Grand Designs (1999–…): Season 3, Episode 6 - The Terrace Conversion, Hackney - full transcript

I don't know if I dare look.

Oh my God.

Oh wow.

It's like a bomb has hit it.

We found five leak points
within this quite small area.

What I can't do is display
precisely what I'm feeling.

Because if I do that, everybody
would walk off the project.

If you live in a house like this and
you want more space or maybe even a

change of lifestyle,

you could build an
extension or convert the attic.

But what if you dream
of that cool, contemporary



look, all glass and
gleaming white walls that.

is now so fashionable?

Well, you could buy a modern apartment.

Or, as this week's couple are doing,
you could instead take a charming

Victorian terrace, leave the façade
standing and rip the rest of it apart.

John and Eleni Flood,
who are both lawyers,

have lived in this
house for ten years.

Now it's cramping their style.

So tell me what you're
going to do to your house.

Well, essentially we
are going to tear this

place apart and try
and bring in a lot more

light, make it a sunnier, brighter
place instead of being a little dark one.

But what you're going to be
doing is quite radical, isn't it?

You're going to be ripping
out an awful lot of walls.



All your internal walls, is that right?

All going.

Practically, yes.

What about ceilings?

Are they staying?

Cornices staying?

No.

No.

No cornices.

None of the original ceilings.

And upstairs even
the ceiling is being

raised anyhow, right
up to the roofline.

So there won't be the normal ceiling.

It's a major, major work.

Yes, but we do like
it when our architect

and the contractor
involved describes it as

a minor project.

That makes me feel better.

But inside it feels fairly major, yes.

The whole configuration
of the house will alter, really.

It will not look the same
inside as it does now.

We're looking for light and space.

Eleni and John's house is in a
typical, small, 19th century terrace.

It's been added to and altered and
it's cramped and dark, especially in the

middle of the house.

Why not just
simply sell out, buy a

brownfield site,
whatever, a plot and build?

The idea of starting afresh wasn't there.

We did look at other houses.

We thought maybe just sell up and
move, but we couldn't find anything that

had the balance of space and
rooms that we really wanted.

It was them really
thinking, "If we open

this up, we make this
house what we want."

Eleni and John will keep the front
and back facades of their house, but the

whole interior will
be demolished, gone.

On the ground floor, all the
internal walls are being pulled down.

Large glass doors
and a glass roof will

bring light into the
middle of the house.

And there's a new glass brick shower room.

On the first floor, the two bedrooms
will be knocked into one large space.

This space contains a bedroom
area and a study area for John.

The third bedroom becomes Eleni's
workroom, it's the only space which offers

any privacy.

Even the bathroom is made out of
glass, and one wall will house a fish tank.

John and Eleni really
will have nowhere to hide.

The total cost of this transformation
is budgeted at £110,000.

Eleni and John are
moving into a flat temporarily

while the house is
remodelled, and all the.

their stuff is being
packed off to the charity shops.

They're wiping the
slate clean, and their

brand new house
will be filled with brand

new things.

This is life-changing stuff.

Many people find
themselves at a point in

life where they have
to change, they have

to move, move on,
because their children

grow up or because
they change jobs.

There's nothing in your lives at the
moment which seems to compel you to

have to change, so
why are you doing it?

I haven't spent ten years
in this house the way it is.

I've reached a kind of limit.

I must change in
some way, and that's

from within, it's a
sort of personal ideal.

I'm confident about no walls,
I don't have anything to hide.

Just the opposite, I want to share it.

This house represented
what I needed

ten years ago, it's
not what I need now.

I can't wait for them to knock it down.

John doesn't have long to wait.

One week later, demolitions start on
the kitchen at the back of the house.

It's a bit like they're playing
croquet with the house.

The strength of John's
resolve is really put to the test.

I've been attached
to this for ten years

now, and so there
was a wrench there.

It's a parting, a bereavement,
a sensible bereavement.

Oh God.

This ain't croquet anymore.

Builders John Knight and Terry Jay
will oversee the demolition and the

construction of the new house.

You are responsible for
the entire build, aren't you?

Start to finish.

Absolutely.

