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I thought it was pretty impressive, the end result was an amazing building. From the outset he appeared to be setting himself up for failure, with a difficult building, not enough budget and problems with access. Most projects on GD falter and take twice as long as expected even without those issues. Granted he managed to get round a lot of it by throwing massive quantities of cash at it, but money alone doesn't make a project a success. Somebody had their hand very firmly on the rudder to get a high quality finish in that short space of time.

Best GD yet I reckon. He got that building out of sheer ambition and bloody mindedness. If it had failed nobody would have been surprised but he didn't, he got away with it, and deserves the home he now has.
 
ringo said:
I thought it was pretty impressive, the end result was an amazing building. From the outset he appeared to be setting himself up for failure, with a difficult building, not enough budget and problems with access. Most projects on GD falter and take twice as long as expected even without those issues. Granted he managed to get round a lot of it by throwing massive quantities of cash at it, but money alone doesn't make a project a success. Somebody had their hand very firmly on the rudder to get a high quality finish in that short space of time.
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Agree with all of this but that "somebody" was the project manager.

Lee is quite clearly an exceptionally driven and successful young man and deserves a lot of credit for that. I also found him quite engaging and the kind of bloke I'd like to have a drink with. Anyone who can get their hands on over 2 million quid in that space of time gets my respect. But that's respect for what he's done in the past rather than for this project. The build itself wasn't exceptionally conceived or executed, imo, and came in massively over budget. Lee hadn't even been in to the tank before they bought the building! If you can keep chucking cash in, most things are achievable.

For me, the best GD's are the ones where the ultimate owners have conceived, designed, and managed/built the property, at or close to the allocated budget. These guys basically got people to interior design and renovate a tower, build a cube and a lift shaft, and join them up with glass at HUGE cost. Their involvement seemed to be picking the fixtures and fittings, and most of the scenes with Lee in them were him talking about the financials.

Maybe the production of the program failed to give them due credit for input that we didn't see.

I'd also liked to have seen more of the engineering aspects; how much structural renovation went in; the plumbing system to the upper floors (what did they replace the tank with?); fire safety measures etc,.

As you say they've finished-up with a landmark building with peerless views which they thoroughly deserve. It just wasn't what I find most appealing about Grand Designs.
 
Spymaster said:
Agree with all of this but that "somebody" was the project manager.
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No buts required, I know it was the project manager, but thought it odd they didn't really feature him much.

My point re the money was that it is possible to chuck loads of money at something and still have a massive failure.

tbh i think the design part is opinion, I liked it, and thought it looked great. Still think it must be a pain in the arse to live in though.
 
It's one hell of a space. Not sure I'd want to live in such a cavernous space though.

Well, I could, but I'd have a band studio in there.
 
ringo said:
No buts required, I know it was the project manager, but thought it odd they didn't really feature him much.
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Arguably the most impressive guy on the build and I think we only heard from him twice.

My point re the money was that it is possible to chuck loads of money at something and still have a massive failure.
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For sure, and a series of "Grand Designs - Spectacular Fuck Up's" would make compulsive viewing!
 
Project manager certainly deserves some credit. They also had an architect, and it looked like he was involved throughout the construction phase too, which often isn't the case on GD.
 
Water tower's not a patch on this one...

houseboat-washed-up-on-th-007.jpg
 
Spymaster said:
Lee is quite clearly an exceptionally driven and successful young man and deserves a lot of credit for that. I also found him quite engaging and the kind of bloke I'd like to have a drink with. Anyone who can get their hands on over 2 million quid in that space of time gets my respect. But that's respect for what he's done in the past rather than for this project. The build itself wasn't exceptionally conceived or executed, imo, and came in massively over budget. Lee hadn't even been in to the tank before they bought the building! If you can keep chucking cash in, most things are achievable.

For me, the best GD's are the ones where the ultimate owners have conceived, designed, and managed/built the property, at or close to the allocated budget. These guys basically got people to interior design and renovate a tower, build a cube and a lift shaft, and join them up with glass at HUGE cost.
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I totally agree with this. No insult to the owners here, but their main achievement here was funding the build.

