate and ornate brick detailing
was a sign of status
with leading architects of the time
having their own signature patterns
[Music]
the big idea is to reference the
wonderful heritage of brickwork in the
surrounding area
beautiful perforations lovely projecting
details
all of these things are going to inform
our choice of brick
the ugly outer layer of cheap 80s red
brick will be stripped back leaving the
structural wall behind it
a new facade will be built using
handmade bricks
and different laying and mortar
techniques will create pattern texture
and depth 21st century style
it will be finished with a parapet
echoing next doors
complete with the diamond design
realized not with coloured bricks
but with projections recesses and
perforations
detailed brickwork like this is a highly
skilled job
so mandy has gone for a construction
firm tried and tested by howard and prue
but even project manager terry huggett
has his concerns
one of the biggest problems we have with
this period properties that were very
poorly constructed
1980s were an absolute nightmare for
construction
we've got a duty of care to put that
right and just looking at the house
already we're going to find
a few nasty surprises which is always a
challenge
one less challenge terry will have to
contend with as a client living on site
as mandy has decided to decamp to a
friend's house in leicester
for the duration of the project
[Music]
i think it's just easier for them if
you're not here
without mandy around the builders can
start making headway
[Music]
a whole lot of demolition later
i'm back to check on progress
[Music]
now it's great that work has started
part of that
is stripping everything back and when
they've removed
the old brick wall at the front behind
it
is the cavity and the block work
i can honestly say it's one of the worst
built walls i have ever seen in my life
you've got lentils which are wrongly
sized for the size of the windows
you've got you know a little bit of
brickwork on edges oh let's just fill
that in and let's just botch that in
terrible mortar joints badly bonded
now if this is the material that's been
used to
structurally support a lintel over a
window opening
that is frightening heaven knows what
they're going to find in the rest of the
house
seriously if the budget allowed
you'd knock this down
[Music]
sadly for mandy that's not an option
good morning how are you what a
beautiful day nice to see you
it's all happening mind it's really good
it's all started
so the conservatory has gone at last
it has how much did you get for it eight
quid a bit more than eight
it did not i did how much i got 200.
you got 200 quid for it i'm absolutely
shocked
well this is going to be incredible when
it's all finished and you can step out
on a beautiful roof terrace
but the nicest bit of all i think will
be the strip of glass that you're going
to have
running through the terrace which will
be the skylight to your very dark
entrance hallway
it'll flood it with light especially on
a day like today so
very different scheme the compromise
scheme
how do you feel about the process that
you've had to go through to get to that
stage
i sort of thought they're doing a lot
but i don't really know how much things
cost
so i trusted that it would be done
within the budget so when the two manta
said actually it was more than double
yeah i was very disappointed if you'd
been presented the scheme that you've
got now
you would have been really happy i would
have been and you would have saved
six months yeah where is that in terms
of the budget you've got your 80 grand
is it
still yeah it's still over about 20
20 30 20 20 to 30 grand how do you feel
about that
and it's really hard but i think if you
compromise
too much then the scheme is not
worth it i think you're right
even at that higher price mandy is still
getting a lot of transformation for her
money
she was hitting the wall down between
your kitchen and dining room
yes but to save more money i'm throwing
in some free labor
to make sure everything's going to plan
prue is on site too
[Music]
so there you go open plan living very
open plan living is that all right
don't say no because i can't put it back
yeah i did quite lightly
great progress but when it comes to
costs
this project didn't get off to the best
start
so the classic criticism is why didn't
the architects design a project that was
an 80 grand scheme that's absolutely
what we've been
expecting you to ask us and i think
we thought it would be too much but we
thought we could then cut back a bit
from there which is what you always want
to do
absolutely the best for the client it's
such a huge
job anyway whatever we did if we were
being responsible was going to be
more than really mandy could afford and
that's been
the most difficult thing really it will
be a lovely house but it's been
quite a lot of work to get it to this
point
[Music]
now the build is on track i'm dying to
see what bricks pro and howard have come
