Kevin McCloud has issued a warning over a 'stressful' Grand Designs build in the latest episode of the Channel 4 property show, which airs tonight, Wednesday 30 September.
The new series has already featured an emotional family home in Cornwall and a one-of-a-kind pink 'cloud' house in London. The latest episode follows another London build, with architect Seb embracing new technology to design and build a precision-cut timber home in his grandparents' back garden.
Warnings over 'bloody-minded' build
In a preview clip ahead of the episode airing, Kevin warily asks Seb: "Have you built before?" He simply replies "No," before the clip goes on to show possible disasters.
At one point, someone involved in the build says: "The thing with architects is that they focus on design and they're not too bothered how you're going to build it." Another clip sees builders shouting out as they attempt to fit a wall in, while Seb himself confesses: "It's very stressful."
Another builder warns: "There's so much that could be wrong with it, there's so many angles to contend with." Picking what appears to be floorboards, Seb adds: "I thought I was quite decisive and then I realised I'm not. I'm horrible at making decisions."
Viewer reactions and Kevin's take
Someone else adds to the camera: "There has been a lot of tweaking, 100%," before Kevin warns Seb: "This seems to me a bit bloody-minded." Seb adds: "I don't know why I designed such a complicated building… Things are going to go wrong, I know it."
Another post on Instagram read: "Seb's designing, project managing and crafting an ambitious house all by himself, in his grandparents' back garden. No pressure then!" One viewer replied: "After watching every episode of grand designs ever, I'm sure this will go very well. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA." Another said: "Excited to see this one!" Someone else said: "This will be a great watch!" Yet another added: "Bring it!!"
Ahead of the new series airing, presenter Kevin teased the projects that are due to air. Having hosted the show since it began in 1999, he explained his reasoning for its success, saying: "I think it is the unpredictability of it all. If we were restoring people's homes for them, then we might have slipped into a predictable format but we haven't."
Unpredictable projects ahead
Kevin added: "Some of the projects on this series are fascinatingly unpredictable. For example, we see Seb in North-West London, building a house which was completed in 13 months and I was so shocked because I am used to things taking forever."
He continued: "We also have a project in Edinburgh, which has been going for over 10 years, and when you look at the date stamps as we go through the programme, you sort of appreciate how some people dedicate a lot of their lives to a building."
He added: "I thought in series one we might run out of projects. We thought that we had done an eco-project, a modern white block, a glass house, we did the eccentric thing. We thought, will people still tune in if we do another glass box? But the answer is yes, because from the beginning we set ourselves the challenge that in every episode there has to be something new - there has to be some story, some angles, something, a hook."
He concluded: "Luckily, since architecture is so much about place and response to a place and so much about people and response to people and because places are so infinitely diverse, people are infinitely diverse, this is what makes every project and what keeps me on my toes every time. If you look at this coming series, every single project has something unique about it and i find that so fascinating, all of the individual narratives are so different. The houses are all so unique architecturally and in the way they are built."
Grand Designs airs Tuesdays from 9pm on Channel 4.