How long is it going to
take to get this thing done?

We've got a program for sixteen
weeks, and we're two weeks in now.

How much of this goes?

Basically the back addition,
we retain the top half.

That's all going to stay
while you cut this away?

I mean in engineering
terms that seems to

be quite difficult to
calculate how you're

going to support that.

No, from an engineering point
of view it's actually quite simple.

All we do is prop either
side, then we just knock it out.

After the old kitchen's
been demolished, the

next step is to take
out all the internal

walls.

The roof is propped up
with temporary acro-props.

Then the walls are knocked out,
leaving the whole roof supported by just a

few steel posts.

New steel joists to help support
the roof go in pretty quickly.

Have you worked on old buildings before?

I've done a lot of
restoration work on grade

two, grade one listed
buildings in the past.

It doesn't worry you then,
throwing out 150 years of history?

It doesn't worry me, no.

I just see it as the next progression.

It's 21st century living, getting
rid of all these tiny little rooms and

opening up the

space.

We live differently
now than to when these

houses were built in
the mid 1800s, and it's.

our turn to do something with them.

This seems like a continuum of lots
of people having lived in this house and

making their own amendments.

I don't think we've got a museum piece
that we suddenly decided to turn into

an open space.

But I suppose I'm aware that we are
making a bigger mark than most people.

That's for sure.

Eleni and John's house
is in the East London

borough of Hackney,
close to the city.

It's in a conservation area, so they
can't change the outside, because

conservation area
planning law is designed

to preserve the
historical character of the

neighbourhood.

However, the same law,
bizarrely, doesn't apply to the inside.

Not that there's much left
to conserve in this house.

It's horrible.

They've obviously taken the originals out.

And this has just been faked out
probably when this new window went in.

Repair works to an old house always
throw up some surprises, especially when

the work is this destructive.

And sure enough, the builders
soon make some worrying discoveries.

This whole section here is saturated.

I'll get a three-reading on this meter
just about everywhere you look, which

means it's soaking
wet, basically.

So it means we've got some
remedial work to do there.

A lot of people cover over all the time.

We're obviously stripping right
back to bare bones and starting again.

Well, that's very, very rare.

And you find out what's there.

This pier is a main support for the
main steel beam that runs through all

this abation wall.

And it doesn't look
that clever, to be honest.

It's a bit unpeasy.

I think we're going to rebuild that.

The old plaster is dead.

It's gone.

And I suggest to the client that,
although it's going to be more expensive,

I think he's going to have to
take the whole house, that is.

That's hardly walls front
and rear walls and really new.

Only because of the
finish that he's looking for.

He's looking for this
pristine contemporary interior.

And we shine lights on this old
plaster and it looks like the sea.

In one fell swoop,
John and Eleni are

irretrievably erasing
150 years of history.

And each hammer blow turns a valuable
asset into a worthless pile of rubble.

It's in that process you begin to
discover what the strength or fragility of

the structure is like.

Once you begin to
uncover it, then it gets

scary because then
you're really going to

meet the sorts of things which might
be expensive, prohibitive, whatever.

You're really sort of
stepping into the unknown.

You've got that sort of
huge amount of uncertainty.

For John and Eleni,
this is only the beginning.

After three weeks
of demolition, this

humble empty shell
has begun to fight back.

John and Eleni have got
such passion, such vision.

It's all very exciting.

Except, except I just think
they've got the wrong house.

I don't think that
structurally this

building can take what
they want to give it.

And I don't think that it's big enough.

Just four weeks into the build, there's
another rather shocking discovery.

This house has no foundations.

It was built straight on top of the soil.

That's the original, what they
call a stepped brick footing.

What, three courses of brick?

Three courses of brick.

Stepped both sides of
the main nine inch wall.

Yeah.

In fact this is a little
bit more than that.

So what's that designed to do?

Is that just to spread the load out?

Just to spread it.

It's a spreader.

That's all it is.

That's it.

And that's as far deep as it goes.

It would have been straight off ground.

It just rested on the earth?

Absolutely.

Is that sufficient?

I mean... It obviously was then
because they didn't do anything else.

