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Grand Designs Australia S12E06

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00:00Transcription by CastingWords
00:13When it comes to building your dream home,
00:15it's natural to crave the best of both worlds.
00:18We want to be connected to nature,
00:19inviting in the sunshine and the fresh air and the landscapes.
00:23But at the same time,
00:24we want to be protected from the worst of the elements,
00:27things like floods.
00:31So in these days of climate change,
00:33the problem with living on a river
00:36is you might just end up living in it.
00:38Can you build a flood-proof house?
00:40Is that even possible?
00:42If it is, I'd like to see it.
00:57The muddy Brisbane River flows through the veins of Richard Rolls
01:03and his wife, Jeanette.
01:16The muddy Brisbane River flows through the veins of Richard Rolls
01:20and his wife, Jeanette.
01:24Richard's family has lived on its banks here,
01:27in the suburb of Sherwood,
01:29for almost as long as the city has been here.
01:33The family came here from Ireland in 1863.
01:38First of January, they arrived at Moreton Bay,
01:40so been here for 160 years.
01:47We grew up here as kids,
01:49so they spent a lot of time in canoes, swimming,
01:52and fishing and shrimping and that sort of thing in the river.
01:55These days, the family runs a busy construction consultancy,
02:01but that golden time on the riverbank has never left Richard.
02:05He shared that experience with sons William and Ollie
02:08as they were growing up.
02:10Now their kids are playing here too.
02:14I've spent a lot of time on the river, like, through...
02:20Oh!
02:21Look at that!
02:28Oh, yuck!
02:30Well, that's all right.
02:31Well done, Ollie.
02:32Yeah, thanks.
02:34He's only little, isn't he?
02:35You gonna kiss him?
02:38No, I wouldn't either.
02:39Righto, see you, fish.
02:42That'd be the smallest catfish we've ever seen.
02:44Richard and Jeanette raised their family two suburbs away in Chelmer.
02:49Richard's mother lived on the river block
02:51until she passed away in 2015
02:54and an emotional decision was made to move back here,
02:58to Richard's roots.
03:00Selling Chelmer was really difficult
03:02because it was our family home.
03:05We raised the kids there,
03:07but we would say it would be really nice to finish up
03:10living somewhere that was relevant.
03:13I think that's the big thing for us.
03:14We wanted to finish living somewhere that was relevant.
03:19We like a connection with the fact that we come from somewhere
03:22and that we're sort of returning to where we came from, I suppose.
03:26That's probably the best way I can put it.
03:30The plan is to build a new home on the site.
03:33But living by a river, particularly this river,
03:37is not always as idyllic as it sounds.
03:40Sometimes it's terrifying.
03:47The damage in Queensland is as spectacular as it is widespread.
03:55The river peaked this morning at 4.46 metres.
03:59More than 25,000 residential and commercial properties
04:03have been affected by significant flooding.
04:05In 2011, Queensland was hit by catastrophic flooding.
04:11A giant section of concrete walkway
04:14was ripped from its pylons overnight.
04:17Waterfront place.
04:18Look at it.
04:20Yeah, I think it's going to take a while to pump that out.
04:25The Brewson River has a big catchment
04:27and as a result there's periodic flooding
04:30and always has been and there always will be.
04:32So, we have to be aware of that and we are.
04:37In a century and a half,
04:39Richard's family has endured multiple floods.
04:42In the worst, his mother's place here on the block was inundated.
04:49So, with eyes wide open about the risks,
04:52they plan to start building in 2022.
04:56But the river had other ideas.
04:58End of February, the floods came through
05:03and about two weeks after the flood,
05:06there was a landslip.
05:08The ground has dropped by about,
05:10between about six inches and two foot
05:12across the backyard in various places.
05:17Flooding and landslips.
05:19It'd be enough to make most people walk away.
05:22But the tidal pull of Richard's heritage was stronger.
05:25Just.
05:28If we knew 12 months ago what we know now,
05:32we probably may not have gone down that path.
05:36Would have been a bit too...
05:38It's been, yeah, we're taking a lot on doing what we're doing.
05:42Yeah.
05:44Richard, Jeanette, this is an extraordinary sign.
05:47Yeah.
05:47Look at the river, it's right there.
05:48Yeah.
