Grand Designs (1999–…): Season 2, Episode 9 - The Glass-House: Revisited - full transcript
Kevin travels back to Doncaster to catch up with self-builders Michael Hird and Lindsay Harwood and their futuristic glass and steel house in a suburb of Doncaster
You know, it's nearly two years since
I was last here to look at this house.
And of course it was nowhere near complete.
So I'm really looking forward to
seeing it now that it is properly finished.
Hi, Kevin.
Let me in.
Yeah, what's the game?
Yeah, great. Thanks.
Hello.
Hi. Come in.
Thank you. How are you?
Hi, Kevin.
Nice to see you. It's like arriving at MI6.
Come into the house.
Boy, boy, what a place.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We're very proud of it, aren't we?
It's beautiful. And the floor is amazing.
What is this wood?
Cherry.
Cherry.
Well, you know, it's so warm, isn't it?
It kind of completely lifts the space.
Yes.
And your furniture, this is
from your old place, isn't it?
Yeah, that's from the chapel.
And those paintings, too.
It's like being in a gallery almost.
You know, they've each got their own place.
That's what we intended.
Oh, look at this.
The glass is staircase. Do you like it?
What a thing.
Do you know, I thought it was going
to be sticking through, but it's not.
This is just like a sheer wall of glass.
Very pure.
How does it support it? It's just glued.
Glued and gravity.
Unbelievable.
What a magical scene.
Beautiful greenness of the glass.
Absolutely.
You really enjoyed yourself.
Oh, yes.
Look at this.
It's very tactile, isn't it?
It's a kind of, yeah,
cow hide piece of art.
It's like a canvas, isn't it?
I like the concrete steps as well.
It's like Goldfinger's
kind of hideaway, isn't it?
It's kind of a very exciting place.
That looks great.
That looks really great.
Upstairs you've got the gaps
between those great big concrete plates.
And you've left those plain.
And you've got these soffits hung off
them anyway to break the surface up.
Yes.
They draw the eye.
Your eye's drawn to those.
Yeah, yeah.
The concrete's great.
It's against the sheer
white walls, isn't it?
And the glass too.
Yes.
Yes.
That's the second piece
of glass, by the way.
What there?
Yes, we haven't smashed.
What happened to the first one?
Yeah, it was broken.
Somebody threw a stone at it.
How much did it cost to replace?
A lot.
Well, I'd be out riding.
Oh, that was frightening.
Is that the only breakage?
No, unfortunately I broke one.
Did you?
Yes.
I broke that one.
This one here?
Yeah.
But you can't just go down
to the local glass shop.
It all comes from
Austria, so... Whoops.
Oh, well, that's a good idea.
Yes.
Oh, well, one of those things.
But it's in now.
Yeah.
Good.
And does this open?
Yes, it's on the electric motors.
So... Because it
weighs a quarter of a ton.
Oh.
So you can't just undo the latches
and go, because you'll go with it.
From certain angles, this building
might not look like a house, more an
office or an art
gallery, but the occasional transparent
wall gives you intriguing glimpses
of the beautiful home inside.
And it's a home full of gadgets.
It's great.
You've got a lot of space.
It's great.
You can just keep all your mess inside.
Oh, my God.
It's cool.
The big problem is, midnight
snacks are out of the question.
I love the way that this whole unit
is just one vast 15-feet-long piece of
stainless steel.
Very, very high-tech.
Do you get people coming in and
nosing your extraordinary piece of
architecture?
It's not so bad now that
they don't realise it's a house.
People actually think it's an office
or whatever it's been said, it's a
museum or a library.
But it was designed that way.
Colin did that for a reason.
I love sitting in each room, here,
the kitchen, our bedroom, watching the
busyness around
the house, people coming and going,
yet having this very sort of serene,
calming space.
But it's quite a
complicated space, isn't it?
It's the old cliche
luxury of space, I think.
Especially with the children,
they just think it's fantastic.
You're not too worried
about damaging
the paintwork and
scratching the floor.
No, you've got children, you can't be.
It's me that does that.
This is the one detail, the one
element, one thing that is particularly
pleasing that you could
gaze and look at all day.
The glass and the way the light reflects
on all the different types of glass
is fantastic.
Really?
Yeah.
It's a great way to build a house.
I don't think I necessarily would
build again. It would have to be a very
special place. We had a dream to build.
To a design that we wanted.
Something which we
considered to be beautiful.
Do you think we've succeeded?
Yes.
Has it surpassed what
you thought you'd get?
Yes. It makes me feel very emotional.
I have to admit, I did wonder whether
Collins Design would work and whether
this building would ever get finished.
But it's arrived and what
a statement for Doncaster.