I mean it would never pass any
sort of building regulation today.

It would actually on the whole, I
mean they've stood this amount of time

without problem.

It might sound crazy,
but in fact a lot of

Victorian terraces
were built directly onto

the earth.

It works because they used a
lime mortar between the bricks.

It's a very flexible material, allowing
the house to shift and settle with

slight movements in the ground.

However, the new extension is being
built on new concrete foundations.

A few days later, Eleni sees
her old home irrevocably altered.

I think John hated the packing
and emptying the house most.

And for me it was this stage
when the house reveals its secrets.

And when will these come up?

Well this section here behind is
coming out in about five minutes time.

Not that wall!

Looking around, I'm still not
convinced that this house will be able to

deliver the kind of wide open
spaces John and Eleni dream about.

They're going to such extraordinary
lengths to turn this house into

something it was
never meant to be.

And possibly never will be.

It would have been
easier to move, but John

and Eleni can't bear
to leave their little

corner of East London.

Careful!

Where's well?

This is a unique part of London.

It's close to the centre.

There is warmth.

Though the people are
friendly, the people say hello.

And they do accept differences.

You don't have to be the same sort
of group or the same traditions and

culture to be accepted.

I don't want to leave this neighbourhood.

I don't want to leave this house even.

But I do want to in a sense reinvent
what is here and change myself if you

like as well as
change the house.

And this is a way of doing it.

And the people to help John transform
himself are the architects Tatiana and

Torsten Overberg from Germany.

Their house across the road was the
inspiration for John and Eleni's design,

particularly its glass
patio doors and roof.

The glass was installed by a team of
specialist German builders and they'll

be coming over to do the
same on John and Eleni's project.

Why are you bringing
in German contractors

to do the flat roof
from the glass?

Basically because we did a direct cost
comparison and it was more expensive

to buy the glass roof
here in this country.

If you could have
done, would you have

run the whole build
with German labour?

I think I would prefer
to work with German

builders because I
know them better and I

have more experience with them.

You can't generalise that and
say all the Germans are all better.

What I can say is that I know
that I get a standard in Germany.

Before they start they go
for three years training period.

It's a proper profession.

In England there's the term builders
and you don't really know who you're

getting and how good they are.

Usually they're also really expensive.

I think there's no rule.

You can get any price
from zero to a hundred.

And in Germany it's not like that.

I think each trade has its own
prices which are kind of fixed.

They were similar.

It doesn't vary.

The poor English
builders now have a mere

five weeks left to get
the house ready for

the glass and the Germans.

They still haven't finished the
demolition and they still have to build a

new extension at the back where
the glass doors and glass roof will go.

And the old house is still
throwing problems at them.

This goes all the way
through to the outside.

What should have happened when they
built this rear addition section is that

this brickwork

should be bonded in to the
rear wall of the main house.

As you can see it's not at all.

So it's not just modern
builders who are cowboys.

The back bedroom was never
joined up properly to the main house.

It's actually subsiding.

And that means more work and more expense.

The easiest way
would actually be to bolt

a big timber either
side and that's fine.

Timber's not going to hold them all back.

Right.

Full stop.

It's not going to work.

You reckon?

It won't work.

I mean the additional
cost I know is just

being the reason for
that six hundred, seven

hundred pounds total.

To build that completely well.

Yeah, I'll have a chat with John whether
he wants to spend that extra money.

If they go ahead and
do it the way they are

now with propping it
up and so on I think

it creates risks which are
unsafe and not very good.

So for what is essentially a few extra
hundred pounds we can take the whole

thing down and rebuild it.

Now that's okay.

You know I don't mind
that kind of extra cost.

I can cope with that quite easily.

If somebody came along to me and
said well there's going to be an extra

twenty thousand

pounds or something like that then I
would fall down and cry and gnash my

teeth and say never again.

So as well as building the new extension
John and Terry also have to rebuild

the bedroom before
the Germans arrive.

I don't know if I dare look.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Oh wow.

My study.

It's gone.

It's like a bomb has hit it.

There's virtually no home left now.

There are just two weeks left to
complete the new kitchen extension.