05:48Just sort of beckoning, right?
05:50Yeah.
05:50We see the river as, you know, it's a living thing.
05:54You know, it breathes in two times a day,
05:55it breathes out two times a day.
05:57It's got its own character and it changes all the time.
06:00And when it gets angry, you don't want to be anywhere near it.
06:03And, um...
06:05But the rest of the time it's pretty good.
06:06What was it like when it flooded?
06:09Oh.
06:09Well, it floods over a couple of days
06:13so you're sort of constantly watching this
06:17almost slow, insidious sort of creep of water
06:22and then it sits there and hangs around
06:24and then it just slowly goes away.
06:26So it's sort of like this torture over a few days, isn't it?
06:30And you came back.
06:32Yes, we came back.
06:33Yeah, I mean, that's a pretty big call to make.
06:35Well, it was a big call, but, um, we basically put ourselves
06:39in a position where we didn't have any options.
06:41So we decided if we sold Chelmott, then there was no turning back.
06:45It was kind of a statement of commitment, I suppose.
06:49We didn't have an option.
06:50When it does flood...
06:52And it will.
06:52And it will.
06:53Oh, yep.
06:54Sorry, Jeanette.
06:55Yep, that's OK.
06:56What do you do then?
06:58Well, you just build something that you can hose out
07:00and just prepare for it.
07:03So building a hose out how?
07:04Pretty much.
07:05In a way, yeah.
07:05Yeah, OK.
07:07Hose out house makes this sound like a shower block.
07:11In fact, it's the exact opposite.
07:15Designed by architect James Russell,
07:17this light-filled open house will sit high up on the riverbank,
07:21safely above most floods.
07:2426 piers will plunge an astonishing 13 and a half metres into the earth,
07:30locking down the foundations that support the home's unique steel frame
07:34which cantilevers out over the bank.
07:37On the riverside, there are views from the deck and master bedroom
07:40which flow into the open kitchen, living and dining rooms.
07:45The steel frame is exposed
07:46with 170 water-resistant melamine panels
07:51inserted into the walls and rake ceiling.
07:53Halfway down the house, more landscape, a garden courtyard and pool sunlit through the opening in the roof.
08:03There's a mezzanine office, two more bedrooms and a garage.
08:07Metal sheets and ironbark battens line the exterior, providing shade and ventilation.
08:12And screens will keep out the mozzies.
08:16In case of a record-breaking flood, Richard's taking no chances.
08:21The house is semi-submersible.
08:24The blockwork undercroft is impervious to water.
08:27Ironbark floorboards will survive days submerged.
08:30And the melamine wall panels can be screwed off and replaced.
08:35Could this be the future of riverside living?
08:41So the strategy of the hose-out sort of approach makes a lot of sense to me.
08:45You're working out what's fixed and what you can let go of.
08:48Yeah.
08:49And that's the kind of the set-up for the home.
08:51Yeah.
08:52Given all of that, it sounds very bespoke.
08:54I imagine a lot of work from the design point of view as well as the builder.
08:57How much money are you going to spend on this?
08:59As modest as we can.
09:01Maybe, you know, with sort of thinking, hoping, about 1.5, maybe 1.6.
09:08Yeah.
09:09Yeah.
09:09You've got a very challenging site.
09:11Yeah.
09:12How long is this going to take to build?
09:14We think 12 to 14 months.
09:17This to me is sounding like an extraordinary adventure.
09:19Not only because you're talking about a contemporary home
09:22that's in an absolute harmony with its environment.
09:26But you're actually offering a really interesting redefinition of materials
09:31and an approach to materials that is appropriate to here
09:35but has all sorts of relevance across Australia.
09:38So that, to me, makes this a really exciting project.
09:41I'm really looking forward to see how this shapes up.
09:44So are we.
09:45This is a fascinating project because to create something really simple
09:54is actually really complicated.
09:56For example, you'd think using less materials would save you time and money
10:00but actually it's the opposite.
10:03With everything on show, there's nowhere to hide mistakes or sloppy work.
10:08Like the steel, it's visible
10:10and so that means the welds have to be detailed beautifully
10:14as they'll also be seen.
10:16And there are no mouldings or architraves
10:18so there's nowhere to hide errors
10:20which means everything has to be perfect.
