Kevin McCloud conoce a Rupert y Julie, quienes están dispuestos a arriesgarse a construir una idea muy costosa y muy experimental en Lambourn Valley.
Kevin McCloud meets Rupert and Julie who are prepared to take their chances on building a very expensive and very experimental idea in the Lambourn Valley.
#architecture #art #desing
Kevin McCloud meets Rupert and Julie who are prepared to take their chances on building a very expensive and very experimental idea in the Lambourn Valley.
#architecture #art #desing
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00:01It was almost like divine intervention that we must build now.
00:06So it's kind of a very unusual design, isn't it?
00:09I think most people think we're mad.
00:11What's the contingency if it goes over?
00:13We're slightly living on our nerves with that one.
00:30If you're lucky enough to find a virgin building plot in open countryside like this, then you'd
00:42be mad not to wander house that takes full advantage of the views.
00:46Well, this week's couple wander house that does just that.
00:50And to get it, they're prepared to take their chances on an experimental and very expensive
00:56idea and put everything they've got into it.
01:01What are you going to build?
01:03What are we going to build?
01:04What is it?
01:05We're going to build a cruciform-shaped house with green oak.
01:11You said cruciform house, not house in a cross shape.
01:15House in a cross shape. The cruciform shape has no deep significance.
01:19Deep religious significance?
01:21No, none whatsoever.
01:22It's kind of a very, very strong, unusual design, isn't it?
01:27It's a very exposed position here.
01:30And the architect very early on said, wouldn't it be nice if we could build something that
01:36gave us sheltered areas at different times of the day?
01:39Where are you building it?
01:40Very close to the existing bungalow, literally only a couple of metres away.
01:45For pure, unadulterated landscape, it doesn't get much better than this.
01:51The Lambourne Valley in the Berkshire Downs, famous for racehorse training.
01:56Rupert and Julie have bought a plot with a bungalow that sits on top of a hill overlooking this valley.
02:02The bungalow will be demolished after the new build finishes.
02:05But they'll be living here with their two children for the duration, literally right on top of the build.
02:12So what drives you to pursue this dream, this great vision of your future?
02:17I think it's really because we've finally found somewhere with great views and we can actually, hopefully, build something that will allow us to enjoy those views.
02:30You're building, in oak, barn material and most people might love to live in an old barn but this isn't a barn material.
02:36They like the idea of it.
02:37This is a very modern building.
02:39We've always wanted to live in a barn but we know that in converting barns you're rarely allowed to put much glass into them.
02:46And if they have got nice views it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be able to see them from inside.
02:51And that's what really sold us on this idea.
02:56And what Rupert and Julie are getting is a cross-shaped house made of oak and glass designed to make the most of its stunning views.
03:06On the outside the look is strikingly modern.
03:09Inside the sheer amount of oak will give the place a medieval barn-like quality but one bathed with light.
03:18Every room in the house leads you to the centre of the cross, an octagonal shaped kitchen, quite literally the heart of the house, making this an interesting family home.
03:29Upstairs all four bedrooms are arranged off a circular gallery overlooking the kitchen.
03:36The master bedroom has a panoramic view of the valley.
03:41The plot cost 310,000 pounds. Rupert and Julie are hoping the build won't be more than 250,000, making an estimated total cost of 560,000 pounds, which is coming from savings and a small mortgage.
03:58So on that 250,000 pound build, if you bought the land, that's done and dusted, what's the contingency if it goes over?
04:06It can't go over.
04:08Rupert has to get another job.
04:10If it goes over, what's the contingency?
04:12I don't know yet. I don't know. We're slightly living on our nerves with that one.
04:18Do you have no more assets?
04:20I'd have to dig very deep. I'd have to dig very deep.
04:24So is this, as it were, the ideal? Is this the final resting place?
04:29Yeah. I hope so.
04:30Our death nest.
04:32The death nest.
04:33Our death nest.
04:34Nice term.
04:35When do you expect to get it done by? When do you expect to be in by it?
04:37Well, we would like to be in for Christmas, wouldn't we?
04:39Yeah.
04:40There's a lot to do in 10 months, but Rupert and Julie have at least some experience of building.
04:47They've moved house three times in the last 12 years, and as Rupert's courier company has grown, so have their houses,
04:54from a two-up, two-down semi to a 16th-century cottage, which they renovated,
05:00before moving to a four-bedroomed farmhouse onto which they built an extension.
05:05Two years ago, they decided to build their own home.
05:08While they were out looking for a plot, they stumbled on a newly built house and fell in love.
05:15I'd never seen anywhere like it before.
05:18It's a brand new house, and you walk in and it just has a lovely old feel to it.
05:23When I went into it, it was just more than I could have imagined, really.
05:27It's got a kind of frontier land feel to it.
05:31So much wood, not just the beamed ceiling that you see in lots of places and that we've had before,
05:37it was just the huge vertical beams and it was just fantastic.
05:42Just a fantastic feeling to the whole place.
05:47I went home and said to Rupert, if ever we manage to get a building plot ever,
05:51we must find out who the architect is and see if he can do something similar for us.
05:56The house was designed by Roderick James Architects, who specialise in oak-framed buildings
06:03that combine modern design with traditional timber craftsmanship.
06:08They came up with the design for Rupert and Julie's new house
06:11and the project is being run from their head office in Devon by architect Hugh McCann.
06:17We've been very lucky with this design because Rupert and Julie have let us come up with lots of ideas for them.
06:23The idea with this is that from immediately entering the building, you're in the heart of the building.
