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Grand Designs - Season 27 Episode 3 -
Pembrokeshire 2025
Pembrokeshire 2025
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02:03Marcus's father Paul was a pioneering environmentalist and bought this woodland over 30 years ago
02:10So we are at my dad's grave, we buried him in the woods, he was only 54, yeah it was a massive, yeah huge shock
02:21Now Marcus has the rare opportunity to build a home here with his wife Abby and their twin daughters
02:31What are you most excited about the new house?
02:35It's bigger
02:36I'm not having to sleep with her, it keeps me awake all night
02:41The family own a house in the seaside town of Tembi
02:45But every summer they rent it out and move to a small off-grid cabin in a field near the woods
02:51It's been a childhood dream to build, properly build my own house in the woods
02:57You may think that Marcus and Abby are knit your own eco-lifestylers on the fringe of society
03:03But you'd be wrong
03:05Abby works for a renewables trade organisation
03:09She's head of strategic communications
03:12It is imperative that we do start to look ahead and think
03:16Rather than just tell people at the last minute
03:18What do we need to be doing now?
03:20I wouldn't say I was a classic hippie
03:22It just happens to not scare me, the idea of kind of living in a wood
03:25While Marcus runs an award-winning design company
03:28Coffee
03:29With his lifelong friend and business partner, Simon
03:32This is one of ours, it's modern and contemporary
03:34Some of those techniques might come through in the build, I guess
03:37This project, to be built from the trees within their woodland
03:42Is an exciting opportunity, but also a profound responsibility
03:47Hello
03:49Hi
03:50Hi, you started
03:51We couldn't stop
03:53You couldn't wait, and what an extraordinary sight to find yourselves in
03:56It's one thing to manage the woodland, create the clearings and the glaze
03:59It's quite another to get permission to build a house in one of them
04:02How did that happen?
04:04A lot of hard work
04:05It's under a policy called One Planet Development
04:08Which scrutinises every part of our living
04:10From how we're going to buy clothes in the future
04:13To what food we're growing, what food we're eating
04:16Hang on a minute, this isn't just about the building
04:17No, no, it's about the whole land management
04:20You're monitored for the first five years
04:21And you have to show that you have reduced your transport miles
04:27You have to produce five...
04:28Yeah, five years' worth of cans
04:29Of personal accounts
04:30This is about you changing your lives under scrutiny
04:33And if after five years you fail
04:35You get chucked off
04:36You get chucked off
04:37You meet the target
04:38You have to dismantle the house
04:40Yeah
04:40Wow
04:41So ordinarily I say to people, what are you going to build?
04:43But actually it seems secondary here
04:44So it's definitely cabin-like
04:46It'll be timber clad with a wriggly tin roof
04:50Which is quite conventional for around here
04:52Are there any trees in the immediate vicinity?
04:54Yes
04:55That are going to become part of this house?
04:56All these larches here, we'll take those down in the autumn and mill them up
05:01I've got a sawmill
05:03Of course you have
05:04That was the first thing I bought
05:05This is like the dream opportunity to build our own house
05:07Using the timber that have stood in this very spot
05:10Their unique planning permission means Marcus and Abby are able to utilise the Caravan Act
05:18This will limit the size of the building
05:20But it also frees them from the rigours of building control
05:23And means Marcus doesn't need detailed plans
05:26In fact, this building is all in his head
05:3027 small pits have been filled with compacted recycled concrete
05:38And each topped with a boulder to create some super low-impact foundations
05:42These support a timber frame
05:45Chiselled and worked to fit the shape of the hill and the shapes of the boulders
05:50Powered by gravity
05:53The foundations and frame will take the load of two unconnected caravan structures
05:58They're designed to detach the planning
06:01But the hope is they won't be moving anywhere soon
06:04This building's deep green and low-cost agenda means recycled second-hand glazing
06:10Which should save them a small fortune
06:13Insulation will be rigid wood-fibre board
06:17Backed up by recycled newspaper
06:19Blown into all the wall, floor and roof cavities
06:22An airtight membrane should bring this home close to passive house standards
06:27Extra-long roof joists will form a deep eave to protect the building and support a roof skin of metal sheets
06:34They'll be punctured with large roof lights to bring more dappled forest light in
06:39This pioneering shack will then be clad in large
06:43Inside, however, the rustic materials will be polished to designer specifications
06:48And for the first time the girls will have their own bedrooms down a corridor from the main living space
06:54Here, the large windows, waxed larched floorboards and honed Welsh slate worktops will suggest 21st century cabin chic
07:04All of it wrapped in the protective embrace of a set of decks
07:09To promote physical contact with the woodland wonderland
07:13This is a family determined to make a difference
07:18You have designed this building
07:22Yep
07:22Have you got any professional help here from an architect, an engineer, a quantity surveyor?
07:27Not really, no
07:28Can you get structural insurance on this building?