The English team are in real danger of
missing their deadline and the German

schedule can't be changed.

The last thing this project
needs is another crisis.

The roof was thought to be okay,
the roof coverings, but they're not.

You can see they're a little bit shot.

So we're pricing to
renew the roof coverings

but rebuild a flat
section of roof through

here to fall to the front.

Once we're doing all this sort of
major refit it seems silly to leave it and

have to come back again.

Particularly the underside
is the finished building.

Hopefully this is July and it will be
nice and sunny for a couple of weeks.

English summer weather
is never that reliable.

The weather is old, especially
when you're working on structure here.

If we've got roofs, we've
got external walls being built.

If we haven't got the weather
we can't do it, we just can't get on.

The Germans are due on site in a
matter of days and the new extension is

barely started.

All the problems mean John and
Eleni have dug deep into their £10,000

contingency fund.

So tell me, have you
spent your contingency yet?

Almost all of it.

I think we've got
about 2,000 left out of it.

Really?

Yeah.

Which has all gone there?

It's gone in the new
roof and it's gone in

all the plaster being
stripped off and put

back up again.

The roof is a sort of unusual design.

As you can see it's got all these
planks on it so it's going to be slightly

more expensive

than a normal roof
would be but it ties the

structure together
and locks it firmly and

it's going to be very well insulated
so it'll be warm and will last forever.

apparently.

Given that they've got very little
construction done so far, how does it

feel having lost 80%
of your contingency?

It was a little nerve-wracking.

I like to think that that contingency
is going to stay there and then use it

on some nice things afterwards but
that hasn't been the case so it's gone.

But that's what it was for.

I try not to think about it too much.

But what else have you discovered
about the house as you've peeled back all

the layers?

I'm quite appalled in some ways by
the quality of the brickwork that these

walls are made up of.

They've just used whatever was to
hand, old bricks, burnt bricks, broken

bricks.

What surprises me is that the mortar
is still holding because it was pretty

basic stuff.

There are thousands of houses like
this all across London and in fact none

of them have given way really.

This one looks like
it's given up the ghost.

But there is now real pressure to get
the extension ready for its glass roof

and doors.

You have two contractors
and they need to

meet at a certain
point in time and this is

why everybody suddenly
gets so nervous about it.

Because the glass package is a
major one and it's quite costly and it's

difficult to coordinate these
guys coming from Germany.

I really hope that this works out.

Ten weeks into John and
Eleni's build it's crunch time.

The German team is due on site
today but the England squad aren't ready.

John and Terry treble
the workforce to catch up.

There's a dome going in here, the
light and someone's already set it out in

the wrong position so we're
putting it in its right position.

To add to the nightmare
Eleni and John have

asked for a few changes
so Terry's cutting.

holes in the music room wall.

They are for the
glass blocks that we're

putting into this wall
now in azure blue.

So in the light in the summer afternoons
filters through into the music room

and gives a wonderful glow.

In the midst of all this mayhem the
Germans arrive complete with their own

supply of beer.

Within half an hour they've changed,
grabbed their tools and are on site

ready to start.

The jobs going at
100 miles an hour

now and it was going
at 10 miles an hour.

I think there's enough
space here for everybody.

The Germans have
given themselves just three

days to complete
their part of the job.

In that time they plan to waterproof
a flat section of roof over the stairs,

fit new guttering

and install glass doors and a glass
roof in the kitchen extension and of

course work with
the English builders.

I don't know how they'll do it.

With two teams speaking two different
languages they'll need all the entente

cordiale they can get
over the next few days.

The Germans get straight
to work on the glass roof.

Then they fit new stainless steel
guttering on this old Victorian house.

That's a German innovation, it's not
something that you would find normally

in Britain.

I love it.

It sort of fits in with the whole
clean lines of the building now.

But there are very
obvious departure from

everything else that's
around here so what

do the locals think about it?

Ah, mixed.

I think some see it as a
dynamic modern move

if you like and there
are those who would

like it to be as it was in 1845.

Yeah, you've got it on the
front as well haven't you?

You've got a down pipe and so being
in a conservation area does that not

have to get painted black?

I don't think so.