06:29Rupert and Julie have concerns over the privacy of the kitchen and whether or not they're going to have to keep it permanently tidy.
06:37Well, the whole idea of this building is it's a building for living in and having fun in.
06:44It's February. The outbuildings are demolished and the site is cleared in preparation for laying the foundations.
06:53Normally when you dig footings out for a house, you think, oh God, have I designed it big enough?
06:58Not that I've built a whole house before, but this looks just enormous.
07:02I've sort of got more worries now about whether we're going to be able to afford to build the damn thing.
07:08We do think, God, I hope this is right. What if I don't like it?
07:12We cannot see this house until the day when we've gone past the point of no return, which we've done anyway now really.
07:19The builder is their friend Andy. It's his first job as a main contractor.
07:25They've been very brave, really, because they came from a lovely house, a really lovely house.
07:31And to live in this for two years by the time the house is built, it's made it a little bit difficult with the house being where it is.
07:40So it's going to be a bit tight on this corner here.
07:48With any new build, it's always an interesting time when the foundation's going,
07:52because it's really the first opportunity you have to understand the scale of the building.
07:57Now, for Rupert and Julie, it's not only the scale they have to accept, it's also this very unusual shape.
08:09Are you pleased with it? Yeah. Yeah, we are.
08:11But it is banged next door to the bungalow.
08:14It's very close, isn't it?
08:16Astonishingly close.
08:17Yeah.
08:18Isn't it going to make demolishing that building quite hard once you've got the walls up here?
08:22It would be quite worrying, yeah.
08:23Yes, I think so.
08:24I wouldn't like to have to do it anyway.
08:25Yeah, I think now I have to be quite careful over it.
08:28Is it how you imagined it to be?
08:30Because this is the first time you've kind of seen it...
08:32Yeah, just seen anything.
08:34Anything off the door?
08:35Yeah.
08:36It's the first time I've ever seen footings that look big.
08:39Normally they look...
08:40Small, yeah.
08:41Have you had it costed yet?
08:42No.
08:45Only ballpark.
08:46Any compromise that is going to be in the height of the building.
08:51Yeah.
08:52Something like that.
08:53No bedrooms.
08:54It might end up in another bungalow.
08:55It's a bungalow.
08:56Yeah, a single storey building.
08:57Yeah.
08:58So, when's the frame coming?
09:00Well, probably about eight weeks from now, I would hope.
09:03Where are we now?
09:04May.
09:05May.
09:06July, we're hoping.
09:07July?
09:08Yeah.
09:09So it'll get up in mid-summer.
09:10Yeah, and then it should go quite quickly, I hope.
09:12I hope we'll have everything moving quite quickly after that.
09:15The main cost that they're waiting for is for the oak frame.
09:19And a week later, their architect Hugh comes to break the news of how much it's going to be.
09:24OK.
09:25Well, I've finally got all your figures put together.
09:27Right.
09:28As you know, based on our original guide, we reckoned it was going to be about 65,000, the frame.
09:34The frame's come in at 92,000.
09:36Oh my God.
09:37Oh my goodness.
09:3892,000.
09:41We can look at something quite fundamental, and I think we actually take out one of the wings and actually build the utility wing, which is the boot room, utility room and toilets.
09:52We actually build that in masonry.
09:54We clad it in softwood so that from the outside it looks exactly the same as the rest of the building.
09:59Yeah.
10:00And the key is, on the inside, from the actual main octagon space, it will still look as if it's all oak frame.
10:07That adds up to 78,760, which is...
10:1213.
10:13What nicer number than...
10:1413,000 less than the 92.
10:18So yes, the masonry will have a cost attached to it, but it won't be 13,000 pounds.
10:25Well, I don't mind having that as masonry.
10:29With one of the four wings now to be built in block work, a start date has been set for making the frame, so it should arrive on site in July.
10:37All Andy and his team can do is put down the block and beam floor and then come back when the frame is up.
10:44In the meantime, all the action is taking place off site.
10:48It may be expensive and time consuming to build a house with an oak frame, but Rupert and Julie are getting a handmade, highly individual house.
10:59Unlike most timber framed houses, Rupert and Julie's isn't coming out of a box, it's not prefabricated in some factory.
11:06Their timber frame is made out of green oak, and that means that it's fresh sawn, it's cut straight from the log in the forest.
11:15And the process of working it is down to highly skilled, traditionally trained carpenters.
11:20That process starts right here in the forest.
11:23Oak is the quintessential English tree. It's strong, beautiful and durable, which means that for centuries it's been used for building.
11:36As well as its physical attributes, there's also something spiritual about the mighty oak.
11:44It was held sacred by the Greeks, by the Romans and by the Druids, who were actually the priests of the oak god.
11:51And right into the Middle Ages, sacrifices were being made, still, at oaks throughout Europe.
11:59This one is probably, what, 150 years old?
12:03And it's 85 oaks like this one that are being cut down to make Rupert and Julie's house.
12:09Say it takes, what, 70, 80 trees sometimes to make an oak framed house.
12:22That's a huge number of oaks standing in the forest.
12:26Can you justify that kind of sacrifice from the natural world, considering these take 100, 150 years to grow?
12:33But it's not a sacrifice. It's a growing crop, and a forester grows a product that has to be harvested.
12:41Now, not all of these 80 will come from one area. They will be thinnings.
12:47Really, it's like growing carrots. If you don't thin carrots, you have only small ones.
12:51So we thin oaks long term, and we get some larger ones.
12:55With the same view.
12:57How much can you get for this tree?
12:58This tree, 150 years old, probably about 150 pounds, that's all.
13:07What, for the lot?