07:33I don't know
07:34Tell me about the cost of all of this
07:36We slightly picked a number out of the air
07:39We've been saving up for the last few years
07:42We haven't got all the savings
07:43But what's the number?
07:45We've said...
07:46100,000
07:47Marcus is doing the work
07:49And I've got the sawmill
07:50You can't get a mortgage on it
07:52No
07:52Yeah?
07:53No
07:53The planning is with us, so we can never sell this
07:59So, if I'm right, you are spending £100,000 on something that you hope you can live in for the rest of your days
08:08But you're not sure about that
08:09You might get kicked out of it, and it's going to be essentially worthless
08:13Yeah
08:14It's a good investment, isn't it?
08:17No professionals, hardly any money
08:21I should be running for the Welsh hills
08:24But there is something contagious about Marcus and Abby's noble naivety
08:30They want to be living here in just over a year
08:37And they'll be helped by Marcus's design partner, Simon
08:41I wouldn't say there's any particular division of labour
08:47I'm probably a bit more detailed than Marcus
08:50The foundation timbers are charred to prevent decay
08:58An ancient Japanese technique, shisui-ban
09:01I wish I could have said that I've been learning it in Japan for 30 years
09:06But the truth is, I saw it on YouTube
09:09Coffee?
09:16God, it's in the way
09:17It takes just over a month to erect the platform that'll support this shack
09:247,000 nails in the joists
09:28Well, Simon is the details man
09:31As the walls start to go up
09:33Okay, if I hold it here, you move into the middle
09:36It would seem there are some teething problems
09:40That's not right
09:43Hey, Al
09:44Your angle's wrong
09:46Is it going to work anyway, or?
09:48No, no
09:49Somewhere between the angle being measured and being cut
09:53It's a bit wrong
09:54It's hard to be precise when you haven't got any detailed drawings to work from
09:58But after two hours, there is progress
10:01First corner done
10:04Squared up
10:05Which is quite exciting
10:06To feed construction
10:11Once a month, freshly cut large are taken to the sawmill
10:15The mill would have paid for itself many times over
10:18But it is hard work
10:20It's hard work milling
10:21On a good day, Marcus can carve out almost 100 studs for sight
10:26Day on here feels like you've been at the gym
10:30Although Simon sometimes finds Marcus's milling less than satisfactory
10:36You can see there, there's probably a difference in thickness of 3 or 4 mil
10:40It's hard to get them perfect size that Simon doesn't like
10:43Because he's the details man
10:45As Marcus works on the house
10:50The only money coming in is from Abby's job
10:53I've got a meeting at 2 o'clock
10:56And I slightly don't know what I'm doing
10:59So that's why we're a bit stressed
11:00I trust that he will kind of, you know, do a good job
11:04And at the point where I can get involved and be involved, I'd like to
11:08But, you know, I love my job as much as he loves building this house
11:12And this house can only be built thanks to the 2010 One Planet Development Policy
11:18Unique to Wales and introduced by Jane Davidson
11:22Then Cabinet Minister for Planning
11:24So Jane, you were responsible really for driving through this legislation
11:29How many have in fact been built in that time?
11:32I think it's around about 50 have been through the planning process
11:37They're very specific because they allow people to build in the open countryside
11:42I think it's probably the only policy that allows that in the UK
11:45Provided they're prepared to live a low-carbon life
11:49The lifestyle required seems perhaps at odds with the majority of the ways that most of us live
11:57The way we live now is actually under threat
12:01We have to acknowledge that these people are the most extraordinary pioneers
12:05It may be driven by change
12:10But all projects are underpinned by an age-old inconvenient truth
12:16Yeah, money's a worry
12:18Yeah, you know, it's a tiny, tiny budget for a build
12:20There's going to be loads of other expenses that I haven't even thought about
12:23I don't want to get into massive debts to finish it off
12:26With only half the 100 grand budget he needs
12:31Saving the planet might be more difficult than Marcus thinks
12:35In Pembrokeshire, Marcus and his friend Simon are making steady progress with their £100,000 low-impact family home
12:57The beauty of being both architect and builder, you can kind of make things up as you go along
13:03There are no detailed drawings
13:06And as professional designers, they're employing a spontaneous style
13:10Window's three metres long and we're talking about whether to have it 400mm that way or 400mm this way
13:19They may have flexibility with the position of the windows
13:22But they can't change the size because most of them are second-hand and on-site
13:28Here's the barn with the windows
13:30Total glazing bill is probably about 8,000
13:35We've saved probably two-thirds on windows, I imagine, from using recycled ones
13:44The barn also houses the large floorboards for the interior
13:48And they were free
13:50That's all drying out for when we get to that stage, whenever that is
13:55They're three months in and I'm surprised how well they're making progress
14:02Oh, that is good
14:04I tell you, you've come on much further than I have before
14:09I've had a lot of rain, tonnes of rain
14:11It may seem skeletal and simple, but this is, of course, two caravans side by side
14:18This is theoretically two movable structures
14:23There is a gap
14:24There's a gap and the only thing holding it at the moment is a few clamps
14:28You could have a piece of string and pull it through the whole
14:31Through the thing, like flossing
14:33The whole thing, yeah
14:34The timber used has come from trees at risk from disease
14:38Or those posing an imminent threat to the building
14:41The best thing we could do if we have to take a tree down
14:46Is take that wood and preserve it some way
14:49In construction, ideally, in a building
14:51Embedded
14:51And then every time we remove one tree, the trees next to it will get a bit bigger
14:56Yeah
14:56So it's part of the woodland management
14:59Sustainable forestry requires selective felling
15:02And Charlie, Marcus' tree surgeon, can fell them with pinpoint accuracy
15:07So I'm going to put the phone here, slightly underneath this bow
15:11I hope it doesn't break
15:11Oh
15:12Yeah?