The only reason the previous drain
pipe was painted black was because we

painted the front door black.

It's Saturday, day two of the
English-German collaboration.

The English get to work
slating the main sloping roof.

The Germans will
complete the flat section

over the stairs and
Terry's puzzled by the

design.

I'm keen to see how it's going to work.

It's perfectly flat, there's no folds
to it and we're told that the water

actually sits on it, reaches
a level, then hits that outlet.

I don't know, I'll be interested to
see how it all looks when it's finished.

I'm sure it'll be marvellous.

The very last layer on any roof is the
layer which keeps the water out and

on this flat roof what they're
going to use is this stuff.

It's bitumen roofing felt, the kind of
thing you'd find on your flat garage

roof or your rabbit hut, even.

It's relatively low-tech.

It tends to split and burst and move
and stretch under extreme weather

conditions, which
means it then leaks.

So what are they going to do here?

Well the standard
German method with this

stuff is to build a
sort of tray into which

they very, very carefully
sit the bitumen roofing felt.

They then apply, as
we Brits do, a layer of

gravel which protects
the bitumen from the.

worst of the weather.

But here's the difference.

British roofs tend to slope
to allow the water to run off.

German roofs don't,
they're completely flat

and that's because
when it rains the roof

is designed to allow
the water to sit as a

sort of pond to further
protect the bitumen

from the effects of sunlight.

Now that is such a good idea,
providing of course the roof doesn't leak.

The Germans seal
the roof with roofing felt.

The cramped site puts both sides
under pressure and things aren't made any

easier by the language barrier.

Tomorrow morning, fit this.

I do... Terry, ask the
German to say firmer bait.

Firmer bait, yeah?

Let's go in here.

In Germany we do...

So this is this one.

In we go.

Biggest problem is the language.

It's a bit crowded and you are
under each other's feet all the time.

Hence the reason why you've got to
try and really work around each other.

So getting very hot, getting very touchy.

Me probably more than most.

The Anglo-German
partnership is almost over.

There are just the
sliding glass doors

to install before the
Germans go home.

Good morning.

Thank you.

Are you well?

Yeah.

Hi, are you well?

Yeah.

It's the last one finished.

Really?

Yeah.

We have all of this finished.

You're so fast.

In just three days the Germans have
performed an amazing transformation.

The glass doors are in, the glass
roof is on and the flat roof is finished.

I've actually worked with lots of
Germans, having worked in the city doing

banking halls

and that sort of thing.

So I've worked with
German clients and

I've worked with German
contractors before.

Is the German reputation
for efficiency deserved?

Yes.

For the first time John can clearly
see the new layout of his house.

I love what you've got.

It's been joisted,
originally that was

the larger piece of
the house was there.

Yes.

And now the footprint isn't much
bigger but this is the bigger area.

The actual footprint isn't.

The psychological footprint however is
much much bigger in that way because

we've introduced

all this light up here, we've introduced
the light from the back and you

feel and experience this much
bigger openness than it actually is.

Has this all been worthwhile, all this
German technology, these huge doors?

Yes, once you've got it down
then it just shoots across.

And it's all going to run through
right from the far end of the building.

Right exactly.

All the way through.

So you have a clear view all the
way down the length of the house.

Very neat.

So how's your upstairs?

You've got one haven't you?

You didn't have a floor.

Yes, that's coming up here.

Joisted out, sort of
boarded out, insulated.

You've got your
wiring in, you've got

your first fixed
wiring in haven't you?

Oh yeah, there's plenty of wiring in here.

This place is going to be
wired for any eventuality.

And roof's all down insulated.

Skylight makes a big difference doesn't it?

Oh it's gorgeous.

So up here then, it's again
all one open space isn't it?

No, well it is and it isn't.

Room's going to be at the front here
and then across here will be a kind of

um, we'll have wardrobes
built, there'll be the room divider.

This part is going to be my study there.

The bathroom is going to be across here.

And this little room here,
this is your music room isn't it?

This is going to be the
music room and guest room.

It's the only room
that will have a door

and no other space
will really have a door.

So from now on, it's really
getting the floors down plastering.

Yes.

That's a big job here.