13:08For the lot.
13:09That's a pound a year.
13:12The logs are taken straight to a sawmill, where they're cut roughly to size.
13:20Rupert and Julie's frame is being made by five carpenters in Scotland.
13:24Because the oak has only just been felled, it's still very soft.
13:29And that means they can work on it more easily.
13:32That's why they call it green oak.
13:34The special thing about a frame like this is really that every piece is individual,
13:40and you're dealing with a material which is really not square and it's not straight,
13:44and it takes a lot of skills which really are traditional skills,
13:49things which died out in England probably 150 years ago with the Industrial Revolution.
13:55This means that designing and cutting a highly complicated structure like the cruciform
14:00is a lot more painstaking to do in practice than it is on paper.
14:03We're quite used to doing really difficult geometric things,
14:08but in this frame there's definitely added layers of complexity.
14:12Can you fax back to me...
14:14The drawings are being constantly modified by Hugh in Devon,
14:17who's in daily contact with the craftsmen in Scotland.
14:21And then moving up the drawing...
14:23Getting this frame right is an intricate and lengthy process.
14:26It doesn't actually make any difference.
14:27So when is the frame arriving then?
14:33It's now mid-August and nothing's happened on site for over two months.
14:39Rupert and Julie were expecting their frame in July.
14:43It feels as if most of the summer's gone by without very much happening at all,
14:47and suddenly autumn's just round the corner,
14:50and, you know, it could start raining and never stop.
14:55And we haven't got a house yet.
15:00So...
15:02It's a shame.
15:04Perhaps I should have installed a webcam up in the yard in Scotland.
15:09Understandably, Rupert and Julie are frustrated by the delay.
15:14But given the complexity of the central section of the design,
15:18I'm not surprised it's taking so long to make.
15:20What we had originally was the main post were orientated as shown on this drawing.
15:27Which meant at each connection there were two members coming in at an angle to the post,
15:34with a third member coming in at right angles to the post.
15:38Now that actually meant that for every joint there were two complicated connections.
15:43And you have to bear in mind that these connections appear at ground floor level,
15:48at first floor level, and again at roof level.
15:51Well that's 24 times at three different levels.
15:54So, quite simply, what we've done is re-orientated the post.
15:58Two difficult connections and one simple one.
16:00Which is now, quite simply, changed to two simple connections and one complicated one.
16:10So we've basically taken away two thirds of the more complicated junctions in the building.
16:16It's just one very expensive patio, yes.
16:24The kids enjoy it, but I'd rather it was a house now.
16:28I hope we can still be in for Christmas.
16:31I haven't spoken to my builder about it in the last couple of weeks.
16:34He did say, only a couple of weeks ago, yeah, it won't be a problem.
16:39We will, everybody will be working here at the same time, which...
16:43So there will be a lot of people on site, and he would rather they weren't all here together.
16:47But if it means getting us in, then they can all come together.
16:51But, getting the frame right in a workshop is only half the battle.
16:56The true test will come when they see if it all fits together on site.
17:04It's the beginning of September, and at last, Rupert and Julie's frame is going up.
17:18This is your house, darling. This is the sitting room for your new house.
17:23What do you think of that? Hmm? Good.
17:26That's what? Fine.
17:29It's fine, isn't it?
17:30Oh, we know it's happening now.
17:33Yeah, see what they've been doing now for the last few months.
17:36It's a really good feeling to see it here.
17:39I can't believe how many pieces of wood go into making one room, either.
17:43No, no, can I.
17:45Just amazing. You'd think you'd build a whole village with this amount of wood.
17:48A bit more.
17:50The carpenters are doing everything to help make up the extra four weeks the frame was in the workshop.
17:54It normally takes two weeks to put up a simple frame.
17:58They're aiming to get this very complex one up in just seven days.
18:03Every one of the 750 pieces of wood in this building is individual.
18:09That means that it has only one place where it can fit.
18:13Now, because all the pieces of wood look the same, the carpenters mark them in the workshop before they leave.
18:17For example, a straight one for pieces that go on the left of the building and a curly one for ones that go on the right.
18:23And that's for a conventional rectangular building with four walls.
18:27Rupert and Julie's house has 12 walls, all of which meet here in the middle at the Oxygen.
18:35Head carpenter, Paul Price, has had to invent his own system for numbering each piece of timber to identify its unique place in the frame.
18:44Can I have a go?
18:45Yeah, absolutely.
18:46There you go. That's it.
18:47And that makes a circular mark.
18:48And then what?
18:49Well, then I sort of made it up after that.
18:53I can show you.
18:54I suppose it doesn't really matter, does it?
18:55As long as what's on the wood corresponds to what's on the drawing.
18:59Exactly.
19:00So all of these beams have these weird, runic signs on them.
19:04I can try and explain if you like.
19:06Do you know, I think I need a cup of tea.
19:09Quite right, too.
19:14It's taken just six days to get the frame to this stage.
19:22And so far, so good.
19:24The three wings are up, but then they are rectangles, which is a relatively straightforward shape.
19:29Right now, they're in the middle of putting together the bit that was hardest to figure out,
19:34the bit that actually caused all the delays.
19:36It's the central section, which locks the whole design together.
19:44This is an exciting moment for you.
19:45This really is the moment of truth now.
19:47Yeah, that's going in.
19:48This is where you really find out if the builder's setting out is right,
19:50and if they've made the frame correctly.
19:52Because if this bit doesn't go on square, we've got a problem.
19:55So it's all about lining things up very, very precisely.
19:57That's right.
19:58Getting those alignments.
19:59That's right.