Sure, it is striking architecture.
But where this place really succeeds,
I think, is in being both a modernist
building and an elegant, comfortable home.
I was last here to look at this house.
And of course it was nowhere near complete.
So I'm really looking forward to
seeing it now that it is properly finished.
Hi, Kevin.
Let me in.
Yeah, what's the game?
Yeah, great. Thanks.
Hello.
Hi. Come in.
Thank you. How are you?
Hi, Kevin.
Nice to see you. It's like arriving at MI6.
Come into the house.
Boy, boy, what a place.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We're very proud of it, aren't we?
It's beautiful. And the floor is amazing.
What is this wood?
Cherry.
Cherry.
Well, you know, it's so warm, isn't it?
It kind of completely lifts the space.
Yes.
And your furniture, this is
from your old place, isn't it?
Yeah, that's from the chapel.
And those paintings, too.
It's like being in a gallery almost.
You know, they've each got their own place.
That's what we intended.
Oh, look at this.
The glass is staircase. Do you like it?
What a thing.
Do you know, I thought it was going
to be sticking through, but it's not.
This is just like a sheer wall of glass.
Very pure.
How does it support it? It's just glued.
Glued and gravity.
Unbelievable.
What a magical scene.
Beautiful greenness of the glass.
Absolutely.
You really enjoyed yourself.
Oh, yes.
Look at this.
It's very tactile, isn't it?
It's a kind of, yeah,
cow hide piece of art.
It's like a canvas, isn't it?
I like the concrete steps as well.
It's like Goldfinger's
kind of hideaway, isn't it?
It's kind of a very exciting place.
That looks great.
That looks really great.
Upstairs you've got the gaps
between those great big concrete plates.
And you've left those plain.
And you've got these soffits hung off
them anyway to break the surface up.
Yes.
They draw the eye.
Your eye's drawn to those.
Yeah, yeah.
The concrete's great.
It's against the sheer
white walls, isn't it?
And the glass too.
Yes.
Yes.
That's the second piece
of glass, by the way.
What there?
Yes, we haven't smashed.
What happened to the first one?
Yeah, it was broken.
Somebody threw a stone at it.
How much did it cost to replace?
A lot.
Well, I'd be out riding.
Oh, that was frightening.
Is that the only breakage?
No, unfortunately I broke one.
Did you?
Yes.
I broke that one.
This one here?
Yeah.
But you can't just go down
to the local glass shop.
It all comes from
Austria, so... Whoops.
Oh, well, that's a good idea.
Yes.
Oh, well, one of those things.
But it's in now.
Yeah.
Good.
And does this open?
Yes, it's on the electric motors.
So... Because it
weighs a quarter of a ton.
Oh.
So you can't just undo the latches
and go, because you'll go with it.
From certain angles, this building
might not look like a house, more an
office or an art
gallery, but the occasional transparent
wall gives you intriguing glimpses
of the beautiful home inside.
And it's a home full of gadgets.
It's great.
You've got a lot of space.
It's great.
You can just keep all your mess inside.
Oh, my God.
It's cool.
The big problem is, midnight
snacks are out of the question.
I love the way that this whole unit
is just one vast 15-feet-long piece of
stainless steel.
Very, very high-tech.
Do you get people coming in and
nosing your extraordinary piece of
architecture?
It's not so bad now that
they don't realise it's a house.
People actually think it's an office
or whatever it's been said, it's a
museum or a library.
But it was designed that way.
Colin did that for a reason.
I love sitting in each room, here,
the kitchen, our bedroom, watching the
busyness around
the house, people coming and going,
yet having this very sort of serene,
calming space.
But it's quite a
complicated space, isn't it?
It's the old cliche
luxury of space, I think.
Especially with the children,
they just think it's fantastic.
You're not too worried
about damaging
the paintwork and
scratching the floor.
No, you've got children, you can't be.
It's me that does that.
This is the one detail, the one
element, one thing that is particularly
pleasing that you could
gaze and look at all day.
The glass and the way the light reflects
on all the different types of glass
is fantastic.
Really?
Yeah.
It's a great way to build a house.
I don't think I necessarily would
build again. It would have to be a very
special place. We had a dream to build.
To a design that we wanted.
Something which we
considered to be beautiful.
Do you think we've succeeded?
Yes.
Has it surpassed what
you thought you'd get?
Yes. It makes me feel very emotional.
I have to admit, I did wonder whether
Collins Design would work and whether
this building would ever get finished.
But it's arrived and what
a statement for Doncaster.
Sure, it is striking architecture.
But where this place really succeeds,
I think, is in being both a modernist
building and an elegant, comfortable home.