- 2 months ago
Grand Designs Australia S12E03
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00:00from the earliest of times rocks have been man's best friend when it comes to
00:17finding and building shelter over the millennia of course we've come a long
00:21way and timber and bricks and concrete are all faster and cheaper and easier to
00:28produce but what if convenience and cost weren't the main game you wanted to
00:35produce something free-flowing and organic and earthy maybe a boulder or two
00:42would be just the answer
00:58there's a wildness to Victoria's Mornington Peninsula that gets into your soul if you let
01:22it grow up here and the rocks and the waves of this place will always be home
01:32nothing compares how could it that's certainly the case for third generation local Ryan Moody
01:40growing up on the peninsula you know we're always you know walking running through these sand dunes
01:46growing up across the road from the beach it's just fresh air a great place to have my family
01:53my grandparents moved down to Rye in the 1950s purchased a big parcel of land along the coast along the along
02:09edge of the Bay as a moody street our surname so very connected to the to the area Ryan wants his own
02:22kids Lily and Finn to feel that same sense of belonging I have the kids half the week I separated from their
02:28mum three years ago so have the kids Thursday to Sunday we love going on adventures to to beaches like
02:36this and cooking on the beach exploring there's seaweeds there we love collecting beach class yeah
02:44and and we're all we're all into water as well kids love swimming no surprises there as a young
02:51man Ryan spent his whole first career in the water moved up to Canberra to play water polo at the
02:58Australian Institute of Sport and then moved around playing professional water polo Athens Spain Brazil
03:06Croatia inevitably though the peninsula drew him home and he started his second career as an architect in
03:15his family's building business where he works with his dad and sister he's about to embark on the most
03:24important build of his life creating a home for himself and the kids but it's what he's building
03:32that's intriguing yeah and a bit of inspiration for for the home as well to have some concrete shapes like
03:39this with a concrete cave sort of feel to it as well you know maybe similar shape to that so you've got
03:46that sense of containment and coziness in bed and then sort of also that expanse of some maybe some windows out to the garden
03:54a concrete cave doesn't sound too cozy to me one thing's for sure it will be a change from the flat he's currently living in
04:08living here in the apartment above the Indian restaurant and kebab shop there are lots of smells and smoke around and a bit tight in the apartment
04:18yeah I have to have the washing machine in my room oh in the new house no you don't darling just that can go in the laundry just have a bedroom all to yourself
04:32I know the kids are going to really enjoy having a home which is which is ours which we can kind of really unpack in
04:42and sort of grow that sort of next step of the future together
04:49the big question is does anyone really want to live in a cave
04:58and this is the pathway which leads to the front of the house right
05:03so you come right out from underneath all of this fabulous old growth into this fabulous bowl here yeah
05:10this whole landscape here is your family and an extended history of your family
05:16so grandmother's house was just up on the top of the hill here and then so there's
05:20I want to have an apricot tree too that you know that you know
05:24I'd chase my sister around as a young boy and why not
05:28so what are you building
05:30I would like to think it's you know a little indescribable and that's part of the intent
05:35it's it's garden it's cave it's you know 70s beach shack it's some modernism
05:41but building a free-form passive house
05:45what's with the cave
05:47I love spending time at the ocean beach the feeling of the rock cliffs and the sense of enclosure security
05:57the feeling of being being in nature rather than being in a you know that square box
06:03this unique eco house is designed with a heavy dollop of kid-friendly whimsy
06:11the two-story steel and timber frame sits on a recycled concrete slab to meet strict passive house standards
06:19insulated timber walls will be airtight and windows triple glazed ensuring the internal temperature
06:25sits at a constant 20 degrees without heating or cooling
06:31Ryan wants the family to live close to nature and they will
06:35an internal garden lines the hallway and not just a few ferns
06:39a five metre tall mango tree planned in the double height living room which adjoins the open plan kitchen
06:47more nature in Ryan's bedroom inspired by the local cliffs
06:51it sits inside a cave-like concrete arch with the ensuite defined by two huge boulders for the shower
06:59and another concealing the toilet
07:03upstairs bedrooms for the kids and guests and a Japanese inspired tea room
07:08wackily accessed via a cargo net
07:11good luck with the fine china
07:13and the whole space is lit by a large skylight
07:17on the roof a garden and solar panels
07:21and completing it all a two metre deep triangular pool
07:25boarded by a deck
07:27and more of those giant granite rocks
07:31I can see you kicked off with the pool and you've got some beautiful boulders over here
07:37where are they going?
07:39yeah, so that big one there which is three and a half metres by a metre and a half
07:43we're going to sort of flip that around
07:45and that'll go in the corner of the pool there
07:47like I'm imagining more of those sorts of materials appearing on the interior of the house
07:51yeah, some of them
07:53I'm going to go to the quarry and get some more boulders as well
07:57to surround the bathroom and become a bath
07:59with that in mind, how much money are you going to spend on the house?
08:03um, budget's one million dollars, yet not a cent over
08:07um, like if we spend less too
08:11um, so that's part of the creativity
08:14is in, you know, how to make it exactly as how I want
08:18but, you know, affordable
08:20what about time frames?
08:22how long is it going to take?
08:23yeah, semi-realistic in saying 18 months
08:26it's just going to depend on, you know, how happy I feel with how things are
08:31it all sounds really fun
08:33I'm just trying to work out, is it for you or for them?
