Grand Designs (1999–…): Season 3, Episode 4 - The Victorian Threshing Barn, Surrey - full transcript

I would like it to
feel like a sculpture.

That's the thing we
really want to achieve.

Yeah, but very open, very pure.

Hold on, now the precious, precious air!

It's our soul. There's blood and
guts in it as well, not just ours.

Imagine building a spacious
and highly contemporary home.

Imagine incorporating some of the
most innovative technology available.

Imagine curves, glass, light and space.

Now, imagine it planted
smack bang in the

middle of a traditional
village like this.

Well, that's just what this
week's couple are going to do.



How? By building their very modern
home inside a 150-year-old barn.

And this is it, a Victorian
timber-clad threshing barn,

one of a collection of farm
buildings in this Surrey village.

It's in a charming position
overlooking the parish church.

Its owners are Philip and Angela Trail.

At the moment, they're living in a
small cottage just next to the barn along

with their two daughters.

They moved to Surrey from London
two years ago to be near Philip's parents,

who own the land.

Since this is a Grade 2 listed
building near Greenbelt Land,

getting planning consent for the
barn conversion has been a slow and

delicate process.

But they now have the all clear.

Oh, wow, what a space.



How old is this barn?

1840s.

Right. And it's in good nick.

It is, actually.

Surely there's a few holes up in the top.

The original brief to the architect
was we wanted something innovative,

and we wanted
something elegant, and

we wanted something
in tune with the barn,

but that wasn't going to be the
traditional way that other people have

converted barns.

We wanted to do something unique.

What we're putting
in here, and if you

look, actually, at that
wasps' nest up there

and the queen's nest a bit
higher up, we are putting in,

just as the wasps have put
their nest in, we're putting pods in.

So you have these wonderful
two-dimensional curves that side,

and we can go over
there and show it to

you, and three-dimensional
curves this side.

So you'll have a study...

So this, when you say a three-dimensional
curve, that'll look like a real

bee's nest, or a wasp's nest.

Yeah, slightly larger.

Like a bulbous
shape within... Yeah.

I would like it to
feel like a sculpture.

That's the thing we
really want to achieve.

But very open, very pure, very clean
in its colour, very clean in its space,

and sort of the light aspect of it.

It's an ambitious plan.

Because it's a listed building,
the exterior will have to remain

comparatively unchanged,

although the adjacent stable block
will become integrated into the main

building as the kitchen.

It's when you go inside that you'll
experience the transformation.

Much of the main living space will
utilise its massive 8.5-metre height.

The bedrooms and
bathrooms are at either end

of the barn, grouped
into pod-like structures.

The rooms are connected by a
dramatic suspended walkway.

Upstairs, the main bedroom looks out
to the church where Philip and Angela

were married.

The budget for the
build is £390,000

capital from the sale
of their London home,

plus a small mortgage.
The schedule is 26 weeks.

Philip's office is in a converted
granary just next to the barn.

He's an IT specialist with British Telecom.

This office is also the
organisational centre for the build.

Philip isn't doing the build himself,
but he wants to be the driving force

behind the project.

And since he works
and lives on site, he

can keep a very close
eye on proceedings.

The initial role is coordinating all
the parts of the team so that she works

well together.

And we have seen that
in the initial team meeting.

The engineer, the architect, the
builder and all the other aspects of it.

Who's going to deliver the stairs,
who's going to deliver the glass aspect

of it.

The first stage of the build kicks off.

This old cowshed is being
converted into a garage.

A third of the structure is coming down,

just so that the building won't obscure
the view of the church from the new

main bedroom.

The building contractor is a local man,
Peter Shoesmith, who works with his

regular team.

Philip and Angela are embarking
on building their dream home.

But their motivation for doing
so is more the stuff of nightmares.

In February 2000, our
second daughter was born.

And six weeks later, Philip
sadly ended up in intensive care.

And a month later, we found out
first they thought it was encephalitis,

which is a virus.

And it turned out actually
Philip's got a brain tumour.

So we thought, right, what are we
going to do? Life change needed here.

And we decided that we wouldn't go
down the conventional medicine route.

And we decided that together we'd
follow a naturopathic route, so nutrition.