15:12I'm going to put the video on
15:14Yeah, maybe it'll be fine
15:15You think so?
15:16Well, your call
15:18It's your phone
15:19Yeah, it's my phone
15:20Right, I'm going to get out of the way
15:23That was the sound of a phone breaking into a thousand pieces
15:43Oh, God
15:45Oh, what?
15:48What?
15:49What?
15:50That was the phone
15:50What?
15:53Well, it smashed my phone
15:54Look, that's really, really, really, really, really not good
15:59I feel like I need to apologise
16:00I think that's the alarm signal it's now sent to emergency services
16:07Charlie got it bang on
16:08Bang on
16:09Congratulations, Charlie
16:10A tree crushing a mobile phone seems symbolic of this project's hardcore perspective
16:19It's a pity it just had to be my phone
16:22Anyway, Abby and Marcus are not just self-sufficient in timber
16:27Because down the road from site is a communal garden
16:29That under the One Planet Development Policy
16:32Will need to supply 35% of the family's food
16:36Massive field of onions
16:38Yeah
16:39Right off
16:39Everybody eats onions
16:41Look at these
16:42I've got loads of strawberries, late crop
16:44But why are they doing that?
16:46They're just as confused as we are by this summer
16:49Yeah, yeah, yeah
16:49Big motivator for you doing this project
16:53Is to be able to provide the exemplar and demonstrate to others this can be done
16:57I totally, thoroughly believe in what we're doing and why we're doing it
17:00And I work in a world of sustainability
17:03I want to sort of practice what I preach
17:06If you have the passion, you have the determination, you can do it
17:10And, yeah, it is about saying that to the world
17:14And saying that back to the people that I love
17:16For Abby, generating change is a serious business
17:21But in Marcus and Simon's studio, which is right next to the garden
17:26Very wildly different
17:30Oh, yeah
17:32It is like a gallery in Hoxton
17:33Their work demonstrates a fascination with fun
17:38Probably the most well-known is
17:41Is that, yeah
17:42Is that one of yours?
17:43This is one of ours
17:44Similar to what we're doing
17:45Playing around with bits of wood
17:47And coming up with kind of crazy contraptions
17:50It's a cool thing, though
17:51It's well-known, this
17:52Kind of
17:52We're playing
17:53Yeah
17:54This is probably one of our most experimental
17:56Oh, jeez
17:57Pieces
17:58It's very clever
18:00Yeah, you just leave, it'll rebuild itself
18:03This is a pool table
18:06Exquisite
18:07And I'll have one of these in the house
18:08I definitely want to try
18:10A slice of
18:11Hockney, California
18:14Yeah
18:14These delicate and playful designs
18:18Are a world away from that of splintered timber construction
18:21Six months in
18:25They're now racing to get a skin on the building
18:28Before winter bites
18:29To help, they have an apprentice
18:33Abby's on site, too
18:36I only get, like, one day a week to come and help out
18:39But it's a really nice change
18:41To go from being in an office to being out on the site
18:43Every time Abby gets to join Marcus on the project
18:46The conversation turns to money
18:48I think Marcus' idea of a budget
18:51Is just try to spend as little as possible
18:53And that's just not how budgets really work
18:55Abby's got a spreadsheet
18:58She keeps hassling me
18:59But you haven't filled out the spreadsheet of the costs
19:01We have a little bit of tension about that between us
19:05Because every time I try and open the computer and look at the spreadsheet
19:08He kind of
19:08He looks like he's sort of having a mild heart attack
19:11I'm just so determined to save costs anyway
19:15I don't have time to fill out the spreadsheet
19:17Now that the building is boarded
19:20Attention can turn to the complexities of the roof
19:23A quick look at the plans should help
19:26Oh, I forgot they don't have any plans
19:29So it's just working out how these
19:32How these timbers are fixed in place
19:35And somehow we need to make
19:37The rafters come down
19:41Marcus wants to create a big overhang
19:44To support the roofing sheets
19:45And help protect the cladding
19:47A quick sketch
19:48And the first rafter
19:49Is cut
19:51There we have it
19:53One rafter
19:55Another 48 today
20:00Somehow we'll finish it
20:03When I make a return journey in the new year
20:12The building's been wrapped in black membrane
20:15Hey Marcus
20:17Hi Kevin
20:18But I can sense that the winter has not treated Marcus well
20:22It's stealthy and kind of broody now
20:25A couple of weeks ago
20:26It was covered in white tarpaulin
20:29Spent so much time fixing tarpaulins
20:32And then I'd come back when it was pouring rain
20:34And it would still be dripping in
20:36It was getting all the OSB board wet
20:38Which was warping
20:39Wow
20:40That was a low point
20:41Yeah
20:42But uh
20:43Money?