08:36um, it's for what I want for them
08:38yeah, okay
08:39very well said
08:40yeah
08:41I once had a university lecturer who told me that I couldn't have my cake and eat it
08:46and this is a house to, you know, show my family, myself
08:50and perhaps anyone else interested that you can have your cake and eat it too
08:54hmm, I guess the proof of this pudding will be very much in the eating
08:59between the giant boulders and the caves and the internal gardens
09:06this place is sounding like an absolute wonderland for Ryan's kids
09:10but my worry is, if he gets this wrong and he goes too far in the pursuit of fun
09:16he could also very easily end up just looking like a Raiders of the Lost Ark theme park
09:21Ryan inherited this site from his grandparents
09:31it's still got the work shed on it for the family building company
09:35what it also has is boulders
09:39lots of them
09:41some weighing up to seven tonnes
09:43and one of the first major jobs of the build
09:53is moving them into his bathroom
09:56before it's built
09:58my en suite is going to be like a shower screen
10:05so, you know, I'll be, you know, in here showering
10:11and should be at the nice height to put a shampoo bottle on top
10:14and not have any glass to clean
10:16where the toilet is
10:18and that is going to be a screen here which will sort of come up
10:23sort of this high screen the toilet from the bedroom area
10:28the idea is to have, you know, kind of vanity and mirror
10:31you know, on the rock
10:33which is going to be nice
10:35so we're going to try to pick that rock up
10:37yep
10:38put aside the whys of all this for the moment
10:41stand it upright
10:42yep
10:43keep going harder that way
10:45hold there
10:47the immediate question is how
10:49straighten up and forwards
10:51for a start
10:53it's an incredibly tight site for the crane
10:55keep going straight
10:56going back
10:57all I'm doing is digging my massive hole here
10:59I know
11:00let's try and get it so you can go right back to the base
11:08slow, slow
11:09and hold about there for me mate
11:12and remember
11:14this is going to be a passive house
11:16meaning thermally insulated from the outside
11:20keep going
11:21keep going
11:22so these massive indoor rocks can't touch the ground
11:25keep going
11:26so we're putting this XPS foam underneath the boulder
11:31we can't have any gaps in it because that's going to allow some heat or cool to move in and out of the building
11:38so we need to have the insulation continuous and complete
11:41is the passive house mantra
11:43now you're going to tell me that's a hundred percent where it has to go aren't you
11:48yeah so and I can tell you which side
11:51the world's heaviest shower screen is inched into place
11:57once it's in it's staying in forever
12:00righto
12:01that's it
12:03how's it sitting?
12:06we're on the square on this side, that side
12:08that side not so much
12:09you've got a bit of space that's good
12:10I've got a wider shower now
12:11happy with that?
12:12yeah
12:13now we've just got to hope it stays upright
12:15yeah so shower's just here
12:17I'll be a hundred and fifty mil up higher
12:19so nice sort of height
12:22yeah
12:23even a nice little shelf here for something
12:25shampoo bottle
12:26shampoo bottle
12:27yeah yeah
12:28soap
12:33so
12:34what's truly remarkable about this other than everything
12:38that's good
12:39is Ryan is effectively building his bathroom freehand
12:43that's all good there, perfect yeah
12:45what most would consider a bit of a high risk strategy
12:48Jack, can I lie there or not?
12:51where?
12:52I just want to see what the view's like
12:54yeah, go for it
12:58I'm just going to just jump here for a sec
13:06this is where the bed is
13:07ah yeah
13:08my bed is going to be just where I was laying a bit lower
13:11but I just wanted to see what kind of view
13:14through to the trees
13:15I didn't want to block out all those trees
13:17so
13:18I'm going to have a window here
13:19straps around the corner
13:21but I think it's framed nicely
13:23okay
13:25I'm glad Ryan's confident
13:27if we can kind of
13:29position it so
13:31they can kind of lean on each other
13:33then that works
13:34because this
13:35making it up as you go along malarkey
13:37is making me nervous
13:38should we spin it around the other way?
13:40these boulders look huge outdoors
13:42imagine how massive they'll seem
13:44when the walls go up
13:45over, jib out
13:46and how little space will be left for anything else
13:50what do you think the stairs
13:52what kind of angle are they on, Kel?
13:54oh
13:55something like that
13:56something like that, yeah
13:57like that?
13:58yeah, really happy with how it is
14:01you know
14:02kind of walking through the spaces
14:03I can visualise
14:04you know
14:05what it's going to be like when it's all finished
14:06and waking up
14:07looking through those rocks
14:08you know
14:09in the shower there
14:11you know
14:12sitting in the toilet
14:13all those little experiences
14:14I can picture
14:15and
14:16and
14:17very happy with how
14:18it's coming together
14:24Ryan might be confident
14:27but his business partner's
14:29not so sure
14:30morning
14:31about time
14:32what have you been doing?
14:33eleven o'clock
14:34sister Jade
14:35and father John
14:37who've been building around the peninsula for years
14:39have seen some wacky projects in their time
14:42but this one
14:43is a whole new level of weird
14:45we've got a boulder on site
14:48which is
14:49a boulder
14:50a boulder
14:51this boulder here
14:52screens the toilet
14:53how many boulder counts are you up to at this point?
14:56so
14:57this big boulder
14:58seriously
14:59are they going to be left up in the quarry?
15:01no
15:02because of the insulation of the house it's going to be 20 degrees all year round
15:06above there is
15:08what keeps it at 20 degrees all year round?
15:10triple glazing
15:12mm-hmm
15:13um
15:14a hundred mil of XPS foam under the slab
15:17mm-hmm
15:18it'll be air tight so no
15:19no air
15:20if we don't want it no air will change
15:21so
15:22our body heat
15:23and the heat of appliances like the oven
15:25gets tracked in there
15:28so if you want more heat to just turn the oven on?
