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Grand Designs
1999 · TV series · documentary · 47 min episodes · 28 seasons
British television series which features unusual and often elaborate architectural homebuilding projects.
14 positive12 neutralfrom 26 commenters
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31 comments on Hacker News
You might like the British TV show Grand Designs.
I can't find the link now, but there was an episode of Grand Designs here in the UK (a show detailing private individuals developing interesting or unusual homes) where the owner was building a passively heated house based on an idea by his architect father.
The ground beneath the footprint of the house was insulated around the sides to a depth of about 2m, effectively extending the thermal mass of the house into the ground. After construction, it took about 2 years (IIRC) to warm to a stable level, but thereafter required little to no energy to stay at a comfortable temperature year round.
Was the skylight in the season 25 episode of Grand Designs [1] made by your company?
[1] https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x97hx8g (from 39 mins in)
Channel 4's been doing it too, in fact absolutely loads of their shows are on YouTube now and they do it as a weekly release, so for example last week they posted the first episode of "Celebrity Hunted" season 6, and then a week later episode 2, etc.
Take a look at their playlists to see what I mean, tons of stuff: https://www.youtube.com/@Channel4/playlists
They've also got other channels, eg you can watych most of grand designs over here: https://www.youtube.com/@Channel4Homes/playlists
Guessing they realised its more profitable to use someone elses bandwidth and run ads.
>Nobody starts building a house without knowing final design.
There is a TV series in the UK called Grand Designs where people build their own houses. Nearly every cost and time overrun is down to making stuff up on the hoof. The few projects that are on time and budget are the ones that decide everything upfront.
Sounds like an episode of grand designs.
There was also episode related to https://u-build.org from Studio Bark: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7sqcy5 (Grand Designs: The Streets - Box House) which is another option
There's an episode of Grand Designs (great show) where some people build an entire house by bringing a CNC machine onsite and banging out pre-fab wall sections exactly like this and connecting them in place.
Here's the full episode: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6hsxwd
It's pretty cool to see, but in the end it seemed like way more effort than nailing some 2x4's together.
There was a "Grand Designs" episode (UK TV show) where they used exactly that.
A bit of search turns up this link: https://www.facit-homes.com/post/we-re-back-on-site-manufacturing
"I will have you know I have seen every episode of every series of grand designs"
As others point out, that does happen sometimes with homes. There's a British tv show, Grand Designs, where it happens constantly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Designs
But, in support of your point, it usually does cause the builds to be over-budget and behind schedule.
We tend to be quite building inspection heavy over here in the UK but I gather if you work with people who know the system well, you can get off-grid style buildings built. Hopefully this is quite a useful example that featured on two episodes of Grand Designs.
Original: https://vimeo.com/28848933
Revisited (apologies for the C4 link which requires hoops to watch): https://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs-revisited/on-demand/36231-004
Ben Law's website: https://ben-law.co.uk/
Almost every other episode of Grand Designs has some smart lorry driver reversing down a tiny access road.
Grand Designs has an episode featuring a container house build. I recommend showing it your friend, as there might be a few things to learn.
As I recall, the biggest challenge was cutting out the sides while maintaining structural integrity. They ended up having to do a lot of complicated stuff to make it structurally sound, nearly negating the benefits of using containers in the first place.
But it looks great. I think the episode is on Netflix. Here [1] is an article with photos and a ten-minute clip from the episode.
[1] https://metalbuildinghomes.org/grand-designs-shipping-container-home-patrick-bradley/
Not sure that fitting a bathroom or kitchen is the difficult part of the concept, though.
It reminds me a little of an old Grand Designs episode. [0] Different, in that (AFAICT) the 3D-printed house isn't designed to have high thermal mass (the 'earthship' concept) but it gives an idea how a fully-functional house can be crafted from a lot of earth and work quite well.
[0] https://www.granddesignsmagazine.com/grand-designs-houses/977-inside-the-grand-designs-earthship-house
It doesn't quite go into "watching someone sign the paperwork" levels of detail, but money/permitting problems are frequently at least 5 minutes of each "Grand Designs" episode.
My favorite was where someone built a house in the middle of a block, in previously unused land between the houses, and had to get permission from 17 separate future neighbors to tear down and rebuild the back walls of their gardens while digging the foundations of their house.
There are manufacturers such as Huf Haus that make very high quality (luxury) prefabricated homes[1]. They feature all the modern fittings you could want, and they are installed in the factory not on site. There was an episode of Grand Designs which featured a Huf Haus[2], it was constructed in a week on a concrete slab.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huf_Haus
[2] https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2go2ld
There's a self-build TV show in the UK called 'Grand Designs' that had a great episode[0] whereby their children were suffering badly with allergies (even being hospitalised at times). They stayed within London (albeit moving to a slightly better area for pollution) but built their house with filtered air systems and low VOC products in mind - and their children's symptoms improved dramatically.
It's concerning how big of a role air pollution seems to be playing, considering it doesn't seem to be a mainstream concern.
[0] - https://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/home-garden/interiors/design-news/grand-designs-healthy-house-built-for-kids-with-lifethreatening-allergies-is-a-wakeup-call-for-all-a124476.html
If you prefer the video format over a book, Grand Designs (BBC, select seasons available on Netflix) is a series covering the build from nothing to completion of complex or unconventional building designs. Most of the time the episode covers how the build goes wrong.
There are certain themes across the variety of site locations and designs and backgrounds of the individuals building:
1) It costs more than expected
2) It takes longer than expected
3) Project managing it yourself is extremely difficult
4) Building it yourself is even more difficult
That’s one of my favorite Grand Designs episodes. They end up having to build a little ferry system to get the construction equipment over the water (which ultimately fails and dumps its cargo into the Thames, necessitating a whole recovery effort).