We knew we couldn't
achieve this in London,

not in a semi-detached
house in Clapham.

And we just needed
space, we needed to live.

This is where you change
your diet completely and you eat.

Vegan, organic.
And we knew Philip's parents had room.

And they also were brilliant and
volunteered to help on a daily basis.

Building a house is a very
stressful, very draining experience.

I just wonder whether or
not you'd spoken about that.

Because you don't want too much
more stress in your lives, do you?

Philip is focusing himself on this build.

And I think it's good for him
to see himself doing things.

People who have chronic illnesses, if
you have a challenge and something to

work towards, they're the people
who survive, being blunt about it.

And so, you know, Philip wants to do
this, he's going to provide a fantastic

family home for us.

And I'll do everything I can and
pull out every stop to support him.

Does that matter to
you that it's challenging?

That it's not just a straightforward box?

Yes. I think I would be very bored if
it was just a standard box with, you

know, four windows and
a door on the front side.

Yeah. Because it's going to
be quite unusual, this house.

You're an achiever, Philip, yeah?
Is this then another girl, another hurdle?

I think it would probably be one of
the major ones, because we're doing it

to live in for the rest of our lives.

It's May, and time
to start stripping

the old barn back,
starting with the roof.

There's the obvious few things that
you find this age of roof, but nothing

out of the ordinary.

Although we have got a bit of
different levels running through here, but

nothing too much to worry about.

There are 13,000 tiles on this roof,
a mixture of the 19th century Clay

tiles, which will get reused, and
some recent concrete ones, which won't.

These are horrible concrete ones
that should have never been up here.

Whoever put these up here will never
go to heaven, I don't think. I'm pretty

much sure of that.

I think the biggest challenge for
us in this job is going to be getting it

done on time, and dealing
with the unknown aspects of it.

Having the clients living on site can
be a bit of a problem, but hopefully

we'll get over that.

Usually the fact that they're on site
every day, and they can tend to slow

the job up if you let it.

But I think we've set down a
few ground rules already on this.

I just feel that it's
all coming together.

It's amazingly fast,
this stage actually.

That is quite nerve-wracking to
suddenly see it all coming down like this.

Let's hope that when it goes up it's
perhaps a bit slower and we can become

accustomed to it, I hope.

Philip and Angela are exacting clients.

The original architect who came up
with the scheme was replaced after they

got planning permission.

Keen to push the project through,
they wanted an architect who was willing

to get a move on.

They found her.

Biking enthusiast Elspeth Beard
was recommended to the trails primarily

because of her experience
with historic building conversions.

She designed and converted her own
home, this award-winning water tower,

which dates from 1898.

A real labour of love, she spent
seven years on the project, physically

doing much of the build herself.

How many steps?

It's 120 stairs to the living
room and 140 up to the roof.

And your living space is right at the top?

Yes, it's basically where
the old tank used to be.

Every building should tell a story
and every building has its history.

And the work here,
has it helped and

fed into the work
you're doing at the barn?

I think it's quite similar. I don't think
you should convert buildings in an

oldie-oldie way.

I think it should be very clear that
what is new is new and modern and what

was existing is existing.

So old is old and new is new and
there should be a clear and sharp division

throughout the building, everywhere.

Exactly.

That's a kind of very simple rationale
but quite difficult to work out in

detail, I guess.

It is quite difficult but I think in
doing it, that's what makes it work.

I think you just have to
show the building respect.

Before the rebuilding can start, the
structure of the old barn needs to be

stripped right back to
reveal its bare skeleton.

Cut.

It's still very early days on the barn
but to Mark one small achievement,

the conversion of the
cart shed into a garage,

Philip and Angela are going
to put up a weather vane.

It's sort of almost like topping out.
I know it isn't but it's the cart shed

finished and moving on to the big barn.

There you go.

Brilliant. Oh, it looks great.
Look, really. Look what Danny did. Look.

Group hug.

It's good, isn't it?

Just feels like we've achieved something.

I'm looking forward to
topping that off, I think.

Yeah.

Bit of a bigger space.

The character of ancient buildings
like this is composed of a myriad number

of elements and tiny details.

Ride roughshod over those and
you kill the character of the place.