15:30yeah
15:31yeah
15:32yeah
15:38well
15:39there's no turning back now
15:41with boulders set in place
15:43today
15:44they're being set in stone
15:46an environmental concrete slab
15:49using recycled demolition rubble from other sites for aggregate
15:52is being poured around them
15:54the view from the bedroom
15:57girlfriend
15:58girlfriend Uma
15:59has come along to watch the excitement
16:01she's out from Bali
16:02where she teaches yoga
16:04and hasn't seen the site before
16:06jack two three
16:07step down into the bedroom here
16:10to mark the occasion
16:11Ryan's got an idea
16:13it's a little left field
16:14I already told the guys about running the concrete around
16:17and um
16:19um
16:20Roger who's a
16:21family friend
16:22he will um
16:23he could throw firm shells on us
16:25like
16:26like rose petals
16:27so we're going to have a little ceremony
16:30like where our bed's going to be
16:31oh right
16:32yeah
16:33when's it not today
16:34today
16:35today
16:36yeah when the concrete comes
16:37so it's probably
16:38oh I'll have to probably have a shake
16:39run
16:40nice job
16:41can't do that
16:42so we're probably going to be sitting there
16:43you know kind of like
16:44cross-legged
16:45you know
16:46staring at each other's eyes
16:47yeah
16:48and then um
16:49and then Daryl's going to get the concrete
16:51and this concrete pump
16:52and just
16:53go around
16:54go around
16:55and then I was just thinking maybe
16:56um
16:57maybe you could
16:58see those plastic bag of shells there
16:59yeah
17:00you know like um
17:01rose petals
17:02maybe you can kind of like
17:03throw the shells over it
17:04over the top of us
17:05like you know
17:06yeah
17:07they're not a problem
17:08yeah
17:09so the whole section's set down
17:10oh that's easy
17:11concreter Daryl
17:12has never had a request quite like it
17:14um
17:15he wants to get the pump
17:16sort of like some ceremonial thing
17:19around
17:20oh that must be a Balinese thing
17:22or something
17:23I've got no idea
17:27first um
17:28first a little bit of fun
17:29on our
17:30for our bedding
17:33if you needed proof
17:34this home means more to Ryan
17:36than four walls
17:39here it is
17:41homes where the heart is
17:43smack centre of the bedroom
17:47I love you
17:52I'm devoted to you
18:01I love romance as much as the next guy
18:04but this is well
18:07I don't know what it is
18:08it was beautiful having the concrete go around us
18:17and see little bits of
18:19splatter of concrete on Uma's face
18:22maybe not so nice for Uma
18:24but there's more inspiration to come
18:27Ryan being Ryan
18:28also wants to add some interest to the floors
18:31which will be ground back and polished
18:33um
18:34got some um
18:35some big pebbles
18:36which you know
18:37normally you kind of see
18:38in an aggregate
18:39you know you see something
18:40kind of that sort of size
18:41but um
18:42we're going for um
18:43something quite big
18:44which is unusual
18:46the flattest sides up
18:48Uma and I went out for pizza last night
18:50and you know
18:51got the marinara pizza
18:52with some nice pipi shells on it
18:53and some muscle shells
18:55and um
18:56sort of scatter
18:57there's a
18:58kind of modern day midden
18:59through the bedroom
19:00pizza
19:02inspired floors
19:04what's next
19:05I'm all for creative architecture
19:08but there's
19:09creative
19:10and there's crazy
19:12I'm not sure yet
19:14which side of the line we're on
19:15yeah it'd be nice to look at on the toilet
19:19when the concrete dust settles
19:25and the initial flurry of activity is over
19:28a strange thing happens
19:33nothing
19:37and plenty of it
19:41G'day Ryan
19:42yeah hi Anthony
19:43good to see you
19:44yeah good to see you
19:45how are you doing?
19:46yeah doing well
19:47looks like it's coming along a little slower
19:49than I would have imagined
19:50nine months on
19:51yeah
19:52yeah me too
19:53um
19:54would have liked it to move
19:55um quicker too
19:56so okay so why the delays
19:58why are we taking longer than we thought
19:59yeah
20:00you know
20:01other than
20:02other than the sort of project delays
20:03and altering some design here and there
20:05you know
20:06um
20:07some projects at work have grown in size
20:09so my intentions needed to
20:11uh-huh
20:12to prioritise in
20:13in that spot
20:14are you finding that you're changing a lot
20:17second guessing yourself
20:18or
20:19finding new opportunities
20:20yeah
20:21there's um
20:22once you're sort of on site
20:23and you see you know
20:24where the neighbours are
20:25or see where the boundaries are
20:27and spaces
20:28there's been some um
20:29tweaking
20:30turns out tweaking
20:32is Ryan speak
20:33for wholesale changes
20:35so I've thought rather than having
20:37the timber framed um ceiling through here
20:40that you know
20:41change this to a concrete ceiling
20:42so that's with the engineer at the moment
20:44right
20:45um being updated
20:46that's a big change
20:47it is
20:48that's structural
20:49so like we're
20:50we're not just talking about finishes here
20:51we're talking about envelope
20:52that's right
20:53I feel like I'm going to be here for a long time
20:55and I don't want to
20:56want it to feel right
20:57and
20:58yeah
20:59so what else are you changing?