10:24That means more time
10:26and that means everything costs more.
10:29That $1.5 million budget
10:32is starting off on some pretty shaky ground.
10:39The budget might be on shaky ground
10:41but Richard is starting by ensuring the site
10:44is as solid as it possibly can be.
10:46Well, today's the probably 12 months in the making.
10:54A year pretty much to the day since the 2022 floods.
10:58There's been a lot of geotechnical work,
11:00a lot of structural work, engineering work.
11:02So today is the day that we start piling.
11:07Yeah, a bit apprehensive.
11:09I suppose didn't sleep a lot last night
11:11but I never sleep much anyway so...
11:14And frankly, how could you sleep?
11:19Richard and Jeanette are gambling everything
11:21on the belief they can build a house
11:23strong enough to hold back the river.
11:26I mean, this has been the biggest problem on the job.
11:29It's been trying to deal with the vagaries of the river, I suppose.
11:34You know, if you're going to build on the river,
11:36you've got to take all those things into account.
11:39The specialised piling machine
11:41will create the piers that anchor the whole house,
11:45drilling the holes, pumping in concrete...
11:48..then reinforcing them with steel.
11:57No, it's right.
11:57It's good to finally get something going.
12:00There's a long way to go, of course.
12:04But you've got to start somewhere.
12:05Yeah.
12:05Yeah.
12:11Next, a gigantic concrete capping beam
12:16is run across the piers.
12:18These industrial-scale earthworks,
12:21necessitated by last year's landslip,
12:23have added nearly $300,000
12:26to Richard's original budget.
12:29And given he programs huge construction jobs for a living,
12:32he sees where every dollar is going.
12:39That's $150.
12:40And then there was 0.6
12:44by half-square.
12:49There's about 300 cubic metres of concrete
12:51in the ground here,
12:54which is a lot, a lot for houses.
12:56Yeah.
12:57For residential.
12:59Hi, Dad.
12:59How you going?
13:01As fate would have it,
13:02Richard's son, Ollie, is a builder on the job.
13:05He's more than familiar with his dad's eye for detail.
13:08He, uh, he's got a pretty good idea
13:11of how long things should be taking.
13:13So if we're behind on things,
13:15he'll know.
13:17So that hasn't, um, that's, uh,
13:20that's, is what it is.
13:22It's a very exciting thing
13:24that Mum and Dad have moved back down here
13:26after all this time,
13:28and the house that they're building,
13:30that I'm sort of a part of it,
13:31so that'll be really good.
13:34Ollie's not the only family connection.
13:37Richard's brother, Graham,
13:38owns the neighbouring site
13:39and plans to build here soon.
13:42In fact, Richard's huge concrete capping beam
13:44extends across Graham's site
13:46to anchor his house too.
13:49We're sort of doing it all at once
13:50just to save doing it twice
13:51on two different blocks.
13:53I just thought I'd leave him,
13:54leave him a note,
13:55leave him a note in the, uh,
13:57in the capping beam.
14:02There we go.
14:06RR was here.
14:11He'll cover it all up.
14:16With so much family history in this place,
14:19everyone is hoping the house
14:21really will be flood-proof.
14:23It's, it's just,
14:24you can build a shopping centre on this thing
14:26with, um, the piers that they put in.
14:28This thing just,
14:29it just can't move.
14:31As of today,
14:32this, this site,
14:34it'll be secure
14:35and we can go forward with the house.
14:39I just hope he's right.
14:42But there's a danger
14:43by building so far back from the river,
14:46Richard will lose connection
14:47with the whole reason he loves the place.
14:52That's where architect James Russell comes in.
14:56He's all about connecting houses
14:58to the environment.
14:59Isn't this magic?
15:01I mean, check out his office.
15:04G'day, James.
15:05Anthony.
15:06How you going?
15:07I'm really well.
15:08Thank you for coming.
15:09I love your place here.
15:11It's so,
15:12it's so open and airy.
15:14It's not your typical architecture studio,
15:15is it?
15:15A single pavilion
15:17open to the elements like this
15:18with a single desk and one screen.
15:20I think if clients come here,
15:22they may as well see what I like.
15:24Yeah.
15:25I don't like feeling closed inside.
15:28Yeah.
15:28Um, when I'm working or at home.
15:30No kidding.