up with for the new facade
and we have used this company's bricks
before they are beautiful
kind of handmade looks and really
crafted brick and we thought that's
number one we wanted it to tie in with
next door but not be exactly the same
pick up on some of the tones but be
slightly different this is the one
that we have gone for yeah
it's a bit of everything it has got
everything it's got some of the pink and
then some of the yellow and the
a little bit of the white in there yeah
and still looks like an aged brick but
it's different isn't it it's not the
same
it's just got enough variation in it but
they don't come
cheap add a quid a brick mandy's facade
is going to cost eight grand in labor
and materials
and that's with a generous discount from
the manufacturer
now although this is half the scheme of
what it was meant to be it's still going
to be fantastic
when it's finished but my biggest worry
if i'm honest is the common phrase on
site is
we have to fix that and we have to
repair that because the existing
building
is in such bad condition all that means
is
it could take longer and cost more money
award-winning architects howard and prue
have taken on the tricky job of
transforming mandy's 1980s eyesore
in nottingham's beautiful parker stays
[Music]
but for a busy midwife juggling 12-hour
shifts at nottingham hospital
and a 50-minute commute to her friend's
house in leicester
mandy's hardly got a moment to visit
sight
i feel quite displaced at the minute and
what i'm moving back into
isn't the house i bought you don't know
what it's going to look like
so it's it's the most bizarre feeling
that actually
this is my house but it's not
the original property was anything but
welcoming particularly the entrance with
its brown plastic front door
and a dark dingy claustrophobic horn but
howard and prue have big plans to change
it
one of the crucial ideas was this
special sense of arrival
what we're looking at is retaining the
original door opening but pushing the
door back so you get that depth of
reveal
you arrive through the door and you get
this amazing sense of
space and light as you look up through
this
glass ceiling and you see sky and you
see the house beyond
first impressions are powerful and the
entrance hall of your home speaks
volumes
done right it should set the tone of
what's to come with materials
focal points light and views whether
warm and welcoming
elegant or boldly dramatic a good design
should always
draw you in
[Music]
howard and peru's plan will open up the
existing doorway
and put in a new oversized recessed
front door
to make the corridor feel much wider and
a fully glazed raised roof light
will flood the space with daylight
but back on site as the builders pull up
the flat roof in preparation for the
glazing
they uncover a few nasty surprises
well that's what we're picking up that's
supposed to be nice wood
it's very rotten as more boards come up
it's clear why the cavity is completely
waterlogged
it stinks that right man yeah
i'm looking it's been leaking somewhere
but somewhere i don't know
it will all have to be ripped out and
made good before any glazing can go
ahead
meanwhile downstairs the new facade is
going on
but laying the bricks in the complicated
pattern and rigging back the mortar
joints
is all about precision not speed for
project manager terry
the type of brickwork that we're doing
is not just a brick layer that would
necessarily lay this type of brick it's
more of a craftsman
so the detailing around it is really
difficult
it's very tricky it's all about the
details on this job in general
[Music]
a few days later with two crucial parts
of the build underway
howard is on site too
oh my word amanda is also back for the
first time
in weeks
hello welcome to your house it's
stunning isn't it absolutely stunning
liking it yeah i'm excited yeah yeah
good really excited
let's go and see inside thank you
the original scheme would have involved
moving the entrance
so what will mandy make of the new plan
of leaving it where it is and instead
opening up the roof so mandy can you
come
oh my god wow
that ass blow me away oh my god
i'm really pleased because that is
obviously that's a wild fighter
yeah that's right your front door will
sit here
the beautiful brickwork will come back
into the door lovely
glazed bricks in the ceiling you'll open
this lovely wide door
and that's all glass wow
that was blowing me away that's amazing
good
well that's made my day
you spend months and months working on
the job and really it's those moments
when you get on site and the client
walks in for the first time and realizes
exactly what you were talking about
that really add a spring to your step
make a good day
wow but there's a long
long way to go yet one of the big
problems at mandy's is the configuration
of the house in relation to her
disjointed multi-level garden
with limited direct access to the
outside and an array of small windows