Now, it's up to Peter
here to maintain all

the bumps and the
wavy Ridge of this roof,

to reuse these tiles sensitively, to
re-clad this building with appropriate

materials and to look after the frame.

So if he gets it wrong in any way,
he's going to be judged not only by

Philip and Angela,

but also and perhaps especially
by everyone that lives in this village.

It's June, week four
on the barn conversion

and the focus has
moved to ground level.

Holes are dug and filled with concrete
to provide a stable base under each

of the main timber
columns that will be

taking the weight
of the new structure.

And the unusable tiles from the roof
are recycled to form the hard core base

for the floor.

It's a big old space now, isn't it?

Yeah, it's fantastic.

Are you pleased?

Very pleased.

I think the most significant thing
that's changed or that made us realise

how really vast it is, is when
they knock the roots door down.

Right.

So now I can stand against
that wall and look right through.

Look all the way down.

Now you've taken the wall cladding
off, that must introduce a lot of light,

make space feel much more airy.

Yeah, true.

It's great.

I mean some of it you sort of look
up and you see part of the felt coming

down and we've had a lot of rain recently.

Yeah.

But it just adds to the
romanticism of it, actually.

Is it stressful?

It is very, it is stressful I have to say.

I do a lot of shouting.

My eldest daughter asked to ring her
grandmother and I dialled for her and

she rang and said, 'Mummy's on shouting'.

And my mother
said, 'Oh, perhaps you

ought to do a bit of
stress management'.

You know we get to
the evenings and all we

talk about is the barn
and yes it's exciting,

but I think, 'Gosh, what the hell
are we going to do when we finish this

project? What are we going to talk about?'

The schedule's tight and a few
days later the concrete floor is poured.

It's in Peter's interest to bring
the build in on time because Philip's

offered him a large bonus if he manages it.

A couple of hours hard work and it'll
be done so not too much of a worry.

And it's Friday and England lost
the football so it gives us something to

work our aggression off on.

Philip convenes regular meetings
with all the key players on the build.

The architect Elspeth comes
on site two or three times a week.

So this is the actual door
and this is the external.

This is external road.

Philip likes to keep abreast
of every detail in the project.

He views it all as
a business venture

that has to be
carried out efficiently.

You're very technologically
minded, aren't you?

Yes.

You've got your little palm pilot.

Yes.

What do you call it?

I always carry it in the top pocket.

Everywhere?

Yeah.

What have you got on this?

A lot of information drawings and
you can actually put websites on there.

That's terrific.

This is the entire build.

That's the volumetric drawing.

Sort of three dimensional aspect drawing.

Little toy.

But then what about schedule
and... Yes, diaries on here as well.

Everything.

Yes.

In a sense, I mean, using all the
skills that you would use ordinarily in

business life.

Exactly.

That's exactly what it is, yeah.

I mean, I work in the
communications industry anyway.

And that's exactly what is important
for the team to communicate.

There's a forecast
of good weather, so

Peter's decided to
finish stripping the roof.

It's the last stage in exposing the
frame of the barn to the elements.

It's actually very exciting because
it's become such an open structure

and you can really sort of see the
basis of the wood and just the way it was

in its sort of crystal skeleton
form, I suppose, yeah.

You see it like this and think,
what a shame to be putting rooms in.

The speed of the
transformation is only

matched by the
speed of the spending.

You're not just going and
buying a house for just one check.

Every check is just a small amount.

I mean, it can be everything from
sort of £500 to X amount of £1000.

But it's just lots of them, you know.

I'm starting to go through
checkbooks quite easily.

Oh, yes.

You have to.

That's all part of it, yeah.

What is a real surprise
to us is that with

the sun coming
through with the roof off,

you can see that that truss is
hand done and that one isn't.

That one's machined.

And it's gorgeous.

That's machine and
that's hand done as well.

Do you think?

Well, they won't have had
machines as such to cut those, no.

But the great thing
is we'll actually

see that truss coming
out of our bedroom.

Phew, that was lucky
that we chose that one.

That's really nice.

Roof's in pretty good
condition really for its age.

One or two of the rafter feet
are a little bit rotten and split.

So we're going to replace those.