20:44Money's
20:46So we had savings
20:47That's
20:48Coming to an end
20:50So we are looking into
20:52Borrowing some money from the family
20:54You know
20:54To be in that situation
20:56Is amazing privilege
20:57And um
20:58And so we're gonna try
20:59So it's borrowing
21:00Still needs to be repaid
21:01Still needs to be repaid
21:02Marcus has only spent
21:0540,000 pounds
21:06But now for the first time
21:08He is buying in materials
21:10Like the environmental insulation
21:12This is wood fibre board
21:15So that's made entirely of wood
21:16I love this stuff
21:17And I've spoken to architects
21:18Who don't even know this
21:19You know
21:20Don't know the alternative
21:21To using polyurothane
21:23Efficiency compared to
21:24It's not quite as good
21:25And it's more expensive
21:26Um
21:27But you've just gotta
21:28I don't know
21:29It's just
21:29Okay
21:30So you've gotta soak that up
21:31What about the bit in between?
21:32In between will be another product
21:34Which is the recycled newspaper
21:35Which will be pumped in
21:37And thickness will be this much of insulation
21:39Which is up to sort of
21:40Passive house standards
21:41Amazing
21:42Marcus has a responsibility here
21:45Not just to the environmental planning conditions
21:48But also to the man
21:50Who first introduced him
21:51To these woods
21:52Oh
21:58Marcus's dad
21:5954 when he died
22:02I'm glad I've come here
22:04Because
22:04They say don't they
22:05That
22:05Death
22:07Removes a person
22:08But it doesn't eliminate the relationship
22:12With that person
22:13That carries on
22:14In this case
22:16The place itself
22:18Connects
22:19Marcus to his father
22:21Because
22:25Paul is buried here
22:38In Pembrokeshire
22:43Marcus's budget
22:44Off-grid family woodland home
22:46Is straining its meager budget
22:48Of just 100 grand
22:50Cash is going fast
22:52It's going
22:53It's going
22:54The timber frame's complete
22:56So the windows can at last go in
22:59We've never fitted
23:00Bi-fold doors before
23:02It's not that difficult
23:03These windows are mainly recycled
23:06So installation
23:07I just want to go in
23:09Ticks persistence
23:10I think that's about right then
23:14Ta-da
23:15Yeah, it's good
23:17Come spring
23:19This building is almost weathertight
23:21It's not too heavy
23:25Just be careful guys
23:27This is the last window
23:28To fit the skylight in the kitchen
23:31Marcus has recruited a local farmer
23:33And his tractor
23:34Ready?
23:37One of the few pieces of heavy machinery
23:39Allowed on the forest floor
23:41So that's it
23:42We've sealed the house up
23:43By the following week
23:45The building grows afresh
23:47Larch skin
23:48This glade
23:50Is transforming
23:51Will you look at that
23:53Look
23:53That looks like somebody's house
23:57Doesn't it?
23:58Looks like the chainsaw's been here
24:00Preparing more larch
24:02And turning into these boards
24:04Which go onto that building
24:06I love the directness of that
24:07Tree
24:08Boards
24:09Building
24:11It's looking really good
24:14Do you find it frustrating
24:18In a way that you can't
24:21Just
24:21Go out there
24:23And just buy stuff
24:24And build immediately
24:25Yeah
24:26There's a few walls
24:27Where it would be so much easier
24:29To go and buy some plasterboard
24:31Fill it with rock
24:32Or
24:33In sound insulation
24:35So yeah
24:35It's a moral dilemma
24:37We've got a
24:38Composting loo system
24:40It's got to come from Sweden
24:41And
24:42You know
24:44They've sent it
24:45But it's taking weeks
24:46To get here
24:46But
24:47It's what we need
24:49This
24:50Ethical approach
24:51Is rare
24:52But as the noise
24:53Of impact
24:53Screwdrivers
24:54Subsides
24:55A new sound
25:00Takes over
25:01And it's deafening
25:03What time is it now?
25:09It's just gone
25:104.30 isn't it?