And we're on track.

We're still expecting to
finish at the end of October.

Do you think you can do it in time?

Now being the end of September.

Yeah, yeah.

Four weeks.

If there were
surprises now, I'd be,

oh no, I couldn't
face that I don't think.

Our contractors think this bit's
just going to fly right through.

They say this is the fastest bit.

But rain brings another
nasty surprise to this project.

The Germans flat roof leaks.

To see how bad the problem is, they
test the roof with an electronic probe.

This will detect any holes and leaks.

We've found five leak points
within this quite small area.

One which is quite bad and an
outlet that needs some attention.

This roof is going to hold the build up.

It's going to delay us.

It should never have happened.

I thought the German
contractors would do a good job.

I had confidence that
they would do a good job.

They had a good reputation and
it was based on doing good work.

But I'm afraid in this case they didn't.

And I think they've done a very poor job.

I don't like that.

It's my roof.

Right.

As this crappy
bitumen roof leaks like a

sieve, it has to be
removed and replaced.

But it can't be removed
until this flashing is taken off.

And this flashing extends
underneath the tiles.

So it can't be removed until they are.

And because of the way the roof is
made, you can only take these tiles off.

In fact, if you take the whole roof
off, it has to come off from the top.

This is a major job.

For John and Oleni,
it means a lot of

disruption, a lot of
money, a lot of stress.

And until this roof
stops leaking, until

this is resolved, they
can't work down below.

All progress on this build stops.

It's the end of October and for the
last few weeks, John and Oleni's build

has been stalled.

The flat roof is leaking and the
builders and the architects are in serious

disagreement about whether any
work can be done before it's fixed.

What are the ramifications for all of this?

We haven't done anything for two weeks now.

We've been on Sloan for seven weeks almost.

Well, it has a knock-on
effect though, doesn't it?

We can't do this ceiling to the
main area because it's all linked in.

And if we plaster it,
we'll have day joints

and the client's not
going to accept that.

And we wouldn't do it anyway.

The same down below.

It just stops the job.

Their argument is, well, we're doing
nothing, we're twiddling our thumbs

waiting, we can't
do anything until the

leak's sorted out
because of the sequencing.

I don't think that's right.

I think it's an excuse.

It's not like you can't
work because it's all wet.

It's not like that.

So you can work.

And also, it's not, we don't have
a flat roof over the whole house.

It's just two small
areas where it's dripping.

We're absolving costs all the time.

They're still costing you money
even though you're not working here.

We've still got scaffold up
waiting for people to use the roof.

We've got toilet facilities.

We've got keep site open.

There's insurances on the job.

So everything has a cost.

There are many things they can get on with.

First they have
to finish all the first

fixed plumbing and
electrical installation.

All the partition walls, there's lots
of external work like with main holes

and drainage and I think
there are a lot of things.

Are you still talking?

We mainly write letters.

We're still talking but it's easier
to write it down and to have it on a

piece of paper.

John and Eleni step in and finally
manage to negotiate a compromise.

The flat roof is temporarily sealed
with rubber and they decide to wait

until the spring before ripping the
whole roof off and fixing the problem.

But there are still other more
personal issues to sort out.

Since we are the clients we are worried
about our feelings and our house and

they're very

entitled to their
feelings but really egos,

personality, classes
and all the rest has

to go on the back burner.

When the job is finished
they would be very

welcome to get very
angry with each other

and say I never want to see you again.

While the job is going on
they don't have that luxury.

With John acting as go between
the builders go back to work.

As lawyers John and
Eleni are of course used

to dealing with
disputes but it's different.

when your own house is
the centre of the argument.

Up until the leak became a truly major
issue the project was one of the most

exciting things I've ever done.

It was fun.

You could say as a rule of thumb
every construction project will end up in a

dispute of some kind or other.

It's the spill over effects, it's the
psychological effects that it has on

everybody in the project because
everybody gets edgy, everybody gets tense.

Suddenly you're thinking
can I really trust this person?

And I think that's what the dip with
the roof really represented was this

suddenly you're no longer
secure in this situation.

In a way what I can't do all the time
is display precisely what I'm feeling

because if I do that everybody
would walk off the project.