21:00yeah
21:01I feel like I need to ask now
21:02oh look
21:03these formwork walls are for shock crete
21:05we've got a little bit more to do
21:06around the rock
21:07previously it was going to be
21:08Caulfield block work
21:09and I just thought
21:10with the shock crete
21:11it should be able to
21:12see it as it's going up
21:14add some angles
21:15some texture
21:16some thickness
21:17as it goes
21:18so
21:19um
21:20this is like live architecture isn't it
21:22you're going to be there as the concrete is setting
21:24yeah
21:25literally designing it as you go
21:26yeah
21:27that's
21:28that's a brave move
21:29yeah
21:30very risky
21:31oh
21:32um
21:33don't you think
21:34hopefully not
21:35no
21:36you've got to admire
21:38Ryan's pursuit of perfection for the family home
21:41home
21:42but every change
21:43comes at a cost
21:44how long has all this tweaking added to your schedule
21:48well
21:49um
21:50it's probably um
21:51realistically
21:52you know probably add another six months
21:54okay
21:55yeah
21:56what's it done to your budget?
21:57um
21:58look
21:59not much has happened on site
22:00so not a lot of budget expense sort of moves through so
22:03okay
22:04you've mentioned a couple of times that this is really about kids and family for you
22:08um
22:09are you worried that
22:10it takes too long
22:11they're going to be too big
22:12um
22:13they're
22:14yeah
22:15they're um
22:169 and 7
22:17but you know
22:18the time goes fast
22:19um
22:20so that
22:21that's a good motivator
22:22yeah it is
22:23as it should be
22:25because
22:26before you know it
22:279 and 7
22:28become
22:2919
22:30and 17
22:31and the novelty of living in a cave
22:33might not be
22:34so
22:35well
22:36novel
22:37when i first met ryan and heard of all his ideas for this place
22:41it was like
22:42an architect's dream
22:44wrapped in a yoga theme park nightmare
22:47but now that i've come back and visited
22:49i think actually i might have been wrong
22:51there's so much care and consideration
22:53that's gone into every little moment of this place
22:56there's something quite wonderful that's happening here
22:58eccentric but wonderful
23:00of course all of that experimentation
23:02is pretty meaningless
23:04unless he can actually finish the project
23:13Ryan's changes aren't just coming at a cost of time and budget
23:17it's exacting a grey hair toll on project manager callum
23:22so the biggest challenge of the project is trying to get what's in ryan's mind onto paper
23:27so that everybody else can visualize what it is that we're actually doing
23:30ones between timber i've highlighted
23:32it can be quite interesting to come to work on a monday
23:35having
23:36quite firmly in your mind what you're going to do
23:38it's now going to be a
23:39timber frame wall
23:40and that'll have changed
23:41due to ryan's obviously his creative flair
23:44so that poses
23:46challenges in itself
23:48just
23:49just sort of fleshing this idea out
23:50so in section
23:51the endless changes are having a big impact on how the house is built
23:55normally a steel frame would be prefabricated off-site
23:59and erected like a Meccano set
24:01but with the plans constantly changing
24:04by the time the frame is built
24:06it'll be out of date
24:07it's an awful lot of weight
24:08they have a thickened edge beam
24:10we've opted to fabricate the steel on site
24:14so essentially everything's got to be measured, check measured
24:18or adapted on site to suit
24:21and hopefully get it up quick enough before ryan changes his mind to
24:26add something else into the mix
24:34a whole year after starting the build
24:37ryan is finally ready to commit to his plans
24:40four tonnes of steel is arriving on site
24:43along with four mils of rain
24:48I can think of better places to be
24:54this yet
24:55I can think of each better places to be
24:57that'll be alright
25:02I'm a little hippa hippa
25:05is that Spanish or
25:07I don't know
25:08but as the weather clears
25:10the bones of ryan's house are lifted out of his imagination
25:17a little left a bit more
25:19and cut, welded and bolted into place
25:27and ryan couldn't be happier
25:31I've been changing the design a bit
25:33and then you know
25:34with the
25:35with that becomes change of
25:36the
25:37the steel framework
25:38re-shopped drawing
25:39and all of that
25:40so it's
25:41it's
25:42it's great to kind of see it up
25:43we can
25:44start building the walls
25:45put the roof on now
25:46so
25:57just because the framework's up
25:59doesn't mean ryan's finished experimenting
26:01he's had an idea about the internal walls
26:05he wants to make them out of shotcrete
26:08where concrete is sprayed on
26:10using a high-pressure hose
26:12it's not a standard residential building technique
26:15but ryan's not a standard residential builder
26:18shotcrete's normally quite an industrial civil application
26:22where you might see it you know in drain pipes or you know these guys
26:28often you know create tunnels out of it
26:31so to take this concept from there to the internal spaces
26:35you know is a change
26:37so concrete's here at 8.30
26:40Trinity's leading the shotcrete team
26:43he's braced for a big day
26:46he's got it in his bathroom main bedroom
26:49in his hallway
26:51there's heaps
26:52there's heaps that is
26:53every architect
26:55every designer
26:56every engineer makes our job hard
26:58shotcreteing is a loud messy but highly efficient business
27:12the concrete is sprayed onto the frame at about 150 kilometres an hour
27:17it builds up in layers and can be used on vertical walls
27:24even upside down on ceilings
27:28it's quick to apply and saves time and money building formwork
27:32both big pluses for ryan
27:38once it's applied the shotcrete can be smoothed and shaped
27:44but ryan's had an idea
27:47yep another one
27:49got the tv tv's going to be sitting here so i'm just
27:52to his eye there's something organic about that raw shotcrete
27:57something cave-like
27:59as the shotcrete's been coming out you know it's kind of giving a sort of rough sort of dimpled surface
28:04sort of like what you would see on a cliff face at an ocean beach where the wind is blowing it
28:11and the weaker spots get blown out so it's sort of a very kind of natural finish
28:16so i'm just sort of assessing whether we keep it keep it like that
28:23so you don't want it in uniform you want it
28:25no yeah you want it moving in and out
28:27yeah
28:28do you want to spray it?