25:11It's just
25:12Like by the minute
25:14It's getting brighter
25:15I think
25:20Because Marcus is here
25:21Every day
25:22He gets to experience
25:24The house
25:25And the wood
25:26In a different way
25:27Than I do
25:28So it's really nice
25:29To
25:29Yeah
25:31Steal a few moments
25:32Like this
25:32To sort of
25:34Feel what it's like
25:35To be here
25:36And
25:36Yeah
25:38Just appreciate
25:39Being in this setting
25:41It's kind of important
25:43I think
25:44This dawn chorus
25:46Reminds me
25:47Of what this project
25:48Is all about
25:48By midsummer
25:53And at a civilised
25:54Time of day
25:55Marcus's walls
25:56Are ready to be filled
25:57With recycled newspaper
25:58My office today
26:00Is very good
26:01Mobile power
26:03Because we're off the grid
26:04It's an insulation system
26:05That dates back
26:06To the 70s
26:07But its environmental
26:08Credentials
26:09Now make it more
26:10Popular than ever
26:11It's made from
26:14100% recycled newspaper
26:16And we use a machine
26:18To break up the fibre
26:19Fills all those
26:21Nook and crannies
26:21All those small gaps
26:22It stops all that
26:23Coal bridging
26:25And any drafts
26:26Coming through
26:26But once it's in
26:27And it's put in correctly
26:28It works
26:29It seriously works
26:31I'll be honest with you
26:32It takes just two days
26:33To fill the walls
26:34Floors and roof space
26:36In which time
26:37Marcus has another arrival
26:39The long awaited
26:40Swedish sewerage system
26:42Everything from the toilet
26:44Comes down through here
26:45Goes into this centrifugal thing
26:47Solids drop down into that
26:49And then the liquid
26:50Comes out of the bottom
26:52This Scandi filtration system
26:55Has cost 2,000 pounds
26:56But it will enable
26:58The luxury of
27:00Off-grid flushing toilets
27:01Another cost to do things
27:04Right for the environment
27:06By the autumn
27:07Marcus not only has sewerage
27:09But electricity
27:10We have our own power
27:12And now this is it
27:13This is charging the house
27:14I think it's fascinating
27:16Solar panels on the barn
27:18Are now wired up to the house
27:20And the walls
27:20Can now be plastered
27:22Let the knees bend
27:23Fold forward
27:24As you breathe out
27:26Marcus has enlisted
27:27The help of his friend Luke
27:29Breathe in
27:29Bring your hands to the shins
27:31And come halfway
27:32And Ness
27:34A professional plasterer
27:35And
27:36Gonna reach up the arms
27:38Yoga teacher
27:39Forward fold
27:41So hands come down
27:42Step back
27:43A little limbering up
27:44Is probably a good idea
27:46As Marcus is using
27:47A line plaster
27:48And it's not simple to apply
27:50I prefer yoga
27:53It's a lot of work
27:55But it's also sustainable
27:56And gives a quite spectacular finish
28:00This project was supposed to take a year
28:05Now after 20 months
28:08The pressure of building is relentless
28:10I've just been working
28:12All hours at the moment
28:13Yeah
28:14I'm shattered
28:15Just can't physically do it
28:17Unless there's four of me
28:18I mean it is stressful
28:19They are only just laying the dried larch floorboards
28:25Every bit of wood
28:27I've felled it
28:28Sawed it
28:29I've stacked it
28:31Then I've got to oil it
28:32And polish it
28:34It's a lot of processes
28:36Isn't it
28:36Even with Abby's help
28:38Cut my first floorboard
28:40Laying this floor will take three weeks
28:44And for the first time
28:46They have a very real deadline
28:48We have to be out of our house
28:51Because it's rented out
28:52And we have to be in here in June
28:54Whether it's finished or not
28:55Hey, tell my name
28:56Come in
28:56Hey
28:57Thank you
28:57I did three days
29:00How did it have done?
29:02Yeah, the idea is we rent this out
29:03I'd like to sell it really
29:05But then
29:06If it all goes wrong
29:08Then
29:08We're kind of left with a nice house
29:10In the woods
29:11Where we're not allowed to live
29:12That's a bit of a disaster
29:13For the kids
29:14The house in Tenby
29:16Will remain a critical source of income
29:18Hello, girls
29:19And be an important safety net
29:22If their new life in the woods ever fails
29:27A new life
29:30Which not every member of the family
29:31Seems too excited by
29:33As this project welcomes its second spring
29:42Marcus's building is also
29:44Budding into life
29:46What a magical thing
29:49It's the little house in the woods
29:52Oh
29:53It's just looking
29:55Gorgeous
29:56Hey
29:58Hi, team
29:59Hi
29:59You laid the floor
30:01So you felled these
30:02Yeah, felled them from this very spot
30:05That's amazing
30:06Slightly running out of energy, I think
30:08You?
30:09Yeah
30:09How long have you got
30:10To put all this together?