John and Eleni are determined
to be in by Christmas.

That gives the builders just six
weeks to pull this house into shape.

It is John and Eleni's Patience, their
vision and their diplomacy that have

driven this project forward.

They have willed this
new house into being

but I still have my
doubts that it really

will ungrudgingly accept their appetite
for light, space and white emulsion.

With the kitchen in the builders move
on to the adjoining downstairs shower

room which is built
out of glass bricks.

And just before
Christmas state of

the art vertical
radiators are plumbed in.

This dramatic conversion
was scheduled to

take just four months,
it's now taken eight.

But the house has
finally been dragged

kicking and screaming
into the 21st century.

Well Christmas is but a dim and
distant memory now and the builders have

only just left.

So the burning
question is have John

and Eleni got that
perfect modern dream?

Hiya.

Hello Kevin.

How are you?

Good to see you too.

Hi.

How are you love?

Very well.

Good.

How's your house?

Come on in.

Thank you.

Well this is really rather good isn't it?

What a change.

Quite a change isn't it?

We haven't got used to it yet.

Not used to it yet.

So you've got one or two nice
pieces of new furniture haven't you?

Yeah?

A few 20th century classics yes?

A bit of art, a bit of sculpture.

And some new toys, these
are speakers here on the wall.

The speaker.

Yeah, yeah.

It sounds fantastic.

It sounds very clever.

And of course it is
really open plan isn't it?

Because you can sit on the levee in
there on the pan and you watch telly.

Enjoy while you can.

We are open plan but not that open plan.

We will put a door there.

Oh I see.

It looks remarkably
open plan at the moment.

At the moment.

You've spent most of
your money haven't you?

Most of your energy is on the kitchen.

Yeah.

Completely this way.

And this is a real success.

I mean that area is good.

This is really successful because
this seems ten times as big as this area.

And having this glass
roof and that wall of glass.

You truly know what
a day is going to be

like just by coming
to have your breakfast.

You sort of look at the sky
and know how it's going to be.

Yeah.

And this is nothing like
your kitchen was before.

I mean it's just full of
stuff your house before.

It was cluttered.

It was all cluttered.

I'm surprised it isn't cluttered.

No, no, no.

It's the whole point.

It's a space to move
around in just to enjoy.

Just for its own sake.

I love it.

I really love it.

I think this is the heart
of the house for me.

And there isn't just room to
cook and entertain and eat.

There's room to play.

That's the magic for me.

Before you had lots of little compartments.

And this is exactly the opposite.

It's open, it's light, it's transparent.

But the previous one was very close.

As you said, you had your places to hide.

Now look around you.

There isn't anywhere to hide.

It sort of creates this kind of endless
possibility for communication, which

has actually had a terrific
advantage for us in that way as well.

You should have either just
changed your relationship.

Nothing is cut off.

And I think that really
is what we were after.

Togetherness but with
a lot of space between.

Just one huge space
up here again, isn't it?

So you've noticed.

It's vast.

What with this double high ceiling?

Yeah.

Yeah.

It seems really good.

We're just able to open it up.

What's the point
of having an attic

you don't use except
for all your junk in?

So enjoy the space.

But upstairs like downstairs,
it's very, very open plan.

I mean that room that was the spare
room there is now just really part of

this overall space, isn't it?

Yeah.

I mean the whole thing is just
meant to flow and be organic.

With rooms, at least
you know the room has

a function, even if
you don't use it half

the time.

So here, you're a study here, haven't you?

Yeah.

It's like, is it part of your bedroom?

Is it not part of your bedroom?

Does that matter?

At the moment, no.

It will be distinct at a certain point.

We are going to divide the
two rooms, but not completely.

The idea is to build a
unit across here, which

you might want to say
two-thirds of the way.

up the pole.

So you'll have the sound
and everything else going over.

So is that a unit?

Is that storage?

Yes.

You don't have much privacy, do you?

Oh, we didn't ask for any.

No, I mean this thing, even
your bike, it's a splendid thing.

But it's a transparent bathroom.

We love it.

I wouldn't change this
bathroom for anything.