28:31you can you can actually because you'll do it easier
28:34because i'll make it i'll make it just yeah look really straight
28:39yeah okay
28:40ryan's after a
28:44after an un-unified look
28:46it's a really wavy messy
28:49it's really hard for us shotcrete's to do
28:52so i thought ryan would be the best person to do it
28:55go for that look and just gonna let him show us how to do it
28:58so it is his home
29:02bit of air
29:03yeah turn it right up
29:06rough shotcrete inside a family home
29:09you don't see that very often
29:15i think being a local and being an architect as well
29:18i feel a sense of responsibility to show people even kids
29:23that we can kind of push the boundaries of what's normal
29:27to be innovative
29:29the house is sort of designed to be a sort of a stage set
29:33with certain props
29:34which creates that scene of what i want my life to be
29:38you having fun?
29:39yeah i am
29:42good to see the look on you guys faces
29:46i know ryan has a vision
29:48i just hope we'll all be able to see it at the end of all this
29:53i've started building some walls for your bedroom
29:58and for your own little bathroom
30:02back home the apartment isn't getting any bigger
30:06but the kids are
30:08and the house ryan is building for them to grow up in
30:11is still at best six months away from finishing
30:15worryingly the biggest design challenge of the whole build
30:19is still ahead
30:20the trickiest part of this build is the master bedroom
30:26the basic shape of the bedroom is a concrete floor
30:30and then a curved shape like this
30:34so it's almost like a cave shape
30:38but also a wave sort of shape
30:40we've got a tight sort of curve here
30:42and then the idea is that this will be pretty much like that
30:48to that sort of distance
30:50we're going to have some lights up here
30:52sort of track lights to shine down and light the space
30:55problem is
30:57how to build it
30:58i don't think it's impossible task
31:00but there's a hell of a lot of weight in this concrete
31:03so with the initial conversations with the form workers
31:07the lead guy said oh you know
31:10what have you got yourself into
31:12but first things first
31:15it's now mid-january and the house is finally starting to look like more than a rock garden
31:24the walls are up and the window frames are going in
31:28the living room window is huge
31:31seven metres wide
31:33and it's got to be millimetre perfect
31:36even with Ryan's free-form approach
31:39not that chief installer Thomas is concerned
31:42something this size isn't that regular
31:44but we've definitely done it before
31:46so it's not a massive problem for us
31:48this complication is basically just making sure that the floor that you know
31:53they've chiselled out of the actual concrete is perfectly flat
31:57seems that isn't actually the biggest issue
32:03that would be a seven-ton granite boulder
32:08it's a bit more than we thought
32:10so close
32:12but it's another grey hair for project manager Callum
32:15so as you can see
32:17we've placed this rock right at the beginning of the build
32:19before we did any of the house
32:20all we had was the pool in
32:22we did our best to get this as close to the door as possible
32:25but probably about 10 to 12mm we've got to take off
32:30so wish me some luck
32:40oh wow, I think we need to be within about 3 or 4mm
32:43but having never done this before
32:45first time for everything
32:47we'll just have to see how we go
32:50in fairness, it's not a bad effort to get that rock
32:52within an old-fashioned inch of perfect placement
32:56which, sadly, doesn't help Callum one bit
33:00don't we have electric ones of those?
33:03but there's an even bigger job ahead
33:15planning and building the complicated formwork for Ryan's cave bedroom
33:18has taken months
33:21hidden under the first floor
33:23there's a giant timber mould for the curved cave-like ceiling
33:28they'll pour the concrete down into it
33:31it's not without its risks
33:33it can be perfect to size
33:35but as soon as the weight of the concrete goes in
33:37it can collapse
33:39so we spend a lot of time making sure it's all braced up
33:42so any little leaks or anything that looks like it's giving away
33:45we can get straight onto it
33:47there's a hold your breath moment as the first concrete goes in
33:58there'll be more than 15 tonnes
34:01and no one on site has built anything like this before
34:05just kind of, just on alert, you know
34:11full alert, just seeing everything's in order, everything's happening okay
34:16the cave roof is a massive feature of the house
34:20it needs to be smooth and perfect
34:23but it's impossible to see down into the curve
34:26to know if the concrete is reaching all the corners inside
34:30oh Mitch, do we stick the vibrator in that corner?
34:35down deep?
34:37yeah, I've got that long
34:39the long 20mm pin one
34:41yeah, yeah, cool
34:43the concrete is wanting sort of a runny mix to get down into that tight, tight bend
34:48at the same time we've got another section which comes up above the slab
34:52where we'd want like a firmer mix so it holds itself up there
34:54so it's a bit of playing to do
35:03the form work is held
35:05but because this is a structural element
35:08it needs to stay in place for 28 days
35:11it'll be a month before Ryan knows if his cave is a success
35:15or an expensive folly
35:17let's go and see what's happening with the concrete
35:20let's have some fish and chips on freshly
35:25you know what concrete actually gets like warm after it's late
35:29so it'll actually be warm to sit on
35:31for Ryan, everything about this house is about building a new life
35:35for himself, Finn and Lily
35:38everything is a chance for something playful and special
35:41hidden below floorboards, his cave roof will make a perfect cubby
35:44here is the top of Dad's bedroom
35:47but I'm going to call it level and a half
35:50and we're going to have like a little trap door here
35:53where your foot is
35:55so you can store toys in there
35:57or you can even climb down there under there
36:00this will be like kids zone only
36:02yeah, Lily
36:04yeah, and down low
36:06and then you know that spot there the TV is going to go up and down
36:09watch something in the cubby
36:10wait, is there a TV there?