30:11We need to move in here
30:13In ten weeks' time
30:15Oh, guys
30:16The pressure's on
30:16The pressure is on, yeah
30:18Moving day is looming
30:21And Marcus has a growing anxiety
30:23Around the off-grid lifestyle
30:25He's signing his family up to
30:27There was always a big fear
30:29That the 14-year-old girls
30:31Just wanted to live in a house
30:33Like everyone else
30:34Yeah
30:35And I think they're
30:36You know
30:37Would probably prefer
30:38To be staying where they are
30:40At the moment
30:40Because you're a parent
30:42Of somebody that age
30:44It doesn't matter what you do
30:45There will always be kickback
30:46There will always be a rebellion
30:47Yeah
30:48I didn't start out to do it
30:49As well as we are doing it
30:51As things have progressed
30:52I've kind of upped the level
30:54Both the quality
30:56And using all the
30:58Right environmental choices as well
31:01Those two things we've upped
31:03You know
31:03Our initial budget
31:04Has gone over
31:05Because we're realising
31:07Actually it's the right choice
31:09This is a really
31:10Really great project
31:11You should remind yourself of that
31:12Yeah
31:13Thank you
31:14Marcus's energy
31:16Is clearly depleting
31:18Luckily he can lean more
31:20On a growing team
31:21Of volunteers
31:21To help him get over the line
31:23Javi's here helping
31:26There's my brother Casper in there
31:28And Simon's here
31:29It's all like the final rush now
31:30I'm over it
31:32No
31:32Yeah I'll get finished
31:34To I don't know what point
31:35One of the last deliveries
31:38And it looks amazing
31:40Is the polished Welsh slate
31:42Worktop for the kitchen
31:43It takes five men
31:49The best part of an hour
31:50To get it off the truck
31:51Very heavy
31:55Getting it into the house
31:57Will wait for another day
31:59But Marcus knows
32:01Days are fast running out
32:03In just a few months time
32:09It's not long now
32:10You're going to have some time off
32:12The floor feels like
32:13The final kind of big job
32:15You're doing really well though
32:17Then I'll start the next thing then
32:19See you better not start
32:20The next thing
32:21I'm serious
32:21But can we just finish this house though
32:23I'll try
32:24Please
32:25I'll try
32:26Oh God
32:27What have we done
32:28For millennia
32:42Our homes were shaped
32:44By local materials
32:45And by the skilled hands
32:47Of local craftspeople
32:48Who understood them
32:49Two years ago
32:53Marcus and Abby
32:55Set out to rediscover
32:56That tradition
32:57Drawing on age old techniques
33:01And the resources around them
33:03To build a truly modern
33:05Sustainable home
33:07And to forge a new path
33:10For others to follow
33:11So I come to a crossroads
33:17A beautiful enticing lane
33:20I mean you might think
33:21That that way civilization lies
33:23And here
33:24Well this is just all
33:25Chaos and wilderness
33:26Except of course
33:27Given the choice
33:28I always take a walk
33:29On the wild side
33:30It's hard to imagine
33:34How this Welsh wilderness
33:36Could ever be tamed
33:37But slowly
33:40Marcus and Abby's home
33:41Has grown within this
33:43Verdant frame
33:44Oh
33:51Well that's good
33:53That
33:54That is really good
33:57That is a building
34:07Full
34:10Of stuff
34:11You want to explore
34:12Every
34:19Stick of wood
34:21Is in the right place
34:21For a building
34:25Detailed on the back
34:27Of an envelope
34:27It is pretty flawless
34:29And it captures
34:31The spirit of adventure
34:32With which it was built
34:33There's a hot tub
34:36It would seem
34:38Environmental homes
34:39Have a new
34:40Poster boy
34:41One planet pioneers
34:45We did it
34:46Yeah you've done it
34:47You've done it
34:47You've built it
34:48You've gardened it
34:49You've planted it
34:50Just about
34:51It's amazing
34:53Good to see you both
34:54You are
34:54Hey Marcus
34:56Hi
34:56Yeah
34:57Hey
34:58Hello Domino
34:59Yeah
34:59It's a wonderland of woods
35:03And woodland
35:04It's like I suddenly find myself in Oregon
35:07Or Sweden or somewhere
35:09It doesn't seem
35:10Typically Welsh
35:12Particularly Welsh
35:13Or British
35:14No
35:14I wanted the whole place to feel like we could be anywhere
35:18It's magical
35:19You have to
35:20You have to be able to live a modern lifestyle
35:22But you just
35:22It doesn't have to be like hugely carbon hungry
35:25A little bit of luxury
35:26One planet luxury
35:27I like the fact that this is sort of a hamlet of little buildings this place
35:30Yeah that's our boiler
35:31So that's keeping the hot water at the moment
35:33And it will do without heating
35:35And then the plan is to extend it this way
35:39And that'll become our greenhouse
35:40Inside?
35:42Are you pleased?
35:43I think so
35:43I think you're going to like it
35:44Come on
35:45Come inside
35:45Have a look
35:46Around the other side of this building
35:51There's another little adventure
35:53What's this little building?
35:56That is a boot room, utility
35:58And what's it?