So where did the idea for
this fish tank come from?

It definitely came from us.

Just the idea we
could have this every

day, every night
before we go to sleep.

The last thing we can look at is the fish.

I mean, you are sharing your most
intimate life with these fish, aren't you?

Absolutely.

And again, there's no door here.

Is there going to be?

There will be, but it will be glass.

Well, that's helpful.

That'll really, I
suppose, you know, it's a

little bit more private
when it steams up.

Yeah.

It will be frosted glass, so
we won't need to steam up.

Yeah, but the tank's not frosted.

No.

Well, I have to show you this bath.

I mean, what a tub.

When we first saw how deep the tub
was once it was placed, I just thought,

what have we done?

And then the answer is the best
thing that we could do with a bathtub.

Have fun.

Eleni and John always hoped that
changing their home would change their

lives, and this house
will probably do that.

The rooms made out
of the main body of the

building are still
constrained by what was

a small house.

The absence of doors and all those
white walls doesn't always conceal the

awkwardness of the
19th century layout.

The scheme certainly makes
no concession to privacy.

It is, of course, in
the whiteness and all

those modern fixtures
and details where the

design lies.

But it is in the kitchen extension where
the dream feels least compromised.

So you've been on
this rather extraordinary

journey, the last month
of which has been

really fraught and stressed.

And the place isn't even finished.

So does that colour the way
you feel about your home?

It's actually, for me in
some ways it has at times.

There have been, I'd
say within the last few

weeks there have
been periods I've walked

into the house and I just
wanted to walk straight out again.

What kept you going?

We knew this was the house we wanted.

This was the house we had dreamed about.

And it was a case of
getting people to make

the few extra steps
that would bring it to

a close.

That kept us going.

It never allowed us to stop
thinking this was really worth it.

John in reflection, do
you think it was a good

idea to have two sets
of contractors, one

English, one German?

Clearly, the two lots of
contractors were not compatible.

And I think there was resentment on
both sides about what was happening when

the roof and the
glazing were done.

And I think our architects were put
in a particularly difficult position too

because they were on

the one hand dealing
with a set of German

contractors who they
had known for a long,

long time.

And the English contractors were,
in a sense, if you like, strangers.

This was the first time they
had worked with them on this job.

So it was inevitable.

It was going to erupt when this
sort of crisis situation came about.

So how much have you roughly spent so far?

We spent more than we thought.

We were sort of hoping
to spend around £110,000.

All the work is not been completed.

So I couldn't say what
the total cost will be.

But I think it would be around £120,000.

And how do you feel
now that you're living here?

The old house was
dysfunctional, the living.

It was bloody awkward.

This house works.

This house functions.

This house does exactly what we want.

But this look you've
got, superficially

it's a very kind of
typical modern look.

You've got some modern classics.

You've got Herzog into an architect light.

You've got those Bauhaus chairs.

So how have you personalised
this space, made it your own?

If you take, for
example, the use of water

in this house with
the fish tank upstairs.

And the glass.

And the glass here, exactly.

Both of us like to dive.

Both of us like to be in water and so on.

Love fish.

Love fish.

So we're able to
capture these kinds

of experiences, bring
them in in this way.

The sense of light has
been very important

for me, trying to
recreate the airiness and

lightness of being outdoors.

While living in London we have a
projector of light onto the white walls.

There's one shade there that just
reminds us of our travels in South Africa.

I feel totally energised by
what I see when I look around.

And can't wait to just have
a pretty good party actually.

That's what I feel like.

Right now I'm in a situation where
for the very first time I'm enjoying this

house with someone I love, someone
I wanted to share this house with.

And that is absolutely fantastic.

I've always had my doubts whether
this conversion from a modest terraced

house to expansive
modern living would work.

And whether John and Eleni would
fall into the trap of making it look just

like another interiors
magazine centrefold.

But the result is actually much
more poetic, more imaginative.

They've woven so many
things into this place.

Their taste, their
memories, a lifetime's history.

They wanted a beautiful
contemporary house,

but one tailored to
their personalities.

Their vision and their passion
have given them just that.

A home for the way they want to live.