May 17, 2024

Ugly House To Lovely House with George Clarke S04E10 - Nottingham



Published June 5, 2023, 12:20 p.m. by Naomi Charles


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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

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