It's got a bit of a lean on it, which
I think is going to give it character

when it's finished.

But generally it's pretty stable.

It's quite exciting when it's like
this because it's probably never been

like this since it was put up.

This building is now at its most minimal.

It's a skeleton of a barn.

It's neither agricultural
nor is it a house.

And I wonder just how successful
it's going to be, you know,

whether the relationship
of old and new

is going to be really
clear and obvious.

But for now it's impossible to say.

This is a building in metamorphosis.

This barn in Favisham, Kent, achieves
much that Philip and Angela's design

aspires to.

It's a Jacobean ailed barn,

and its dramatic interior is the last
thing you'd think of at the mention of

the words "barn conversion".

The rooms, or mezzanines,
are semi-open teacups,

and the juxtaposition of new and
ancient has a refreshing honesty.

It was designed by circus architects
who've matched the agricultural rawness

of the barn with a sculptural purity.

The bulk of the weight of the new
insertions is transferred to the old

structure with some elegant
and visible engineering.

This barn took 18 months and
around half a million to create.

Philip and Angela are trying to
build theirs for considerably less and in

just six months.

It's a tall order for Elspeth to deliver,

especially as working
with old buildings is

much more taxing
than a brand new build.

It's quite flat that side.

It's just that bit there.

Yeah, this bit's quite
dipped here where

the beams have
dropped over the years.

My drawings that I've done and
the dimensions and the floor to ceiling

heights that I've worked
out are based on a

kind of average
dimension that I've taken,

but it's not going to be the same
throughout the length of the barn because

it just won't be.

Some of the main trust members vary
from a foot from one end to the other.

We're sort of trying
to work within a space

that everything is
all over the place.

So it's quite hard.

So there may be bits where
you have to duck your head a bit,

but that's part of living and
converting a building like this, I think.

Two weeks later and the skeletal
shell starts to disappear as the rebuilding

gets underway.

The walls of the downstairs study are up

and the roof's been insulated
with 85mm of top-spec boarding.

Up on the roof, 8,000 of the
original Clay tiles are going back up,

along with 5,000 second-hand ones.

Maintaining the weathered
look of the barn comes at a price.

Each of these handmade tiles costs
70p, whereas a modern machine-cut tile

would be just 20p.

It's really nice to see
it all from this height.

That's why the planners
liked it, because we've kept

this huge space and we've
jammed everything inside.

Philip's meticulous attention to detail
ranges from discussing exactly where

to reposition a window

to the precise size of the kitchen unit.

OK, so that's double, so
you've got that one and this one.

In other words, say
this is X, the middle

bit is also X, not
2X, and this is X.

Philip is a perfectionist,
wants to carry

it through and see
it all perfectly done.

Is that not just asking himself too much?

Yeah, maybe. Maybe we have to wait and see.

But I do worry that Philip will get
tired because he's doing so much.

I know him really well, we've been
together for, what, 12 years now, and

that's what drives him, that's
what makes him who he is.

So the actual headroom
in here is fine, isn't it?

But Philip and Angela now
face their most testing time.

The project's still
in its early stages

and their trusted
architect, Elspeth,

is about to leave the
country for three months.

It's early August, nearly three months in.

The stable's been demolished in
order to be rebuilt as the kitchen.

Inside it's all go.
The steelwork has arrived on site.

These massive curved
beams will be bolted together

to make a structural frame for the
rooms and the suspended walkway.

It's make or break time, and Peter's
praying the measurements are spot on.

Unlike timber, with steel you
can't just plane a bit off if it's too big.

So, yeah, they've got to be right.

Absolutely comfortable.

And if it doesn't fit we can
move the walls of the barn in.

The walkway has to bridge the seven
and a half metre void across the barn.

To get the curves and spans they
want, Philip and Angela have to use steel.

This is Elspeth's last day before
she leaves for a three month biking trip

around the world, a
long-standing arrangement.

She's relieved to be on hand
for this vital part of the build.

The structural engineer, Bill Reid,
has had the challenge of designing this

complex cantilevered structure.

Whilst we can actually
design things, we

don't know really 100%
whether they'll work.

Particularly when you've got a
complicated structure like this.