It’s a different flotation technique though (“boat in a hole”), and much more expensive. I think the breakthrough here is the relatively cheap approach of slapping styro to the bottom of the house and letting it ride. I assume if you were trying to lift a bigger/taller house, you may need to start digging down to find room for all the foam, which starts blowing up the price tag.
There is a really interesting episode of the UK show Grand Designs that follows someone in a flood prone area who built a house that essentially rests within its own drydock structure. Worth a watch if you find this sort of thing interesting and the show is fascinating in general. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16scx81p2w4
For anyone interested, there are a few Grand Designs episodes featuring underground residential work. Some are quite inventive due to space constraints. Amazing how expensive some of the groundworks can be dealing with weather or underpinning neighbouring properties.
Following on the analogies already presented here:
Coding is not construction (that's the compiler). Coding is the architect/drafter.
If you want a pre-planned house, no problem, that's the same as buying shrink wrap.
If you want to add a swimming pool under then that a whole bunch of conversations, customization and checking.
If you want a completely bespoke house then then that is a conversation that lasts for months and the requirements will always change.
Think about that Grand Designs tv show. that is software and the architect is software development
Not really what you're looking for but the UK tv series "Grand Designs" follows people who self-build.
You get to see some of the mistakes they make, and they talk about the decisions they make.
There's a wide variety of different building styles, from traditional brick and morter, through to high end kit homes, to hay-bale and plaster or car tyres and rammed earth.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs/
It's probably not great to binge watch. It has a reasonably similar format each week and sometimes the format is a bit annoying.
UK TV series Grand Designs features people who self-build homes, or sometimes convert weird buildings (water towers for example) into homes.
The show talks a little bit about the finances, and how people often start over-spending on details.
In England this can save some money over just buying something as big / distinctive. And if the homeowners DIY there are further savings. And some people are just very fussy about details, so self-build or conversions allow them to have total control.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Designs
There are some very high quality German self build companies that use timber frame and glass construction. HufHaus and Weber Haus are two but there are others.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs/episode-guide
> Revisit: Walton, 2008
> Kevin revisits David and Greta Iredale, who replaced their original house which they designed and built themselves with a German built, precision engineered Huf Haus.
> Esher, 2004
> Kevin McCloud follows a couple who have built houses before, but never on this scale. Their new 'Huf Haus' is designed and made in Germany but delivered for assembly in Surrey.
That's a shame, because some pre-fabricated houses are very high quality. See, for example the Huf Haus in an episode of the UK show "Grand Designs".
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs/episode-guide
> Revisit: Walton, 2008
> Kevin revisits David and Greta Iredale, who replaced their original house which they designed and built themselves with a German built, precision engineered Huf Haus.
> Esher, 2004
> Kevin McCloud follows a couple who have built houses before, but never on this scale. Their new 'Huf Haus' is designed and made in Germany but delivered for assembly in Surrey.
There was a Grand Designs episode (2003, Series 3, Ep 2 - "The Water-Works") where a couple took on an old facility that was in very poor condition but had some potential if you had imagination:
"The 1930s derelict water works Chris Jones and Leanne Smith fell in love with was huge and its design had clearly been inspired by Gilbert Scott's Bankside power station, now better known as the Tate Modern. But nothing would deter the couple. 'We looked at it,' said Chris, 'and saw our home.'"
Took insane amounts of work from the two of them, but they really made something of it. The interior looked fantastic by the end of the process. Their work desk was made out of a Mini, I think it was?
Worth watching if you can track it down and have an interest in that sort of thing.
Here in the UK we have a show called Grand Designs on Channel 4. Its a show about self builders. One of the episodes featured a guy called Ben Law(S09E13). He is a woodsman who worked woodland in a strict conservation area. He wanted a home in his woods, and did a similar thing but on a bigger scale. For electricity, he had solar and wind power, feeding submarine batteries. He collected and purified water. Waste waster was, IIRC, fed in to a reed bed. He also had internet sorted out, cant remember how.
I cant find a decent site that shows the build, but for any one interested, it worth a google. Ben has a website, but there is not much detail there. There are also various vids on youtube.
For any one vaguely interested, this project is well worth look up.
Here in Europe, we have Huf Haus, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huf_Haus
There's a Channel 4 programme called Grand Designs that featured a HH being built one week. Worth watching if you can find it somewhere.
"... why are efficient houses ugly as sin? ..."
I can think of a number of reasons
- kit form means (some) pre-construction
- simpler shapes and consistency means easier and faster construction
- form follows function
Would I buy one?
If I did the building has no verandas so I'd cook in summer. No sloped roof (increasing surface area slightly) for water collection, solar heating & power. High roof means lots of heating in winter but great in summer. Not much on the materials (insulation, windows) are listed so I can't tell how thermally efficient the building or what footprint it leaves. One thing I notice is the building does not integrate well into the surroundings. Geography does play a part as well and coming from 34 degree southern latitude with mild winters and hot summers.
I ascribe my architectural appreciation to watching Kevin McClouds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_McCloud ) UK, Ch4 show, Grand Design ( http://www.channel4.com/4homes/ontv/grand-designs/houses/index_archive.html ) every Thursday night on the tube. If you ever get the chance to watch the Grand Design series, do so.
In each episode, McCloud dissects the process of people constructing/re-constructing buildings into their own houses. Asking questions on how to improve construction. Critiquing the building process such as construction, financing, management and execution. The analogy to constructing software applications is obvious.