36:12yeah
36:14see Dad can't get us when we're watching
36:17when is the chat room going to be there?
36:18but I think we'll have the remote downstairs
36:20oh, come on
36:24future memories are coming thick and fast
36:27I'm thinking of like, is it a good spot to have dinner sitting like this
36:30I've seen this light that you can pull down or you can push back up
36:34it's like one little light like that and it'll be on the table
36:36and around here's going to be like little garden planters around the edges
36:42and then I think underneath we'll keep a bit of space and we can have some pull-out mattresses
36:47so if family or friends want to come over we can pull them out and sleep on those
36:52or you can sleep in the secret room, it's got plenty of room
36:56yeah
36:57and you know this like we're building this house for kind of to look after every part of our kind of lives
37:04toilet, sleep, kitchen, food
37:08poop
37:10poop
37:11it's been a month since the cave pour
37:25the formwork is coming down
37:34this is the centerpiece of Ryan's build
37:37he's about to find out if it's been worth it
37:41oh
37:45really like how that's looking there
37:46are you happy with the tongs? looking good
38:01yeah especially with some of these sort of openings you know here and there
38:06yeah yeah
38:08yeah I'm very very very happy
38:11looks great
38:12this sort of frames that view out to the trees and so does the rocks
38:18so it's feeling like a peaceful space
38:23but Ryan being Ryan there's always a but
38:27and in this case it's a big but
38:30the floor above us at the moment is planned to be timber floor on top of these beams
38:39and a room up there
38:41and just as I'm talking to you I'm sort of resolving some ideas at the moment
38:46like well
38:48it's lovely seeing the light coming through
38:51I could do a glass floor directly on the timber beams
38:57it would be a nice bit of glass
38:59hmm
39:00another change in the wind
39:10it's April
39:13alright you got him
39:15and the house's first resident has moved in
39:18and out again
39:21just in time because the house is about to be sealed up
39:27zero gaps anywhere
39:29to prevent the airflow in or out
39:32the aim to make it thermally efficient and reach the gold class environmental standard of passive house
39:39today we're doing our first blubber door test just to test the air tightness of the build
39:45normally it's done once you get your internal wrap in
39:49the internal wrap is the real air tightness layer
39:53we've decided to do it a little bit early
39:56because you can achieve air tightness with the external wrap
40:00have we made sure all the windows upstairs are closed?
40:04yeah
40:06yep
40:07Drew will be conducting the test
40:09pumping air out of the house
40:11and measuring the amount that rushes back in through holes
40:15the magic number to reach passive house certification is 0.6
40:20a conventional home is nearer 15
40:27so we have started a little higher than what I would like
40:30um
40:32but
40:33at least we've got some good leak detection to uh
40:36to get on with
40:37starting at 1.6
40:38we are around 1.6
40:40yeah
40:41so
40:42right how do we start looking for leaks?
40:44windows and doors make sure they're all closed properly
40:46and then we try and find holes in the wrap
40:54right where's that guy going?
40:56it just goes straight up
40:57oh perfect so that's in the drain
40:58might get the smoke puffer out for that one
41:03somewhere something's wrong
41:06the house shouldn't be losing that much air
41:10when the air remains, when the smoke remains nice and still
41:14there's no air leak
41:16but when you can see the air moving, the smoke moving really fast
41:21that means we do have quite a good air leak coming through
41:24by good, Drew of course means bad
41:30stand there, feel that
41:33feel it?
41:34yeah
41:36something's
41:38you can see up
41:39I reckon we've got to get a ladder
41:40we've got to get up
41:41this is a real problem point up here
41:42so you can see
41:44see look at the smoke
41:45wow
41:46it's not even
41:47yeah
41:48there's something really going wrong in this area
41:50I reckon it's a decent, a decent hole
41:56oh, Ryan
41:57yeah
41:58you've left a window open
41:59okay
42:00have a whole window
42:01so there we
42:02ha
42:03was that deliberate?
42:04no
42:05it wasn't me
42:07so
42:08so shut that
42:10red faces all round
42:12but the effect of closing the window is instant
42:16oh, that's moving a bit better
42:19pretty constant
42:20a pretty good pass now
42:21so
42:25test went really well
42:26you know, wasn't too sure what to expect
42:28but
42:30basically we're at passive house compliance already
42:32just with the external wrap
42:33so
42:34that's a
42:35load off the shoulders
42:46it's now October
42:49two years into what Ryan thought
42:51was a realistically scheduled 18 month build
42:55between his own constant changes to the house
42:58and the demands of the family business
43:00life in construction mode
43:02has stretched out
43:03beyond the horizon
43:05there's no end in sight
43:08the biggest casualty
43:09has been life with the kids
43:11his whole reason for building the house
43:13in the first place
43:16yeah, I mean, you know
43:17there's those, um
43:18school events that come up
43:19which you'd love to be there for
43:20which, you know
43:21there's been
43:22been some of those
43:23which I haven't
43:24haven't been able to make
43:25there's those, um
43:27six a.m. mornings
43:30when I'm up
43:31before the kids get up
43:33working on some plans
43:34or sending out emails
43:35and
43:36you know, my
43:37son and my daughter
43:38would
43:39wake up early too
43:40and then
43:42it was unavailable
43:43to them at that time
43:46two years on
43:47the family is still crammed
43:48into their too small apartment
43:51what's this book called?