20:00It is actually critical that the guys have got it right.
20:02But it's looking good, and looking over there earlier as it was going on,
20:05and this is the moment where I actually just pray that it's right.
20:08Because if anything's going to go wrong, it's now.
20:10Is this very testing for you, Steve, this one?
20:13Testing?
20:14Testing this design, yeah?
20:15Quite testing.
20:16Have you put one up like this before with an octagon trick?
20:19Not as complex as this one.
20:21But has it gone together well?
20:22Very well.
20:23Yeah?
20:24We're really pleased.
20:25So this man hasn't been too much on your back then?
20:27No.
20:28He's been great.
20:29Really supportive architect, which is just what's needed on a project like this.
20:33The essence of a really good design is a strong collaboration between an architect
20:39and a professional craftsman who really knows their craft,
20:42because neither one has the whole picture.
20:45You only get the whole picture by putting those two views together,
20:48and then you end up with a beautiful frame like this.
20:51Yeah, isn't it, eh?
20:52The devil is in the detail.
20:54I thought God was in the detail.
20:58The octagon fits together perfectly, and at the end of day seven,
21:02the whole frame is up.
21:04I have to say, it's probably the most user-friendly way of building a house, isn't it?
21:08Because you go from nothing from just a footprint to kind of a volume.
21:11Yeah, yeah.
21:12And you can almost imagine that there'll be a door there and a window here.
21:14Oh, yes, yeah, you can.
21:15You can even imagine where you're going to put your furniture now.
21:18Yeah.
21:19Because you just think, well, I know there's a sofa to go with this.
21:21If it were a house going up with bricks and mortar, it'd all be dark and dizzy inside.
21:24Yeah.
21:25What's the next thing you have to do?
21:27Well, we hope to get a roof on next week.
21:29And getting a roof on.
21:30Yeah.
21:31That's pretty quick, because autumn is coming, isn't it?
21:33Yeah.
21:34I can't see us being in for Christmas at the moment.
21:36Really?
21:37Because that was your original plan, wasn't it?
21:38Being in by Christmas.
21:39Mm.
21:40I don't know.
21:41We'll see.
21:42You think there's a chance?
21:44My builder's still optimistic that there's a chance, yeah.
21:45OK.
21:46As the fuel crisis enters its fourth day, more and more workers across Berkshire and North
21:59Hampshire are being forced to stay at home.
22:01The little fuel that is getting through the blockades is reserved for use by emergency services
22:06only.
22:07Andy, the builder, returns on site just when the national fuel crisis starts.
22:14His main priority now is to get the roof on.
22:17But the timber for the rafters and floor joists has been delayed by the fuel shortages.
22:22They can get on with building the one wing out of concrete blocks.
22:26But after that, there's not a lot for the team to do.
22:30It's been difficult organising all the subcontractors, mainly the carpenters and the roofers.
22:35Trying to give them a date which they can book in and then changing it, constantly changing
22:41it.
22:42You can't expect them to be sat at home waiting for you to say, oh, we are ready now.
22:46So you have to let them go and do other contracts and just hope that, you know, they'll come
22:53back after they've finished that one.
22:56The carpenters he has managed to keep are filling the spare time by painting the pine boards
23:01for the interior of the roof.
23:03Andy had hoped to make up the time lost by the late arrival of the green oak frame.
23:08But with this extra delay on the timber, it's looking unlikely.
23:12Well, originally I hoped I could get them in here by Christmas, but I don't think that's
23:17going to happen now.
23:18But hopefully the timber will be here tomorrow.
23:22Tomorrow turns into three weeks.
23:26It's the middle of October before the rafters are on and the masonry wing is up.
23:31Now you can really see how dangerously close Rupert and Julia's bungalow is to the building site.
23:37One day I went to go out of the door and one of the scaffolders just yelled to me, don't open the door.
23:43You can't open the door.
23:45And then Andy arrived round this side of the house and started knocking out a doorway there and has put that door in there,
23:53which is now our access, well, our only access really into the bungalow.
23:58Well, we won't be in for Christmas.
24:00Definitely we won't be in for Christmas.
24:02And a lot of that, I have to say, is down to the fact that the roof timbers were delayed by nearly a month.
24:09We've had to wait a month and that's a long time in building, really.
24:12Well, you can get a lot done in a month.
24:14But it means, you know, more delays for us and no, we won't be in for Christmas.
24:19But we will by next Christmas, so that's all right.
24:24Living right on top of it, it never feels as if it's moving as fast as you'd like,
24:29because you notice every day what's gone on.
24:33We're not thinking along the lines of a rigid deadline.
24:38I just don't think you can in this kind of build.
24:41I think you just end up having too much heartache if you set yourself these deadlines.
24:48So we just make what progress we can, really.
24:52I'm hoping to make up the time by employing more carpenters.
24:58We hope to have two or three more carpenters next week on the job.
25:02So it should speed things up.
25:05But this is not a fixed price build.
25:07So more men means more money.
25:10The budget situation's gone pretty much out of hand, as I expected.
25:14We look like being about 25% over budget, I would think, as things are at the moment.
25:22And that's only predicting wildly.
25:25No, not very good. I'm going to have to borrow more money than I'd hoped.
25:31Rupert and Julie now realise they have to throw money at this job.
25:38It's the middle of November, and they've got to get the glass in.
25:42It's the weatherproofing for the building, and they have to install it before the winter sets in.
25:47There's one thing that's been puzzling me about this build.
25:50Essentially, this design is a green oak frame with lots of glass in it.
25:54Now, the thing about green oak is that it's flexible. It wants to move.