My favourite GD to date was the charcoal burner, who pretty much built things just himself and mates:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs/4od#2920078
 
Bahnhof Strasse said:
That guy's a legend. And he made the prettiest house ever :cool:
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He did pretty damned good, didn't he. It's the designs like that, and the houseboat, that I think are best. There was a strawhouse guy in France too. I guess that to my mind there's got to be something unusual or innovative to qualify for the grand part of the title.
 
Lemon Eddy said:
He did pretty damned good, didn't he. It's the designs like that, and the houseboat, that I think are best. There was a strawhouse guy in France too. I guess that to my mind there's got to be something unusual or innovative to qualify for the grand part of the title.
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Yep, if I win the Euromillions tomorrow I've got my eye on a plot near here that's for sale, but don't think GD would be interested in filming it, will just be a fun palace that's had £millions thrown at it by some cunt who's sat on a beach in the Caribbean whilst the builders get on with things.
 
Bahnhof Strasse said:
It broke free of its moorings and washed up on the coast in Essex :D

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/854380-grand-designs-houseboat-neglected-by-couple-washes-up-on-beach


The Lapland New Forest of architecture.
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One of the boatyards they were on (not the first one, that guy was a saint) was the one my mates lived on first, bloke that ran it was a twat, might be someone different now, when we saw the boatyard they were on Mr Loo and myself looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
 
Lemon Eddy said:
Has that episode of GD been expunged? Can't find it in ther 4OD listing
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They seem to be taking ages to put their programmes up this week, still haven't been able to watch 'Fresh Meat' (I think it's just been published today) - edit: sorry, just realised you meant the barge one!

Watched GD last night, yes, very impressive, but I thought it felt a bit claustrophobic. Hard to tell without being there. Must be worth millions now though!
 
Lemon Eddy said:
Out of interest, why do you think it's a fire-risk? It's not as if there's not a number of old wooden houses kicking about.
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Indeed. He would have had to comply with building regs in any case. Don't see any reason to think it's more of a fire risk than lots of other more conventionally built houses.
 
Lemon Eddy said:
Out of interest, why do you think it's a fire-risk? It's not as if there's not a number of old wooden houses kicking about.
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The walls being made of straw bales were probably a step too far for me. There's nothing in that house that wouldn't burn like a bastard if an accident happened.
 
Spymaster said:
The walls being made of straw bales were probably a step too far for me. There's nothing in that house that wouldn't burn like a bastard if an accident happened.
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I know this sounds daft, but apparently strawbale houses are less prone to burning than standard building materials.

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/straw-bale-house1.htm

"It might seem like straw bale houses pose a tremendous fire hazard, but they provide roughly three times the fire resistance of conventional homes [source: Morrison]. Loose straw is indeed flammable, but the bales are so tightly packed that they actually increase fire resistance. In a tightly packed bale, there's no oxygen, which reduces the chance for combustion. The plaster coating of the walls adds an additional fire-resistant seal. The National Research Council of Canada conducted testing where straw bale walls withstood temperatures up to 1,850 degrees Fahrenheit (1,010 degrees Celsius) for two hours [source: Magwood, Mack, Therrien]."
 
Lemon Eddy said:
I know this sounds daft, but apparently strawbale houses are less prone to burning than standard building materials.

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/straw-bale-house1.htm

"It might seem like straw bale houses pose a tremendous fire hazard, but they provide roughly three times the fire resistance of conventional homes [source: Morrison]. Loose straw is indeed flammable, but the bales are so tightly packed that they actually increase fire resistance. In a tightly packed bale, there's no oxygen, which reduces the chance for combustion. The plaster coating of the walls adds an additional fire-resistant seal. The National Research Council of Canada conducted testing where straw bale walls withstood temperatures up to 1,850 degrees Fahrenheit (1,010 degrees Celsius) for two hours [source: Magwood, Mack, Therrien]."
Click to expand...

Well hush ma mouth! :)

I've built houses and had no idea.
 
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