43:52somehow
43:53Ryan has to get the house finished
43:55before the whole point
43:56of this fun
43:57wacky
43:58playful family home
43:59is extinguished
44:03there's been
44:04definitely been a loss of enjoyment
44:05in the
44:06in the process
44:07the feeling of
44:12just want
44:13just want to
44:14sort of
44:15get it done at all
44:16any cost
44:17which is
44:20tough to be in
44:21because there's that
44:22you know, just dragging on nature
44:23or
44:24and also want to
44:25get out of the apartment
44:27good night
44:30time to
44:31bring myself back to
44:34um
44:36being happy
44:37and funny
44:38and
44:39mmm
44:51with its bush
44:52meets coastal
44:53laid back
44:54vibe
44:55life
44:56on the
44:57Mornington Peninsula
44:58appears
44:59very chilled
45:00indeed
45:03maybe
45:04that explains
45:05the almost
45:06glacial pace
45:07it's taken Ryan
45:08to build his wildly
45:09ambitious
45:10family cave
45:11and
45:12I'm hoping
45:13for his sake
45:14and also for the kids
45:15it's finally finished
45:17it's like a little
45:23magical forest
45:24and there's the house
45:27doing its very best
45:29to be unseen
45:30and in the background
45:32how
45:33very cool is that
45:34mysterious
45:41this
45:46this
45:47this is phenomenal
45:51Ryan
45:52g'day
45:53hi
45:54wow
45:55look at this
45:56I feel like I've
45:58made my way across
45:59the beach
46:00to find your home
46:01washed up on the shore
46:02you have
46:03yes
46:04this is unreal
46:05yeah
46:06I
46:07really wanted this to
46:08look like a
46:09the cliffs on the beach
46:10and that the sand is
46:11blowing up against it
46:12so
46:13yeah well mission accomplished
46:14you've stripped it
46:15but you've left it pretty rough
46:16you haven't tried to finish it
46:17or you know render over
46:18anything like that
46:19but you like that right
46:20yeah
46:21really like that um
46:22that feeling of when the
46:23nature's taking over the ruins
46:25the other thing I'm seeing
46:27I'm noticing a bit of the green
46:28you know up here
46:29um this little ledge here
46:30you know draping greenery
46:32would I be correct
46:33in saying your aim here
46:34is to hide the house completely
46:36uh yeah
46:37yeah it is
46:38yeah and I guess blurb
46:39what is what's the house
46:40and what's not
46:41yeah
46:42like the cave was here before
46:43and then I've sort of
46:44built the house within the
46:45landscape as well
46:46yeah
46:47that's what I was thinking
46:48the idea of a contemporary ruin
46:50I can see through that door
46:52that's a little oasis
46:53that's inviting me in
46:54yeah
46:55can we have a look inside
46:56yeah let's go
46:57shoes on shoes off
46:58just take shoes off
46:59all right
47:01most houses look worse over time
47:04but this will only improve
47:07its pre-weathered textures
47:09poised to be subsumed by the jungle
47:12let's go in
47:15let's go in
47:16let's do it
47:19this is the entry
47:21this is wonderful
47:22yeah
47:23so taking inspiration from
47:25Japanese genkan
47:27a spot where you take your shoes off
47:29where you enter the home
47:30it's not actually the home just yet
47:31but passing another threshold
47:33yeah
47:34I really love what you're doing in here
47:36I mean
47:37all this beautiful light spilling down on us
47:40and then all this greenery
47:42I mean it's only recently gone in I can tell
47:44that's right
47:45yeah they're all babies but
47:46so we'll actually be walking into your home
47:48through this kind of green arbor
47:50immersive experience
47:51yeah that you've set up
47:52here's one of the rocks that you put in initially as well
47:54yeah
47:55and then I can already tell
47:56things you're doing
47:57that's just so clever
47:58like I can see a bathroom
48:01yeah
48:02through the curtain
48:03yeah well we've got the curtain
48:04but that's just temporary
48:05so once the greenery grows up
48:07you'll be looking at the bathroom
48:09you know through the
48:10through the forest
48:11through the leaves
48:12now I mean the privacy issue there
48:14most people would freak out
48:15well you wouldn't know
48:16if the curtains there
48:17and um
48:18most of the time
48:19you know having people over
48:20you're living with family so
48:22yeah
48:23that's all okay
48:24yeah
48:25clothes optional
48:26shoes at the door and clothes optional
48:27that's exactly it
48:28yeah
48:31and then we come into the main space
48:37does your mind just go
48:38because that's what my mind's doing right now
48:40yeah
48:41I mean look at all the light that's flooding in here
48:42these oversized
48:43these are massive
48:44glass to the pool
48:46which is just soaking up all of that sun
48:48so this is where it all kind of
48:50gels together in section
48:52and look at mine this is just magnificent
48:54where did you get this
48:55yeah
48:56it's a big black butt burl
48:57yeah
48:58so it's a coffee table
48:59and you've got a green mango tree here
49:03which will also come up with the grow lights up here
49:06so in a few years it'll it'll be
49:08yeah
49:09three times up
49:10how cool is that
49:11it'll be so cool
49:13i'm wowed by this space
49:17it's a rich juxtaposition of sharp design and earthy materials
49:23giant glass windows
49:26shotcrete concrete walls
49:30the finely crafted kitchen
49:33the finely crafted kitchen
49:37even the lilac couches
49:39i mean who has lilac couches
49:42it's joyful and organic
49:45and upstairs the adventure continues
49:48anti come and have a look at this space
49:50so
49:51they um
49:52japanese inspired
49:53multi-purpose
49:55the space
49:56you have had so much fun in this place haven't you
49:58yeah
49:59so we've got tatami mats down there
50:01play lego
50:02chess
50:03meditate
50:04across a beautiful plank
50:05yeah
50:06i'm gonna walk the plank
50:07okay