25:59So how on earth do you glaze a super strong, flexible frame?
26:03Well, of course, the answer is to use glass, which is also super strong and flexible.
26:09What they're using here is toughened glass, which is four times stronger than the glass in a normal domestic window.
26:16A flexible rubber gasket tape, which will allow for movement in the oak, is used to seal the oak and glass together.
26:24Installing these panes is a time-consuming job, and they've got 190 to do.
26:30Where does this go?
26:31This goes on here, and it's the same width as the oak post, and then it's screwed through.
26:40That's very clever.
26:41And compresses.
26:42So the timber that's underneath here is softwood.
26:44Yes.
26:45That's just been nailed on.
26:46Yes.
26:47Just to help you find the position, just to help stabilise the glass.
26:49That is the packer.
26:50That is what this will squeeze up to.
26:53But because this is the same width, it's also quite deep, isn't it?
26:56Yeah.
26:57Actually, when you put it up, when you rock it up like that, it suddenly looks like the oak...
27:02Oak frame.
27:03Oak frame.
27:04Yeah.
27:05That's been channelled, that's been cut into to take the glass.
27:07Oh, that's a great cheat.
27:10Doesn't it?
27:11It looks good, though.
27:12It looks very, very good.
27:13And it works well.
27:14How tough is it?
27:16It's strong.
27:17You can gently jump up and down on it.
27:19You're joking.
27:20Presumably I approached it from the edge, yeah?
27:22Yes, you can just walk straight into the middle.
27:24No.
27:25Yes, you can.
27:26The weird thing is you can feel it bending.
27:28Well, you can see.
27:29You'll see the pain is bending.
27:31Presumably that little piece there, that's a piece of ordinary float glass, is it?
27:33No, that's a single pane of the same glass as you're standing on.
27:36Yeah.
27:37You're standing on a double glazed unit.
27:38That's a single pane.
27:39Right.
27:40Single pane.
27:41Again, you can stand right in the middle of that one.
27:42You're joking.
27:43Again, you just...
27:44It's only about four millimetres thick.
27:45It is four mill, that one.
27:47I can stand on this?
27:48Again, you can stand on that one.
27:50Sure.
27:51You can do it carefully so you don't actually slide off.
27:53It's more the...
27:54So what do I do?
27:55Just put my...
27:56Just very gently go straight into the middle.
27:57Oh, my God.
27:58That's it.
27:59It's going to go, isn't it?
28:00It's not going to go.
28:01I've stood on some heights, but this is probably one of the scariest things I've done.
28:07How do I get off?
28:10And again, you just carefully walk off.
28:12Walk to the edge.
28:13Put your foot on the timber.
28:14Oh, Mum.
28:1750% of the wall space here will be glazed.
28:20So how do Rupert and Julie feel about living in a glass house?
28:24I'm taking them to an award-winning home in Wiltshire,
28:27belonging to the architect Ken Shuttleworth.
28:30Isn't it?
28:31There's the glass.
28:32No, there's...
28:33You think you're ready to live in a glass house?
28:35No.
28:36Look at this.
28:37Hello.
28:38Hi.
28:39Great door.
28:40Hello.
28:41Nice to meet you.
28:42I see you.
28:43Wow, here's your glass.
28:45Look at this.
28:47Yeah, it's brilliant.
28:48It brings the outside in, doesn't it?
28:53Yeah.
28:54You can't look at anything else, can you?
28:56I'm walking into the space with your eyes.
28:57Yeah, you do.
28:58Yeah.
28:59All the time.
29:00Generally speaking though, Ken, what are the advantages of using a lot of glass in the building?
29:06I think the fact you have this incredible contact with nature and contact with the garden.
29:11You know, you're very aware when it's raining.
29:13You're very aware when it's sunny.
29:14You feel all the time you're part of the garden.
29:16Does it ever get you down if it's really raining and howling across here?
29:20No, because the house backs into the wind.
29:22It's curved.
29:23If you're warm and cosy inside, somehow that can be a lovely feeling as well.
29:27Like being in a caravan and hearing the rain on the roof.
29:29If you're warm and cosy.
29:30Yeah.
29:31You've got a woodpecker.
29:32And at night, of course, at night it's pitch black.
29:35Yes, this goes, at night it goes to like a big black piano, a big curved black piano,
29:40which is fantastic.
29:41You don't feel the need to sort of cosy up and just sort of soften it.
29:45I think you actually almost forget it's glass for a while.
29:48It's almost like a solid wall, which is very nice.
29:50Ken, there must be some disadvantages to using glass as a warring material like this.
29:55You have to insulate the rest of the house really well to comply with building regs.
30:00Because the whole house is treated as a whole.
30:03So there's this much insulation on the roof and there's this much insulation on the rest of the walls.
30:08And you're coming here, I mean, do you feel a little intimidated by the idea of the glass?
30:13Or is it exciting?
30:14No, I think it's exciting.
30:17I mean, I think where we're perhaps even luckier is that we've got fantastic views from our glass as well.
30:24To comply with building regulations, Rupert and Julie have to over-insulate some areas to compensate for any loss of heat through the glass.
30:32The good thing about a timber framed building like this is that you can literally stuff insulation into every cavity between the oak frame and the softwood studding.
30:42They've doubled the insulation in the roof and even put it in the floor as part of an underfloor heating system.
30:48We've steered clear of radiators. There isn't a radiator in the house actually because we haven't got much wall space in this house because most of it's glass.
31:00And so we decided quite early on that we would go the underfloor heating route and not have any radiators at all.
