Kevin McCloud follows some of Britain’s most ambitious self-building projects, as intrepid individuals attempt to design and construct the home of their dreams.
In this episode, Kevin meets Kate and Rob, who have lived in a 1940s prefab built by Rob’s grandfather for eight years. Designed to be lived in for just 10 years, this factory-built house is well past its sell-by date. Now, Kate and Rob are at last in a position to replace it with a bespoke, modern, warm home – which will also be built in a factory using volumetric modular construction.
Over just six weeks, their new house will be manufactured on a production line, complete with insulation, tiling and kitchen installation. Six giant modules will then be transported to site and craned into position to create an exciting, unique three-bedroom house – almost overnight. Well, that’s the theory!
Despite major access issues meaning that their new house might not even be delivered, Rob and Kate forge ahead and demolish their old prefab. Now that there’s no turning back, problems have to be solved, and trust in their modular contractor has to be 100%.
On the face of it, Kate and Rob have embraced a reliable, efficient and cheap way of building a house, a method that could revolutionise the way we all build homes in the future. But one big question remains: will the end result really feel like the characterful home they’ve dreamt of, or just some kind of glorified static caravan?
Grand Designs – Wednesday at 9.00pm on Channel 4.