15:31Um, so...
15:31This is your office.
15:32I mean, marvellous, right?
15:34Doors can close down
15:35if you need to,
15:36but almost never are they closed.
15:40I think in our architecture,
15:41we're not trying to make
15:43beautiful indoor spaces.
15:45We're trying to make
15:46those beautiful transition spaces
15:48that are neither indoors or outdoors.
15:52The challenge for James
15:53is to bring that same sense
15:55of connection to nature
15:56to Richard's house,
15:58while at the same time,
15:59he also has that
16:00other big environmental issue
16:02to grapple with.
16:03The most obvious question is,
16:05from your point of view
16:06as the architect here,
16:07why would we even build here?
16:09I mean, seriously,
16:10it's going to flood.
16:11We know that.
16:12So why go back there?
16:13I think if you,
16:14if you were to go back
16:16on flood-affected sites
16:17and just build the same way
16:19that has always happened before,
16:22I don't think that's acceptable.
16:24I think we really need
16:25to change the way
16:26we look at building
16:27on these sites
16:28so that a flood can go through
16:31and you can hose it out.
16:32There will still be
16:33and there are still parts
16:35that go down into areas
16:37that are likely to flood.
16:38Within those zones,
16:40there are no power points.
16:42Everything's out of materials
16:44that can cope with being underwater.
16:47It's not the kind of conversation
16:49that's easy to have
16:50with a new client
16:51who walks in the door
16:52and the second thing you say is,
16:54yes, we're going to be
16:55hosing out your house
16:56when the house floods.
16:57That was Richard's family site
16:59or family home,
17:00so where he grew up.
17:02So it was a really easy conversation
17:04to have.
17:06It was, well,
17:07if you're going to build here,
17:09we need to make sure
17:10you can actually enjoy a flood,
17:13if you like.
17:15Enjoy a flood?
17:16I don't think so.
17:19But four months into the build,
17:21back on site,
17:22they're trying to make
17:24that dream happen.
17:27The block work is being laid
17:28for that hose-out lower level.
17:34The rest of the house
17:36is under construction too,
17:37but that's happening
17:38an hour away
17:39at Deception Bay
17:40in this shed.
17:43The enormous steel frame.
17:49More than 5,000 individual pieces
17:52are being meticulously plotted,
17:54measured and cut.
17:56It's been nine months
17:58in the planning.
18:01Not many homeowners
18:02visit a steel fabrication factory,
18:05but details guy Richard
18:06can't stay away.
18:09You know,
18:10you've got all the elements.
18:12They all fit together,
18:13all bolted together,
18:14welded together.
18:14So there's a lot of complexity
18:17to bring
18:18quite a simple structure together.
18:21I'm intrigued
18:22about these ones here.
18:23What are these little follows?
18:25I believe they're little stiffness
18:26for some of the angles.
18:27Oh, okay.
18:28Yeah, well,
18:29it's all about preparation
18:30with this thing,
18:31and it comes down
18:32to the smallest pieces
18:34and, you know,
18:35knowing how many
18:36of them you need,
18:37how many of them you need,
18:38and just focusing on that.
18:40Yeah.
18:40Everything should go together
18:42like a Meccano set.
18:43We supply so much information
18:45in the drafting part of this
18:46that tells everyone
18:48how this is going to be assembled
18:49once it gets to site,
18:50that it really is just like
18:52putting a Meccano set together.
18:54Some Meccano set.
18:56More than 18 tonnes of steel
18:59will go into the frame,
19:00and, unusually for a residential house,
19:03nearly every nut, bolt and weld
19:05will be visible
19:06in the finished home.
19:10Very excited.
19:11Always nervous, though.
19:13Always nervous.
19:14James tells me not to be nervous,
19:16but I'll leave that for him.
19:22Those nerves are heightened
19:23eight months into the build
19:25when the steel frame
19:26is finally delivered.
19:28Hundreds of numbered sections
19:30all needing to piece together
19:32perfectly.
19:34It's up to the riggers
19:35to make sense of it all.
19:37So this one here,
19:39it was going to be...
19:41These individual little ones here?
19:43These ones here, yeah.
19:46Oh, we're looking out there, boss.
19:51Oh, yeah, that's it.
19:52That's it, bro.