So we need to see that it works well.

I really wanted to see the steel work in.
I just wanted to see the

proportions of how it all worked.

Are you telling me now I've
made you look like a It's okay.

I'm pleased with the height. I was
worried it might feel a bit intrusive and

down on you.

The whole point was we didn't want
any pillars underneath because we wanted

the feeling of space.

And I think it's working now.
It is working now.

It's really nice now I
have seen the steel in.

So I've got a very good idea in my
mind now of what it's going to look like

when I come back.

But it'll be nice for it all to be done
and I haven't had to deal with any

of the hassles and the hard works.

I think Philip and Angela are more
than capable of finishing it off without

me.

So I have every confidence in them.

Philip and Angela are treading a fine
path between keeping the old and new

separate and making them work together.

And one place that that path has
been trodden perfectly is here at Wycolla

in Lancashire.

This stone barn dates from the 1630s.

It was recently converted into
an award-winning visitor's centre.

The architects have respected and
worked around this magnificent structure

whilst creating a
successful public building.

They've achieved this by inserting a
radically contemporary exhibition space

along two sides of the barn.

And the resulting impact
on the barn is minimal.

What I like about
this base is how the

old is really old and
the new is sharp.

It's explicitly contemporary,
near the twainstall meet.

Especially in this case because the
new bits hardly even make contact with

the structure of the barn.

Now because of this clear contrast
between ancient and modern, the two sort

of point each other up.

So the primitive and imperfect
character of the barn is thrown into sharp

focus by the very perfect,
minimal exhibition walls.

But of course, this is a visitor's centre.

Imagine this was a house
and I'm in my lounge.

Now I'd like my kitchen
over there, bathroom,

bedroom, TV, rugs
and nice lighting.

Big pair of speakers on the columns here.

Just wouldn't work, would it?

All that modern paraphernalia
just clouds that crisp distinction.

And that's the problem
that Philip and Angela face.

They have to put all
this stuff into their house.

They have to keep that distinction
between old and new clear.

And they have to make it into a home.

Impossible.

Three months into
the build and the stable

has been rebuilt to
become the kitchen.

Inside the barn, the stud work is up.

This is a day Peter has been dreading.

Today we're going to be installing
the really heavy reinforcing beams to

reinforce the last two truss
beams across the barn.

Not been looking
forward to doing this bit

but we'll hopefully
get it all done today.

The old frame of this barn was only
ever designed to support the original

building, not any of the
radical new additions.

So some of the trusses are being
reinforced with quarter tonne steel plates.

They'll be clamped
and bolted into place

and then hidden behind
Douglas fir timbers.

And it all happens
five metres up in the air.

Hang on, hang on, hang on.

This is a nightmare job.

Bolting metres of unwieldy precision
cut metal into a wonky old beam.

Right to the left.

No, hang on, you don't, no, just wait.

Are the forks catching on the thing?

Yeah, I know, I just want to
get it closer to the beam first.

Right, now pull this back this way.

Jim's end isn't stuck.

Just slide it across there now.

One, two, three, four.

Keep going.

Hold on, now the pressure's there.

After struggling for five hours,
Peter and his team have managed to

reinforce one truss.

Let's see, let's see, let's see.

Ready?

They're tightened, weren't they?

One of the most frustrating days
I've had ever, I think, in building.

Yeah, it's a difficult job, but it could
have gone a bit more easy, I think.

The result isn't as
obtrusive as I'd feared.

And the wood will get sandblasted
to blend it with the old oak.

We're 14 weeks into the build now
and things are really cracking on.

All of the big fluid
curvy shapes are now in,

but what's really exciting is the
big space in between them that's left.

Not only is it bigger
than I thought it

would be, it too is
also fluid and curvy.

The internal space is
starting to take shape.

As you can imagine, putting these
large curving structures into an old barn

requires some inspired engineering.

This old barn was
originally designed

just to take its own
weight, so how come?

It can now take the
weight of all this extra stuff.

Well, that's very clever.

Only the new top floor master bedroom
actually rests on the original frame.

Everything else rests on new structures.

So, for example, this big steel
walkway carries its load through this wall

to this new concrete floor.