36:00Little zen garden?
36:02Yeah
36:02Got a little zen rake
36:04Yeah
36:04It's um
36:05Yeah
36:06Got to be in the right state of mind
36:07He gets quite protective of it
36:09Yeah I don't like people stepping on it
36:10Can I have a go?
36:11Yes
36:12Yes
36:12Proper door
36:15Yeah proper door
36:15And an eave for protection
36:17I love all this
36:18The playful rustic chic of the outside
36:21Yes
36:23Gives way to a bright grown up interior
36:28Oh this is nice
36:32This is properly populated
36:33This is the real deal
36:35It's great
36:37It's super refined
36:39You know
36:39It's very curated
36:41The table's extraordinary
36:43Made out of log
36:45Yeah
36:46I really like the trunk legs
36:48Yeah
36:48The top bits are planks of wood my dad had bought 30 years ago and I've had in the shed for a special occasion and yeah thought we'd use those
36:56Well that is beautiful
36:57Well that is beautiful
36:58What more could you ask of a piece of furniture?
37:00Yeah
37:00The whole story's there
37:01Yeah
37:01Love this
37:02It's amazing
37:03It's amazing isn't it?
37:04Welsh slate of course
37:06This isn't one planet living is this?
37:08This is a gas hob
37:08How do you justify this?
37:11We really like cooking so we can't have electric in the winter so much
37:16We had to have some sort of gas which is fine for now but in the long run I want to start making my own biogas
37:22A gas hob fuelled by rotting veg instead of a bottle from the garage fits this building's cyclical ethos
37:30There's a biomass boiler burning construction offcuts for heating and hot water
37:35And the solar panels on the barn harness the same dappled sunlight that dances on the deck
37:42A deck that frames the embrace of the forest discovering a new friend
37:49It draws you out you kind of want to you want to go out
37:55I think that was part of the thing we always had was that you should be encouraged to be in those outside spaces as much as you can
38:01Marcus and Abby's modest bedroom is tucked behind another big window and even has the luxury of an en suite
38:08The open main living space also enjoys a small snug
38:14That that I've never seen it in as it were in situ
38:20Oh it looks so good
38:22I haven't had a space where you felt like this is a permanent base
38:25We're not moving out every so long
38:26So it just yeah it feels like it's all landed
38:29The crittle window recycled from a central London office block had never even dreamed of a view like this
38:37There again this house is full of delightful surprises
38:42It's not just a bathroom it's a bath deck
38:46That is so neat
38:48Unless you've had a bath outside when it's raining in the winter
38:51You don't know how luxurious and great it feels isn't it
38:56At the raised end for the first time the twins have their own rooms
39:02With mezzanined tree house beds
39:05Every space here connects to the forest outside
39:10Look look a teenage exit route
39:14A place to truly commune
39:18This home has sprung from Marcus's imagination
39:22Empowered by Abby's face in a carbon-free future
39:27But so much of the crisply crafted resolution of these ideas lies with the details man
39:34Marcus's friend and design partner
39:36Simon
39:37Do you feel like you've earned an ownership in the building?
39:43I know where the key is so it's fine
39:45I'd like to think so I suppose
39:47Yeah I think you know it's been a long journey
39:49And yeah there's a big part of me in it
39:51Got harder towards the end I think you know
39:53The pressures build
39:54And you solve one problem
39:56And then the stress of like
39:58Moving on to needing to solve the next problem
40:01Yeah
40:01And so there's no let up
40:03It's relentless
40:04So that's hard work
40:06This experience
40:07Has sort of changed you and evolved you
40:10Doesn't it?
40:11Yeah and you know
40:12Our background is furniture and lighting
40:15And I've learnt there's a difference
40:16Between building furniture and building a house
40:20That's for sure
40:21What do you think of it?
40:23I love it
40:24I think it sits nicely in the landscape
40:26I think the insides worked really well
40:28I think the way it flows
40:30And how much you feel part of the outside
40:34When you're inside
40:35It really works
40:37While Simon's journey with this building
40:40Slows to a close
40:42For Marcus, Abby and their twin girls
40:44The journey is just starting
40:46And it's clear that twins may still need a little persuading
40:50To fully embrace the new wildlife on offer
40:53For somebody my age
40:56I think oh I'd love to live in the woodland
40:58Peace and quiet and tranquility
40:59I guess for you this
41:00There's just less to do
41:02Yeah
41:02But do you think you will adapt?
41:05Yeah probably
41:06Because we've only just moved in now
41:08So we haven't been here for that long
41:11So it's still quite like new to us
41:13What are the big changes do you reckon?
