Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud has criticised the interiors of homes in King Charles III's experimental urban town Poundbury, describing them as 'intolerable' and comparable to 'modern developer homes'. In a keynote lecture at the V&A Museum in November 2025, McCloud said that while the exteriors of some buildings were fine, the interiors were 'dead' because they were built of breeze block.
McCloud recounted visiting a thatched cottage in Poundbury, where residents were not allowed to add a conservatory or sunroom. He said the ceilings were so low that he banged his head, and called the environment 'intolerable' for residents. He acknowledged that some high-status buildings were impressive but argued there were 'less comfortable aspects' to the development.
Poundbury was launched in 1993 by King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, as an experimental urban town constructed by the Duchy of Cornwall. The King had said he was determined to 'break the mould of conventional housing development'. However, McCloud, while respecting the King's tastes, concluded: 'As a social experiment, as an architectural experiment, great, interesting. But no, not for me.'