31:10So we're looking at it that we'll spend the money now and hopefully keep the energy costs down in the future.
31:20Building an energy efficient house is an expensive process.
31:24Rupert always knew he was going to have to borrow more money at this stage of the build, but he'd imagined the amount would be well under £100,000.
31:33I'm just having to ask for rather more than I wanted to. One could lie awake every night worrying about how much it's all costing because the numbers are fairly colossal now.
31:46I'm just having to ask for rather more than I wanted to. It's a case of really not knowing how much more is required for the rest of the build because it just depends to what standard we finish it off.
32:01I don't talk about furnishings to Rupert very much because they're not on his list of priorities.
32:08We've got all that beautiful wood everywhere. You don't want to detract from that. And as long as you keep things plain and simple, it doesn't need to have ostentatious sort of fittings to make it really special.
32:23And that's good because we can't afford them anyway.
32:26So I suppose this round is on me, isn't it?
32:29I think so, yeah.
32:31Dear me. How much have you gone over the budget? The original?
32:37Well, the original budget is dead in the water, really. We're about £75,000 over it.
32:45Which brings you to what?
32:47£325,000.
32:48Right.
32:49And that's forecasting what we're going to next spend for the shop.
32:52That's forecasting to the end of the shop.
32:54Yeah, to the end, yeah.
32:55And that's happened, why?
32:57Yes.
32:58I think the amount of carpentry that needs doing, the amount of chippy work that needs doing is way more than you expect in a build like this.
33:13You mean once the oak frame has gone up, you've then got a load more extra to do as well?
33:17Yeah, a kick of a lot, yeah. We've had six chippies on site a lot at the time. We've got three there.
33:21A lot of things made out of wood, isn't it?
33:23Yeah, I know, yeah, yeah.
33:25But what happens if between now and the completion, you go over again, you need another £10,000, £20,000?
33:30We can't.
33:31You just can't.
33:32We'll have to stop. We will have to stop.
33:34So you may end up living in the bungalow and with a house next door.
33:38Well, it's possible, yeah. It's possible.
33:40And look, what's the worst situation? You know, suppose it all went appallingly badly.
33:44If it all went appallingly, we'd have to sell it, yeah.
33:47But that really would be...
33:48That would be a wrench, wouldn't it?
33:50That would be very, very depressing, yeah.
33:52I don't want to have to do that.
33:54We've put too much into it, not in terms of just money, but we've just put too much effort
33:59into it and gone through two years of not living very pleasantly in the bungalow.
34:04We don't want to, you know, yeah, we could sell it, I'm sure we could sell it and make money
34:09and buy somewhere else cheaper and live on the proceeds for some time.
34:14But, you know, I haven't gone this far into it to do that.
34:26One thing I find very appealing about this house is that on the outside it's very strong, modern even,
34:31and yet on the inside so much of it looks like a barn.
34:35It's a real collision between 15th century building technologies and styles and 21st century technology and style.
34:42If there's a lesson to be learnt here, it's that you can't commission an unusually shaped building
34:48without also commissioning everything that goes in it.
34:51From windows to doors, everything has to be tailor-made.
34:55As for the kitchen, I've always been curious to know how it would work at the centre of the house.
35:01And now that the building is up around it, I wonder if Julie's worried.
35:05From this one vantage position, you could command the whole building.
35:08Exactly. Well, I do anyway.
35:10Is that why you put the kitchen in the middle?
35:12Yes, definitely.
35:13Is it, really?
35:15So what about things like cooking smells and your Argo flue, where's that going to go?
35:20That goes straight up here, straight up and through the...
35:23What, all the way up?
35:25All the way up.
35:26All the way up and straight out the roof?
35:27Yeah.
35:28Through that panel up there?
35:29Yeah.
35:30I think it's such a big space that I don't think it's not sort of a small space for the kitchen smells to hang around in.
35:36I think it's big enough.
35:37As you boil the cabbage on the top.
35:39I don't boil the cabbage very often.
35:41Is it gradually permeate all of the bedrooms?
35:44No, I don't think it will.
35:46The kitchen is being made by a carpenter in a nearby village.
35:50You might think a handmade kitchen is prohibitively expensive, but even this complicated octagonal one is costing 8,000 pounds, which I think isn't bad.
36:02Outside, the final phase of carpentry is cracking on.
36:06But with 16 walls to clad and protect, it's taking more time and costing more money than they'd hoped.
36:14We're having to budget for every penny that we're spending and hope that there aren't any more big surprises really.
36:21We have gone a lot over budget.
36:24The decorating in this house with all its nooks and crannies is also proving to be very labour intensive.
36:31Rupert and Julie have made a decision to go the extra distance that this building demands, but that means sacrifices elsewhere.
36:38The thing I'd love to do that I haven't got the money to do is say, let's have some landscapers in to landscape the garden now.
36:44That's what I can't do.
36:47After two weeks in the workshop, the kitchen arrives.
36:52I walk around it every night and I can't wait to get in there.
36:57I can't wait to move in.
36:59The place seems to have a soul to it already.
37:03It's still hard to imagine that we're actually going to leave the bungalow and move into here.
37:08But at the same time, I know we're weeks away. We're not months away, which is brilliant.
37:13We are also very tired, you know, mentally very tired from all the effort.
37:19And I suppose that sounds a bit sort of spoilt to say that, but it has been two years of grief, really.
37:36Few people would be prepared to live in a dilapidated bungalow for two years while they realise their dream home just next door with no clear idea of what they're getting.
37:47Even fewer people would embark on such an adventure with no real idea of the cost.