it makes the inside feel cramped and
then closed
an architectural trick to make a space
fill instantly bigger
is to create seamless floor from the
inside to out
which is exactly what they've done at
this stunning home
in south london
so this is a bit of kind of
industrial abandoned space where they've
built a brand new house
the most important thing to note on this
is that it's single-sided
so from a planning point of view they
can have any windows looking over to the
properties at the back
beautiful in it simplicity i think all
the spaces
connect to the landscape around it and i
think that's what's important for your
house
[Music]
come on in i just want to show you this
detail
handle and lock beautifully recess
into a timber block that is brilliant
and then the whole thing just opens up
so you've got kitchen dining living
space
but all of these doors peel back to open
up
under that secluded courtyard garden
beautiful absolutely
and because of the planning restrictions
the architects have had to get creative
with window positioning
to great effect that window
there that's exactly what i want near
where my french windows will be so it
looks out over the trees
and also my dining area where the doors
stop i want a window at the side so it
looks out onto the back
beautiful so has it been worthwhile here
absolutely
it's brilliant got some superb ideas
back in nottingham it's now six weeks
into the build
work has begun opening up the windows
and doors and mandy's new brick bassad
is still going on
it will soon be ready for the parapets
which is such a complex design
terry's builders are having a practice
run
it's like again the jenga at any moment
is going to come crashing down
i'm also back to see how it's all going
[Music]
so it's coming really well really well
and the one thing that you notice
straight away is how the structural
openings are all being made that little
bit bigger
where some openings were relatively
small like that one it's been fully
extended down to ground level
to connect the inside spaces with the
outside spaces
when we went to the house in london that
just brought home how important it was
when that opening's formed as well in
the kitchen that elevation is going to
really start coming to life actually
where everything's going to be level
nicely composed rather than just a
random scale
it was very random before and once the
roof terraces are finished
the whole house is going to flow better
and feel bigger too
rooftop gardens can make spectacular
spaces
but if you think you can just create
something on the top of any old felt or
bitumen roof
think again for a start they only have a
lifespan of 10 to 15 years
and they aren't usually intended to
carry weight
but it's what's underneath that's
crucial the joists and timbers must have
structural integrity
to hold up whatever you plan to put on
top from grass to decking
to heavyweight paving slabs so you
should always get the advice of a
structural engineer
and i recommend starting with a
fiberglass membrane as it's much more
durable
[Music]
mandy where on earth has your garage
roof going um
it wasn't um standard i mean i'm not
surprised as we know the original
building wasn't
really built to the stand that it should
have been did you not really know about
that
um no it's one of those things though i
suppose where a builder just goes
that's all for i can't work with it it's
got to come down but
you've obviously got to then pay for
that problem is with bills you something
i might as well do that while i'm doing
this but be really
really careful of that when people go do
you know what i might as well just do
that now and i might as well just do
that now because the builders are here
so i might as well just get on with it
and then before you know it you get a
bill for another 20 grand i don't know
which isn't an option i know let's go
another cup of tea
while mandy puts the kettle on i want to
check out the new brickwork
weeks in the making and at a cost of 8
000 pounds
has it been worth it excuse me gents
uh howard i have to say this new brick
facade on the house
is looking absolutely fantastic isn't it
yeah
no really pleased and see what lovely
job the guys are doing as well because
you've picked up on the diamond shape
pattern of the property next door
yeah and then reflected it kind of in
relief form
and even to the point where you've taken
some out yeah and the whole idea was
that mandy can sit hidden behind it
and still get sunlight coming through it
one of the downsides
about creating such a beautiful new
facade is it kind of shows up
the existing ugly facades of other parts
of the building
we have come up with a plan for that and
it's to basically just paint the whole
thing out in a really dark blue
this picks up on the sort of dark blue
hues of the brickwork down the side
it's going to make this completely
unrecognizable isn't it that's the aim
and it's a great cheap way to do it
come on it's a good job because mandy