50:08can i walk the plank
50:09alright
50:10so we bridge across to the playroom
50:12onto the tatami mats
50:14yeah
50:15this is pretty great
50:16and the citrus garden around here
50:18i mean it's not just citrus
50:19but i can see there's a couple of fruit trees
50:21you've got liches
50:22ginger galangal
50:23and um
50:24that's all going to be kind of fully green right through there
50:27that's right
50:28this is spectacular
50:29spectacular fun
50:30the kids must be just loving these ideas
50:33yeah they are
50:37with their bedrooms up here as well
50:39it's a veritable kids paradise
50:44and if they're looking for papa bear
50:47he'll be hibernating back downstairs
50:51in his cave
50:54oh my goodness
50:55look at the geometries in here
50:56this sort of the vault this way the cave that you've been talking about
50:59this is fantastic
51:00i was really worried actually how this is going to feel
51:02because it is so heavy
51:03but it's much more playful than that
51:09the rock is here
51:11so you've got another kind of grounding
51:12another one over here
51:13i know that you went to great trouble
51:15to get them into just the right position
51:17that's right
51:18can i check it out
51:19did you get it right
51:20yeah go for it
51:21okay
51:22i think i need to ask permission if i can go and sit on your bed
51:25there we go
51:28everything seems quite discreet
51:29i think you got it just right
51:30that window through to the trees beyond there
51:32it's fantastic
51:34yeah it's going to be nice to wake up to
51:35the sound now that i'm here too
51:37bouncing around in this vault
51:39it's pretty unreal
51:41then we've got the cave around us
51:43so there's a kind of a coziness and a warmth and a protection i guess going on in here
51:47it's so unusual and it works so well
51:50all helped by its passive house climate a steady year-round 20 to 25 degrees
52:02it really is a joy to explore free-flowing unconventional and unrestrained
52:09but don't be fooled the relaxed vibe is only matched by the degree of difficulty
52:21ryan if i'm honest about it i i had my doubts you're going to get here
52:24you went through a very extended and sort of intricate journey here
52:29is this what you imagined
52:31yeah it is at night what i've um
52:34the dream has evolved as a process
52:37and i think i'm feel um
52:40feel happy in myself with what you know what i've created and you know very thankful for
52:45the the team that have um made it happen
52:49yeah all right let's talk about time
52:51because i think you gave yourself what was it twelve months initially
52:54yeah yeah
52:55how long did we take
52:56oh about three years so
52:58it's a long time right
53:00it's a long time yeah
53:01not not just for me but for those around me
53:03yeah like um
53:05um and the kids and you know the um business
53:10i think um great architecture doesn't happen overnight
53:13so um that that extra time has um enhanced the result
53:18yeah
53:19so then let's talk about money
53:22um i think remember a million dollars was the initial budget
53:25the initial budget and um
53:27we're all sitting down so i'm ready
53:28okay
53:29hit me
53:30it's been probably around two million now
53:33in as a wholesale cost
53:36how do you feel about that
53:37um it's it's more work for me to pay off
53:40which is that's the the tough thing
53:42i mean since the starting and now
53:44the general industry has raised fifty percent
53:47so there's that half a million dollars in just um
53:51general building costs going up
53:53there was a moment in the process where you looked just so stressed so down
53:59i mean how did you sort of pull your what do you do to pull yourself out at that moment
54:02what did you do
54:03um faith um in in your ability there's faith in um the loved ones around you
54:10um and um just you know kind of um remembering of all those uh enduring times that you've been through before
54:20i mean i think that would be the the success of this place is not so much how it looks although it does look amazing
54:26it's just how it feels when you walk through that front door
54:28it took a long time and it took a lot of money
54:31but the result here is just so you and so calm and so i don't know so beautiful in so many ways
54:39your family is going to really thrive in this space you can just feel it yeah so congratulations
54:44thank you anthony
54:45i think you had a professor once back in architecture school who told you you can't have your cake and eat it too
54:51what would you say to that person now
54:52well i'll gently ask him you know what what cake he thought that he couldn't eat
54:57and um perhaps um find a way for him to eat that cake too
55:02yeah
55:10you guys feel like some juice
55:12should we pick some fruit
55:13go upstairs and pick some fruit
55:16i'm so thrilled for ryan and the kids and genuinely excited about this house
55:28as flights of fancy go this one has been grounded in a wonderland of rich materials bold design and dogged determination
55:37what an achievement
55:40thank you everyone for your patience and help throughout this build all of the love that we've all put into it has made a beautiful home
55:52ryan is one cool customer all right he's combined all that he's learned with all of his creativity to produce a truly unique organic one of a kind family sanctuary for himself and for his kids
56:07the final result is fun and quirky and artful and environmentally on point if this is what cave living is all about i'm a fan
56:28i'm a fan
56:31i'm a fan
56:32i'm a fan
56:33i'm a fan
56:34i'm a fan
56:35i'm a fan
56:36i'm a fan
56:37i'm a fan
56:38Hi, buddy.
56:50Hi.
56:50Wow.
56:52This is fantastic.
56:54Is there more?
56:55Yeah.
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