All of this heavy steel work
at this end of the building

pushes its load down
through these new

columns to massive
concrete footings beneath.

And for that matter,
the whole of this

end structure rests
seesawed cantilevers

off this huge heavy blockwork wall.

It's as though all of the new insertions
hover within the rather beleaguered

old frame.

So you two, are you
pleased with the progress?

Gosh, yes. It's an understatement.

That's a fantastic note.
It really has blossomed.

So you're on budget. Yes.
You're on schedule. Mm-hm.

So what's your secret?

There's sheer bloody
determination on your part.

And you need that. There's no way
I think you can achieve a self-build

without being determined to succeed.

Sometimes I worry he's over-focused.

You know, he's so excited by it.

Yes, because we're, you
know, we're going to live here.

Not everyone is quite so happy.

The architect is actually
commissioned to do supervision.

And as far as I can see,
there's no supervision going on.

It's great, isn't it? Look at this space.

Philip has made a few
alterations to the architect's plans.

He's moved a partition by a few inches.

And he's altered the curve of the
main bedroom, which will form the basis

for the pod.

I'm going to write to the client to
tell him that these things aren't in

accordance with the drawings.

And they, whilst I have no problems
with them, if there are any alterations,

he should actually
contact me or the architect.

Is that coming out a bit more than...

I think it is than
originally planned, but

you always wanted it
that far out, didn't you?

No, I think in a way that is like
that, it's much more curved to the left

end here that we were looking at.

So that's an improvement
you made to the original.

No, I think that was the original.

Really? In your head, all along.

He's a step ahead again.

The problem is with
architects' plans, how do

you actually contain a
three-dimensional object?

Even with the model, it was contained,
you know, because Ellsworth did this

fantastic model.

And it's very difficult to get that,
and it's sort of getting the feelings

and thoughts actually out into reality.

I'm getting to know Philip
more and what he's expecting.

I'm also finding it easier to tell
Philip if something that he's asking us

to do isn't right.

Right, yeah.

Which I think you also
have to do sometimes.

Yeah, just before Ellsworth left, she
said, was I happy to carry on looking

after the job while she was away.

And I said, well, it's quite lucky
that Philip's around because I've only.

got about 30 years of building experience,

and Ellsworth herself has probably
only got about 25, so it would be quite

handy having Philip around just to
keep us on the straight and narrow.

This is your bedroom, yeah?

Yeah.

Great view, isn't it?

Yeah.

Perfect.

Absolutely fantastic.

You always walk into
the picture, don't you?

Yeah.

Waking up in the morning and
seeing that, it means something.

It's not that we've just bought a
property in a place that we didn't know.

That is our soul.

There's blood and guts
in it as well, not just ours.

It's September, week 18 on the
build, and the pressure's on to reach

completion by the end of November.

Builders like clean, straight lines.
Curves always present challenges.

If we wet it, it should hold like that
now because when the dam gets into

the plasterboard, it tends to
bend or do whatever anyway, so.

I'm angry. Obviously you've got
to do what the client wants, so.

Once a week, Angela
goes to her boxercise class.

Boxercise is really good
because I can get really angry.

Bend your knees now, punch into the body.

Better. Keep going.

Arms are going to hurt tomorrow.

Go on.

Oh, boy, it's good for stress.

I get cross by things, and cross, you
know, what's happened to Philip, and I

get cross because the
children are naughty and stuff,

and I think, you know,
you come and you

let it all out while
you try to build it.

Inducing dust.

Even diet nappies.

Yes, yes, yes.

Strange.

Philip works in IT, so he's intending
to network the entire house to

future-proof it, so that it's ready
for any technological advance.

Philip and Angela are laying
a lot of the cable themselves.

Yeah, that's a lot easier.

There is a lot of wiring running
through here, which consists of just about

everything under the sun.

I don't know how many wires there are here.
It must be 30 in this bundle.

Oh, my God, Father, there is.
It's like a telephone exchange in here.

Yes, well, it's got all the sort of the
technology all centred around here.

How many miles of
cable have you had to run?

Well, the computer cabling is about
1,000 metres, and we've still got about

600 metres to go.

Nearly a mile.
About a mile of computer cable.