needs to save
every penny she can
just a few days later the indigo paint
is going on
work is underway on the roof terraces
and the new windows
are being installed
after a very turbulent start i'm so
pleased to say that the build has
definitely turned
a major corner that's bang on and i
think that's because
all the ideas that were on paper or in
the architect's head
have now been realized in build form and
when that starts to happen
everybody on site raises their game but
there's still a massive amount of work
to do
and not much money left
mandy had waited years to be able to buy
a house
here on nottingham's historic park
estate the trouble is
the house she ended up with looked
nothing like its beautiful victorian
neighbours
from its dayglow red brick exterior to
its unsightly conservatory
the house stood out like a sore thumb
architect howard evans and prue childs
really struggled to deliver everything
that mandy wanted
on her 80 000 pound budget and their
first game
had to be totally rethought but
sometimes
out of compromise a better design can
evolve
and i can't wait to see what it looks
like now
[Music]
this is a house that now not only
acknowledges the history of its
surroundings
but in the diamond pattern of its new
breakfast art
respects it in a bold contemporary way
now what an elegant house it's beautiful
good morning how are you so nice to see
you you will
yes thank you come on have a look
because it looks
absolutely brilliant it really does
it looks like a proper smart house now
it does yeah i did it all myself
[Laughter]
my first idea was to render it yeah but
i am so glad they didn't let me do that
i think you're right i think if it was
renders it would just feel like you were
covering up problems yeah right that
would have been
knowing what we know now i would have
been and beautifully proportioned as
well
the attention to detail with that
brickwork
is second to none yeah it's a
contemporary version of that really
isn't it
it's got sense of depth now whereas
before it was just flat
you've got a house now which isn't just
physically strong
but it's architecturally strong as well
it's fantastic what a transformation
should we go inside level come on let's
go
the entrance hall had been dark and for
boarding
now by raising the roof and adding a
huge skylight
it's become much more welcoming
it's just such a dramatic change just
floods the space with natural light
doesn't it
yeah and it's gorgeous i can't believe
it
it's not just a lighter and brighter
space because the amount of glazing that
you've got up there
but the height is fantastic isn't it
that's such a brave and bold move by
howard and prune
i think any time of day it's going to
look really nice because you get the
sunlight
hitting it at different angles
incredible i want to see some more
the living room had felt shut off from
the surrounding views
now the new full height doors and
windows give it the outlook over the
park it had been lacking
that is absolutely incredible funny
enough it feels bigger
and it's not smaller because you've
actually put this room in here haven't
you for more
storage linked into the kitchen yeah i
think because the
height of the windows has just made it
feel a bit more
spacious that window is fantastic i know
just frames that lovely view of the
trees doesn't yeah
it's beautiful there's so many aspects
of it that i love
it's like walking into somebody's
apartment it just doesn't feel like mine
at all i can understand that can we go
out to the terrace
yeah where there'd once been a cold and
ugly conservatory
now there's a roof garden worth enjoying
all year round
beautiful i cannot believe how lovely
this terrace is
this is what it's all about and you've
got timber cladding on the outside as
well just to soften
yeah the whole first floor of the
building you had all those issues with
the garage
and then having to extend the terrace
out to form that new roof
did you know you're gonna have this much
roof terrace
it makes the most of it now whereas
before you couldn't really get to it
and the view is just absolutely
beautiful you're gonna get all of that
southern light
throughout the day and when it sets over
there in the west even this terrace here
is going to benefit
from even more direct sunlight before
the only place you could get that lovely
view was sitting there
was now i've got so many beautiful
places i can sit
the back of the house used to feel
remote and isolated
a kitchen and dining room that were far
from sociable spaces
the difference now is astonishing
now that is just brilliant brilliant
brilliant
brilliant just makes me smile every time
i come up here
there's a lot of lovely things at this
house that have been done so well
i think flipping the spaces around was a
great thing to do to put kitchen here
and dining on the other side
but i'll tell you what's cheeky is the
rear ceiling over the dining area
i wasn't expecting that just gives it
that feeling of space