41:15Well having our own rooms is one of them
41:17And then just basically just being in the woods
41:21Because that's quite different
41:22Yeah
41:22From being where we were in Tenby before
41:25And it is good to have Dad back
41:28Yeah
41:29He's had like a lot
41:30Been working very hard on the woods
41:32So
41:33Yeah
41:33Things could be better
41:35The family still own their house in Tenby
41:38Which is now a permanent holiday let
41:40And a source of income
41:41But in time
41:42I'd hope the girls fall in love with this woodland playground
41:47Their parents have built for them
41:49I mean first of all congratulations
41:51Because I think this is just magical
41:54It's a good space isn't it?
41:55Yeah
41:56Yeah I'm tired
41:57But I'm
41:58I think we all understand that
42:00It's kind of like
42:01It's just now we can
42:02Yeah just sit back and kind of enjoy it
42:05Because the design
42:06And the evolution of the project
42:07Has remained so much in Marcus's hands
42:10And in his head
42:11How has the building turned out
42:14Relative to your expectations?
42:16I think it's better
42:17Yeah I just think that's incredible
42:19To sort of have that vision
42:21And have that
42:22I don't know confidence
42:23To go I can make this work
42:25Yeah
42:25Yeah
42:26We've just been incredibly lucky
42:27To be able to do it
42:28How would your dad have
42:31Yeah I think he'd have been proud
42:32Yeah everyone
42:33Lots of people say
42:34How proud he'd have been
42:35So yeah
42:36It's definitely inspiration from him
42:38And so how much have you spent?
42:40I think it's 150,000
42:42150,000
42:44That's 50% over budget
42:45Yeah
42:46And how do you account for that overspend?
42:48I think it just
42:49The ambition of the building
42:51Sort of took on a little bit
42:53And just grew a little bit more
42:54You know we've built an off-grid house
42:56For 150
42:58Using
42:58Pretty much the
43:00You know the best eco materials
43:03You have
43:04Really well built
43:05Properly membraned
43:06You've got
43:07Double glazing
43:08Biomass boiler
43:09Yeah
43:10Electricity
43:11Batteries
43:11And solar panels
43:13You've got
43:13Mechanical ventilation
43:15And heat recovery
43:15He's got the highest
43:16Possible spec really
43:17That's remarkable
43:18You've just got this amazing philosophy
43:19To just do it as cheaply as possible
43:21Feels kind of miraculous
43:22And free
43:23You know
43:23I just remember sitting in that planning meeting
43:26When we were trying to get permission to do this
43:28And just the level of negativity towards this kind of lifestyle
43:33I just remember feeling like I'm determined to prove you wrong
43:36I'm determined to say this is something you can be proud of
43:38This is something you know Pembrokeshire can be proud of
43:40To have said that they've enabled this
43:43Wales can be proud of
43:43So they've enabled this kind of creativity to flourish
43:48And it's in a sustainable way
43:50I think there's an image perception problem with that lifestyle
43:53And I just hope that perhaps we're challenging that
43:56This house demonstrates that beautifully
43:57It is a beautiful place to live
43:59To take the path less travelled is always brave
44:09And this rare wooden cabin captures that modern pioneering spirit
44:13It doesn't preach
44:15But it does signpost to a greener, more sustainable way of building
44:19And frankly, hardcore eco-conscious living has never looked so stylish
44:25Or so inviting
44:26Isn't this place innocent?
44:31It has an almost childlike quality about it
44:34After all, it is just a simple cabin in the woods
44:39At the same time, of course, it's also a really high-performing piece of technology
44:45It points to the future
44:48It actually challenges so many of the conventional ideas we have about our homes
44:55How we procure them
44:56Where we source the materials for them
44:59How we put them together
45:00What the planning for them should be
45:02Yes, it was a test
45:04It was a test for Marcus and for Abby and for Simon too
45:08However, its job is only just starting
45:13It has so many responsibilities
45:17To the family, to their future
45:19To the memory of Marcus's father
45:22To the local community
45:23To Welsh planning policy
45:26And to the planet
45:28Goodness me
45:30Those are all responsibilities that we should take more seriously
45:34So the grand plan is to build Viking-inspired longhouse
45:49The diagnosis of cancer triggered me into saying
45:52Right, better get on with it now
45:54They're working like Trojans to make sure we get it done in good time
45:57We don't have the funds
45:59I feel like I'm just paying out thousands more or less every day
46:02Her health is deteriorating
46:04They're working over the bank holiday, the poor guys
46:06Well, there's a Viking longhouse
46:08If ever I saw one
46:38They're working like Trojans
46:40We don't have the funds
46:40But theН intuition
46:41They're working like Informal
46:42ından
46:42Tornado
46:43So theス way
46:43To wind up
46:44We see
46:44There's a story
46:44We need to act
46:45We need to act
46:47We need to act
46:48For some Kalau
46:48To wind up
46:49For some Mario
46:49You have a huge
46:50For two
46:51essay
46:51Of
46:54For some Mario
46:56So the own рис
46:57dash
46:57Is that
46:59Life
47:00is
47:00With
47:01最
47:04Only
47:04Or
47:05Before
47:06Or
47:06Mr.
47:07Speaker
47:07Dar
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