When they turn it all on, the bomb
will probably glow and you'll probably be

able to see it from a satellite in space.

So that is exactly
how the wires go in

and where they
actually go to exactly.

There's a huge amount of detail, even
down to what's actually on the walls.

But a line for human error.

How do you know?
This one says Sec 11.

How do you know
that really is Sec 11?

Because I put that there.

October now. The helical staircase is
being painstakingly welded on site and

Angela's immersed in detail.

And you have a sea of tiles here.

Yeah, we get a gorgeous size.
They will run all the way around.

Think of a white room. These are
the floor tiles and you've got white

crackle tiles and then these are
just going to be placed randomly.

It doesn't matter if
two are the same.

Walls of the downstairs,
loo and shower.

This is the floor of the snail shower.
Gorgeous, isn't it?

This is the kitchen. We have two
sinks in the kitchen. This is our floor of

our bathroom.

Now that's, I've just seen
underneath it, that is not limestone.

No.

It looks like limestone.

I like that. It really is gorgeous.
The touch is gorgeous.

There really is.

Beautiful detail on that.

Peter's last challenge is how to create
the compound curved pod shape under

the main bedroom.

I've formulated a plan.

Elspeth, the architect, is back
from her travels for the final push.

How's it been going? Alright?

It's a bit hard work.

Yeah, yeah.

Have you seen the bags under our eyes?

I know.

Bloody hell.

Good, yeah.

That staircase is excellent, isn't it?

Yeah, it just works, doesn't it?
Just works.

It looks good from up here, doesn't it?
Doesn't it look good?

Why are the cupboards so far out?
I would have put them much further back.

He's hanging clothes. So does it
work out with the view from his bed?

Through that window?

I think it does from there, yes.

I know, believe it. What is all this about?

Have I seen anything like it?

That is quite an achievement.

If it works.

Oh, I think it's brilliant.
I really do. It's fantastic.

It's actually very close to
what I imagined it would be.

The last few weeks on any build are
usually manic, and Peter's beginning to

feel the strain.

It's quite stressful,
actually, and quite tiring.

And I think it's always
a bit difficult when

plants are on site
because they're there.

And as soon as I sit down for a
lunch break, I'm very big at interrupting.

But we're getting there.

It's November the 27th, just over
six months since the start of the build.

Philip Trail is a man who
likes to keep to his word.

He was confident that this ambitious
project would be finished on time.

And it is.

Hello, Philip. How are you?

Very well, thank you.

Very good to see you.

Come in, come in.
Lovely to see you. Welcome.

And you, and your house. Your house.

Oh, a bit finished.

Oh, my God.

You like it?

Finished? It's fantastic.

It's wild.

There's some pretty wacky
lighting that Philip's designed.

I love all that. Oak.
Beautiful, great, great.

It is exactly how we imagined it, isn't it?
Even better.

Exactly.

It is, yeah. No, it is.

Phenomenal. You really, really get
to still understand the barn, don't you?

The barn is all there.

Our bedroom area. A girlfriend
of ours actually came in and said,

"That's not a wasp's
nest, that's a tree house."

And I think she's probably right.

It's also quite fairy tale, isn't it?

There's a sort of romantic quality
to all these curves and shapes.

We also colour this with light.

We've had real fun with the lighting.

Yeah, we're starting to live here
and bring our things into it, you know,

and really sort of enjoy it.

Kitchen.

Kitchen.

Well, I almost forgive you
for knocking this place down,

cos this ceiling is a triumph.
You've put this back.

Yeah? Well, it looks beautiful.

But this is unabashed
luxury, isn't it, this kitchen?

We're always
juicing, we're always

cooking, or I'm always
juicing and cooking,

so this needs to feel
like a home from home.

I do like the line about
it, I like the curves.

It's happening in
the Macheco's, the

thing you've got
going out there, isn't it?

Looking at this, it's quite obvious
that you couldn't decide which temper

you were going to use as the
inlay, so you just chose all of them.

All of them, all 24 of them, in fact, yes.

They're very nice in the wall.

Aren't they lovely? Beautiful.

Shall we go upstairs? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This staircase is a bit
of a masterpiece, isn't it?

Real perfection.

