Grand Designs: Collection 3

Arts Documentary hosted by Kevin McCloud, published by Channel 4 broadcasted as part of CH4 Grand Designs series in 2001 - English narration


Information
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Grand Designs: Collection 3
Back for a third series, Kevin McCloud follows six couples in pursuit of their dream home. Whether it's creating a post-modern cube from scratch in the Cambridgeshire countryside, converting a brand new house into a Medieval cottage, or building a house underground in the Cumbrian earth, Kevin is on hand to pore over the plans and lend support. With budgets usually pushed beyond their limits and time ticking away, Grand Designs is a unique opportunity to discover how ambitious design concepts work in practice, and depict the hard realities of making your dream home.


1)  The Wooden Box 
Kevin McCloud is in Cambridgeshire, where John and Terri Westlake intend to knock down a derelict house and commission commercial architects to build them a new one.

2)  The Water-Works 
The 1930s derelict water works Chris Jones and Leanne Smith fell in love with was huge and its design had clearly been inspired by Gilbert Scott's Bankside power station, now better known as the Tate Modern. But nothing would deter the couple. 'We looked at it,' said Chris, 'and saw our home.'

3)  The Woodsmans Cottage 
For 10 years, Ben Law lived in tents and caravans in a wood in West Sussex. As a woodsman, he needed and wanted to live among the trees, but now he wants a house for some creature comforts. Ben has invited volunteers to help him build a sustainable house by hand, from the materials growing around him.

4)  The Woodsmans Cottage Revisit 
Kevin McCloud returns to West Sussex to see how Ben Law's woodsman's cottage has changed. The house was built on a low budget, using methods dating back to the early medieval period with raw materials from the surrounding countryside. During the past 18 months the upstairs has been completed and the outside has been landscaped. Kevin also discovers how the property has changed Ben's life since the original programme was broadcast.

5)  The Victorian Threshing Barn 
Phillip and Angela Trail set out to convert a 150 year old barn near Surrey. The barn is grades two listed which means they have to keep the outside intact but are free to do what they please on the inside. They didn't want to do another typical barn conversion, so they decided to build their "house" inside instead. A helical stairway leads to a suspended curved walkway, with master bedroom on one side and the children bedrooms on the other. The kitchen is in an adjacent stable block, which was integrated into the main building. The house is also packed with computer wiring a central stereo system and ambient lighting system consisting of 188 lights. Everywhere you look curves interplay with straight lines. The result is a beautiful mixture of new and old, exquisitely finished in detail.

6)  The Terrace Conversion 
After 10 years of living in a small house in east London, John Flood and Eleni Skordaki hankered after modern, open-plan living. They didn't want to move, so they decided to give their Victorian terrace home a radical redesign. The house was situated in a conservation area, so the outside had to remain unchanged. However, inside they decided to rip out everything; walls, ceilings, floors, and start completely a fresh.

7)  The Terrace Conversion Revisit 
In east London, John Flood and Eleni Skordaki hankered after modern, open-plan living, Kevin calls back to see how there are settling in to there new home.

8)  The Traditional Cottage 
Merry's family have been Herefordshire builders for generations, so she knew that the county was rich in traditional building crafts. She and Ben Albright decided to combine these with technology for a new house with a genuinely rural feel.

9)  The Underground House 
Helen Gould and Phil Reddy wanted their home to make the most of spectacular views, but they also wanted it to be ecologically friendly. Their solution was to build an earth-sheltered home, with most of the house built into the hillside.

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Technical Specs
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 * Video: Codec: x264 CABAC [email protected]
 * Video: Bitrate: 1809 Kbps
 * Video: Aspect Ratio: 1.778 (16:9)
 * Video: Resolution: 832x468
 * Audio: Codec: AAC LC
 * Audio: Bitrate: 128 Kbps VBR 48KHz
 * Audio: Channels: stereo (2/0)
 * Audio: English
 * Run-Time: 48mins
 * Framerate: 25fps
 * Number of Parts: 9
 * Part Size: 674 MB, Parts 4 & 7 101 MB
 * Container: Mp4
 * Source: DVD
 * Encoded by: Harry65

Release Notes
Merged Subtitles

Links
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1)  Further Information 
http://www.granddesignsmagazine.com/digital