37:54And yet that's exactly what Rupert and Julie have done.
37:57And a year later, they've got there.
38:00Outside, the house has a modern and appealingly New England look.
38:06Those big eaves, all that cladding, the covered balconies.
38:10And I think that really works here.
38:14Rupert and Julie could have built a sleek piece of modern architecture with vast glass walls to capture their view.
38:20But what they've got instead is a subtler and more varied design, which looks different from every angle.
38:27I like this side of the building, this big sheet of glass.
38:31I don't think it's the best aspect of the house.
38:34No?
38:35No, I don't like looking up at it because it's too sort of imposing, really.
38:41It's got a very strong modern feel, hasn't it, Julie?
38:43Yes, I think so.
38:44Do you not like that?
38:45Yeah, I do like it.
38:46I like this side.
38:47Yeah.
38:48It's not from the outside, obviously, cross-shaped.
38:51You can't ever get to a point where you can see the overall plan.
38:54No, unless you're up in the sky.
38:56Only God can see that.
38:57Flying over.
38:59If you come right back, you can see it sitting down into the ground.
39:03By the view.
39:04Snuggled in.
39:05So, bar a few extra nuts and bolts, it looks absolutely finished.
39:09It's nearly there, yeah.
39:11Yeah.
39:12So, have you moved in yet?
39:13We're in the process of it.
39:15We're between houses at the moment.
39:17Really?
39:18Yeah.
39:19Between residences.
39:20And the bungalow?
39:21I mean, you know.
39:22Its days are numbered.
39:24It's living under a death sentence.
39:26Yes, it is, yeah.
39:28When's it due to come down?
39:30Well, as soon as we're out of it, they'll knock it down.
39:33Couple of weeks.
39:34God, how is it?
39:35Is this your front door?
39:36Yeah.
39:37I'll show you when we're going.
39:39Good Lord.
39:40There we go, then.
39:41This is radically different, isn't it?
39:45Yeah, it certainly is.
39:47Julie, it's fantastic.
39:49It looks so different.
39:50It's come on a lot, hasn't it?
39:52Very beautiful.
39:53Yeah, it's nearly at home now, isn't it?
39:55Yeah, I've delighted to.
39:56It must be really.
39:57It's marvellous.
39:58And this kitchen has worked very well.
40:01It's larger than I thought it would be, isn't it?
40:03Yeah.
40:04Well, it's larger than I thought it would be as well.
40:06Yeah?
40:07Because for so long I was looking at this tiny little circle in the middle of the room and
40:13thinking, this is it.
40:14Yeah.
40:15But I mean, there's so much.
40:16There's so much work surface area.
40:18And as you look upstairs, all this light comes flooding in from the roof and you can
40:23see out there.
40:24Wherever you look, there are little glimpses of views out there through glass.
40:28One thing that strikes me about this space that I've never ever clocked before is how much
40:35light there is.
40:36Yeah.
40:37I know it's an odd thing to say, because it was always going to be a glass house, but
40:40it's always been covered up.
40:41Yeah.
40:42So the garden kind of draws you towards it at this end, doesn't it?
40:44Yeah.
40:45Well, I think it will, yeah, when it is a proper garden.
40:47When it is a garden.
40:48Yeah.
40:49That's right, yeah.
40:50There should be a bit of decking out in front of the house here as well.
40:54So that'll soften the boundary between one side and another.
40:56Yeah.
40:57It makes you want to come down here and sit in it, doesn't it?
41:00It's not a formal room, it's just a nice family.
41:03Yeah.
41:04Because it's sort of an extension of the kitchen, isn't it?
41:06Yeah.
41:07It's the same single space.
41:08Yeah.
41:09That's right.
41:10You've got then a dining table.
41:11Somewhere you can come and sit down, but if somebody's cooking a meal or preparing
41:14food, they're still in the room with you.
41:16Yeah.
41:17And if you want to watch television with the kids, you can do that here.
41:19Yeah.
41:20On the other hand, you've also got your much more formal, kind of your bonus space.
41:25Yeah.
41:26Yeah.
41:27So what are you going to do in here?
41:28How's it going to work?
41:29This is a room that you can just come in to light the fire and be on your own.
41:33Play your own music.
41:34Yeah.
41:35Find some privacy away from the kids.
41:36Yeah.
41:37I imagine this room at Christmas time as well.
41:39Sort of all decorated along the beams and sort of all lit around the veranda as well.
41:44With all this glass, are you putting curtains up?
41:48I mean, how are you dealing with the problem of it?
41:49Yeah, we have got curtains.
41:50We've got just very plain, cream curtains that will just hang off.
41:54Sort of narrow poles, wrought iron poles or something.
41:57Mm-hm.
41:58So that'll just reflect the light back into the room at night?
42:01Yeah, just to soften everything, really.
42:03And this room is quite different, isn't it, to the other space through there?
42:06Because that's, in a way, quite contemporary, low ceiling flat.
42:09Yeah.
42:10This has got a pitched roof and all these kind of great joints.
42:14It's much more like a traditional barn, isn't it?
42:16Yeah, yeah.
42:17An old traditional barn.
42:18It's quite medieval, the flavour, isn't it?
42:20Yeah.
42:21And you've got that little view up there and it's almost like a gallery across the end of the room.
42:25Yeah, that's lovely. We love that.
42:29I love the way the powerful oak struts in the windows frame the views of the landscape,
42:35surrounding each room with a series of fantastic pictures.
42:42And the oak columns inside make the internal layout really successful.
42:47It feels like one connected space, but at the same time, it has rooms that have their own separate identities.