You, er...
Oh, you've got a little window there?

Yeah.

To get a view of the church?

Yeah.

It's quite high up here, isn't it?

It is.

Yeah.

But you feel safe.

Yeah, yeah, you do, actually.

And children's bedrooms here?

Yes.

Each with a little window
to overlook the space?

Yeah, and bathroom?

Yes, bathroom on the back, and
then you've got the spare bedroom,

which is at one above.

And this is a great success.

It just flows through from
that sort of part of this,

so they don't seem like
separate elements any more.

It just seems like one
kind of curving structure.

Whoa! Yes, this is the
pamper centre, really, isn't it?

It certainly is.

Wow, what a space.

This is phenomenal.
This is your kit shower, isn't it?

Yes.

Sort of slots together.

Beautiful shape.

These tiles, they've worked beautifully.

They're sliced things.

Lovely.

What's that?

Uh-huh.

It's an audio system, yeah.

Every bathroom, kitchen, all the
places where you spend the most time,

you can have music and you
can have whichever... Sounds.

Exactly.

So this is the Queen's Nest?

Yes.

It is.

Yeah.

That's where the very worst nest
actually was, hanging in that corner.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, it was.

And you sorted your view out, haven't you?

Yeah.

Does it work?

It does.

It's fantastic.

It does, isn't it?

This place has always
really been a haven

for us, and now to
actually be part of that,

and, you know, everything we've
been through in the last couple of years,

we've been to hell and back
with your illness and things,

that this is... I just feel like
here we can live, there's space,

and whatever challenges
there are, we can rise to it,

because you just look out of that
window and you see that church

and you see the fields
and you can just go outside,

take a deep breath of air
and face the day, really.

This is no ordinary barn conversion.

It's a clever juxtaposition
of two strong ideas -

the straight lines
of an old agricultural

timber structure, echoed
in the new windows,

and the comfort of a
modern and sinuous

interior, exquisitely
finished and detailed.

Everywhere you look curves
into play with straight lines,

and 188 lights at a cost of
15 grand provide the mood.

On a scale of one to
ten, how pleased are you?

Oh, gosh, 12 plus.

I was going to say 11.

Definitely over ten. Brilliant.

But at the moment it's just like,
wow, has this really been achieved

and how beautiful it is.

It's a fantastic space just to sit
down in the middle of that barn

and just sort of gaze at the
ceilings that are really there

and just enjoy that
vision and the surrounds.

To me it's still the
barn, but I can still

see the wood chips
and the hay that side,

and I feel proud that we've
managed to maintain that feel.

What kind of clients do you think you were?

Oh, I don't know.

I think we can be tough clients,
but I think we always enjoyed it.

We always had smiling faces

and tried to make it an enjoyable
space for everybody who worked here,

and everybody did.

They really had good fun and
they've produced a fantastic place.

The final cost of the build was £450,000,

an increase of £60,000
on the original budget,

and that was simply
because labour and

material costs were
higher than anticipated.

So what have you learnt
about each other in this process?

I can't believe where
he gets his energy from.

I think I need to have a
few more carrot juices.

I can't run the pace he does.

You're very single-minded
and you are determined.

Gosh, you are determined.

He won't accept failure.

We delivered in that
exact six-month timeline.

Oh, well, you're a man
of your word, you see.

- Exactly. - Oh, yeah.

What have you learnt about her?

- I like this.
- Very understanding, solid person.

And... Shouts a lot.

I think our relationship is
deeper as a result of it, I really do.

And I think it's stronger
as a result of the project.

I think it's been tested.

Yeah, it has been.
It's been bent and pulled.

But sitting back and enjoying
this space, we have learnt from it.

I think the barn itself is very
happy, the way we've treated it.

We haven't taken away its character at all.

We've changed it slightly, but it's
still very much, as an old building,

enjoys what we've done to it
and we're enjoying living in it now.

Philip and Angela had a unique
and poignant reason for moving here

and doing this barn conversion.

And they built a unique and uplifting home.

It's dynamic, it's utterly contemporary.

And yet it pays such sensitive
respect to the original building.

I actually think it enhances it.

Theirs is a remarkable
achievement in every respect.

And it is a wonderful space.