and i love the window seat it's
really beautiful actually just be able
to
sit here look out over the garden i
haven't sat there yet
god you should do it sorry about me
you've never sat there
that is really nice actually very
special moment in the design of the
house
that's why you have an architect and
that's what you employ them for
is little snippets of
beautifulness i would never in a million
years
of sort of doing this
but what really makes this new design
such a success
is that nearly every room links to the
outside
seamlessly i love the way
that all of that red brick has all
dissipated
yes the painting of the house was a
stroke of genius
it would have cost so much more to
render it and visually i don't think you
would have gained anything
i would improve i think done a really
sensitive
quite elegant scheme for you yeah as
soon as i met them i knew they were
right even for me today there's a few
surprises that i just didn't expect
really what's up yeah definitely and
when you add all of those little
surprises up together
you get a really beautiful piece of art
it's actually you must be quite proud of
this
i am very proud very proud yeah
i think mandy has every right to be
proud of her new home
but the journey hasn't been easy for her
or her architects
and it's a testament to their skill that
the finished building
works so well now actually when you list
out all of the moves that you've made
you know setting back the front door
rebuilding the front wall
building the taller entrance hallway
with a skylight flipping the kitchen
dining room round
the big terrace outside getting rid of
the conservative when you bring all of
those
very subtle things together it's quite a
radical scheme in the end isn't it
slightly different house to what was
originally designed
how do you feel about it now i think
we're we're genuinely really happy with
the end product
you know you look at the footprint of
the house and we've added nothing
but every space is being touched every
room relates
back to your kind of original desire to
see the part through every window
there are so many places that you can
walk out of the door
into a nice outside space that you
couldn't before you just couldn't do
that
amanda your original budget was 80 000
pounds
we know it's cost more how much more
have you spent um i think it's
at about 117 117
i have to say i'm not surprised at all
you know every time it was stripped back
any part of this building it was another
problem another problem
another problem so are you comfortable
with that extra spend
you've got to do it so it's structurally
sound yeah which is
what i feel i've got now every time we
took something
off uncovered something there was a
horror story behind
it i mean the last thing you want to do
is leave you with something that looks
nice
and then it's going to have more
problems in the next few years yeah
actually what we've done
has been necessary like the garage roof
and without having that done
it wouldn't have given that lovely deck
in it enabled the wall to be taken down
so there's just little things that
actually you need to spend it on
to get the finished result it was where
to spend the money wisely
and i think that's why you get an
architect on board well i think you've
done an amazing job
i think all of you as a team it's
fantastic it's that collaboration
between client
architects and builder without that
working brilliantly you can't build
something
as good as this what's this home going
to mean for you now it's
lovely it'll be amazing to come home to
not embarrassed by it anymore
i'm not i'm not embarrassed anymore
[Music]
you commissioned an architect to design
you something beyond anything you could
have possibly imagined
something really special but to get the
very best out of an ugly house
means you often come up with early
schemes beyond
what a client can actually afford we
even call it
the dream scheme compromises need to be
made
clients have to make tough decisions
about whether to commit
more money but that is all part of the
design and build process
and it's what mandy with howard and prue
have had a go through
for me this isn't a compromise it's a
stunning
contemporary house that gives a gentle
nod
to its surroundings
next time the house leaking
the costs are the architect i really
don't think they can afford it
takes on a budget busting bungalow do
you regret doing the extension i don't
have any regrets in my life
maybe a little bit
something's happened to the british
sausage and supermarket prices are up
food unwrapped extended special tomorrow
at eight
the next night to the 1980s with donald
as he stacks his chips ever higher
a tale of mistresses scandal and high
rollers trump
an american dream
you
2CUTURL
Created in 2013, 2CUTURL has been on the forefront of entertainment and breaking news. Our editorial staff delivers high quality articles, video, documentary and live along with multi-platform content.
© 2CUTURL. All Rights Reserved.