42:54God, this has also changed so much since I saw it last.
42:58All those panels have been filled in, haven't they?
43:01Oh, yeah, we have a proper...
43:03Fantastic.
43:04Proper landing.
43:06Haven't you just?
43:08It's great to be able to look down, isn't it, on that open space?
43:12It's a complicated space, but it...
43:15It works brilliantly, doesn't it?
43:17It works brilliantly, yeah.
43:18It really does.
43:19Yeah.
43:20And these great big solid timbers.
43:21I know.
43:22So lovely and chunky, isn't it?
43:23Really going to their own now.
43:24This is Ella's room.
43:25Yeah, this is Ella's room.
43:26The pink bedroom that she wanted.
43:29With all her dolls.
43:30Yeah.
43:31What a huge bed!
43:32A huge bed, yeah.
43:33Isn't it?
43:34Yeah, yeah.
43:35One of our co-operators made that for us.
43:36Really?
43:37And it still has to have a ladder fixed, actually, because she can't get in it.
43:39So you had that specially made for her?
43:40Yeah, we have.
43:41Yeah.
43:42And then, Felix's bedroom is this one, isn't it?
43:43Yep.
43:44Next one.
43:45It's a mirror image.
43:46Great.
43:47What a...
43:48What a colour!
43:49Intent, isn't it?
43:50A real boy's room.
43:51Wherever you go in this house, there's a view, and there's oak.
43:54Yeah.
43:55Throughout.
43:56Your room has the best view, though, doesn't it?
43:58Mm-hmm.
43:59It does, that's why we've got it.
44:01Wow.
44:02What.
44:03What a sight.
44:05Not a bad source of inspiration.
44:08Absolutely.
44:09You see all the way round.
44:11And you see so much sky.
44:14You're part of it, almost.
44:16You're part of all the seasons, as well.
44:18Yeah.
44:19And, I mean, how do you sleep?
44:21I mean, do you both need absolute blackout?
44:23Yes.
44:24Well, I do.
44:25So what are you going to do?
44:26No, I don't.
44:27No, I...
44:28I hate the morning.
44:29I hate you woken up.
44:30We'll have curtains up, but whether they'll be closed every night, I don't know.
44:35I mean, in the morning, when you wake up.
44:37I know.
44:38Is it going to be, I mean...
44:39It'll be fantastic.
44:40It'll be sensational.
44:41Every day is going to be different.
44:42Yeah.
44:43Isn't it?
44:44Like a sort of holiday place that you come on holiday to, isn't it?
44:47That's how it feels to me.
44:48Yeah.
45:00Have you built your dream home?
45:12Yeah, I think so.
45:14Yeah, I think I have.
45:15I mean, obviously, you know, we've got to live in it.
45:18And...
45:19But from what we've got so far and what we can see, I think we both think we have.
45:25Don't we?
45:26We've...
45:27Hmm.
45:28Ask us in ten years.
45:29Yeah, we've...
45:31But it has been very expensive to build, hasn't it?
45:33It has been very expensive to build.
45:35The budget was 250, and we've ended up spending about 100 on top of that.
45:41So, where's that money come from?
45:43The bank.
45:44You just borrowed more?
45:45We've just borrowed more, yeah.
45:46We've just remortgaged.
45:47So, does that make your repayments excessive?
45:51It makes our repayments fairly painful.
45:55Um...
45:56I'm going to have to work rather hard.
45:59Would you ever, ever sell it?
46:02No.
46:03Yes.
46:04No.
46:05No.
46:06No.
46:07Why yes?
46:08After all the heartache?
46:10I don't think this is our last house.
46:12I don't really think this is...
46:13Do you think this is forever and ever?
46:15Do you think this is your last house?
46:17This is my death nest.
46:18Is it?
46:19We said...
46:20Yeah.
46:21It's his death nest.
46:24But having gone through this extremely lengthy process, you were a year in the bungalow even
46:29before you started to build.
46:30I know what you're going to ask.
46:31Yeah.
46:32Do you?
46:33You're going to ask us if we'd do it again.
46:35Well, I am.
46:36Yeah.
46:37And the answer's no.
46:39Well, knowing what you know now, would you have done it?
46:43Oh, yes.
46:44Definitely.
46:45Yes.
46:46Yeah.
46:47Yeah.
46:48As I say, as soon as I saw this plot, I thought, this has to be done.
46:51But I knew then how much pain we were going to have to go through.
46:55I really think that this building plot, this position, this location really did demand
47:00something extra special to be put on it.
47:03Mm.
47:04Like all self builders that I've met, Rupert and Julie have been through a lot of heartache and
47:18hard slog to get here.
47:20But what they've got as a result is a handmade, really friendly house, one with loads of character.
47:27Not just because of all this oak, but because it reaches out into the landscape and the world
47:33outside, grabs hold of it and brings it right back indoors.
47:37This is a house that doesn't just live in its natural setting.
47:42It also lives up to it.
47:44It is a house that doesn't make youSE.
47:45In the house, it doesn't have to be moved to the house.
47:47You know what I've been doing right now.
47:48People are not here.
47:49It's only time to build it to the house.
47:50It's ok.
47:51You can get one of these.
47:52It's a lifestyle.
47:53It's a new thing.
47:54It's an area.
47:55It's a new thing.
47:56Then the just a house is a new thing.
47:58It's a new thing.
48:00You can get one of these.
48:02It puts a new thing in the street.
48:03You can get one of these.
48:04It's a new thing over here.
48:05It's all about the house.
48:07You can get one of these.
48:09You have the张-mean.
48:10You can get one of these things in the house.