19:53OK, that's pretty vertical there, man.
19:56OK, hold your tube there, mate.
19:57Rope it up only.
19:59Yep, OK, mate.
20:00The hole's definitely your side.
20:02Yep, spinning.
20:03Ready to hook up.
20:08The first of eight spans
20:10is gently lifted into position.
20:12See, it's good.
20:13Just keep coming in like that.
20:14Looking for about another two...
20:16Two and a half metres down there.
20:17Yeah.
20:17It fits.
20:32Everyone can breathe out.
20:34Matt, have you done this before?
20:37Work experience.
20:39So it is happening.
20:40And so when you see the steel up
20:41and you can see the shape of the house
20:43and all that sort of thing,
20:43that's when you start to believe then.
20:47Up until then, you sort of think,
20:49is this actually going to happen
20:50or it's just a dream?
20:54Thanks to all that pre-planning,
20:57the frame is falling into place.
21:05Three weeks later,
21:06the last span is going up.
21:10Jeanette's popped out to see it happen.
21:12This is very exciting.
21:14It is.
21:15This is a moment, right?
21:16I come down and I say,
21:17oh, they put one up
21:18and I didn't get to see it.
21:20How are you feeling about the whole design
21:21at the moment?
21:23Um, look, if I had a dollar
21:25for every time I said to Richard,
21:27can you just build me a normal house?
21:31He said, you've got to be a bit adventurous
21:33and, yeah, Richard's not a stock standard
21:36sort of guy.
21:38So how's he enjoying it?
21:39How's he going, actually?
21:40Um, it's just an added layer
21:43to his stress level, you know,
21:44but it's just all coming into fruition now.
21:49And he comes out every day
21:51and I say, you don't have to go out every day,
21:53but he can't help himself.
21:54Yeah.
21:54Just like that,
21:58the bones for Richard's flood-proof vision are built,
22:01standing strong high above the river.
22:06And now that you see it like this,
22:07because now you can see the volume, of course.
22:08Yeah.
22:09So the house is sketched out now in front of you.
22:11What's your impression?
22:13Is it what you imagined?
22:14Um, pretty much.
22:16Yeah.
22:16Yeah.
22:16We knew that it was going to be...
22:19A little bit of underwhelming in your voice there.
22:21It's like, oh, yeah, it's going to be all right.
22:23It's not like, wow, this is our house!
22:26Well, it's just different.
22:28And the big bolts.
22:29Are we going to see the bolts inside?
22:31Yeah.
22:31Oh, good.
22:32Yeah.
22:32OK.
22:35I'll get used to it.
22:37So far, so good, hey?
22:38So far, so good, yeah.
22:39I think I'm going to love this.
22:45I mean, Jamie's architecture is clear and very well-considered,
22:49and the whole thing feels very precise.
22:52But we are in Queensland,
22:54and I'm always looking for that indoor-outdoor connection.
22:58And here, because of the flood,
23:00it does feel a bit like the house is sitting up
23:02out over the landscape rather than in it,
23:05which means the life in the house
23:07is detached from the backyard, as it were.
23:09I'm pretty sure that's not the intention.
23:12Let's just see if they've got this one right.
23:21With the steel frame erected,
23:23there's another important piece of flood-proofing to be done.
23:26The metal is painted with a special epoxy.
23:30It's the same stuff they use on bridges.
23:32It's really good for metal
23:35that's going to be exposed to the elements
23:38because it will stop it from rusting
23:40and stop it from decaying.
23:43Just because it's all the frame for the whole house,
23:46it'll need that little extra help.
23:49Jess is still an apprentice painter,
23:51but she knows all about the demands of this location.
23:55I wouldn't live here personally,
23:56but it's a nice area,
23:58so I can see why people
24:00constantly build and rebuild after the floods.
24:05We've had to fix up a couple of places around here
24:08that have had some flood damage over time,
24:11and it's just delaying the inevitable
24:14for the next year that it happens.
24:17Did someone say inevitable?
24:19Inevitable.
24:19Right on cue,
24:32Brisbane's summer rains arrive.
24:35The river rises...
24:37..and work on site grinds to a soggy halt,
24:42just when it looked like speeding up.
24:47It's no torrential flood,
24:49but it's a setback Richard could do without.
24:55But he has his own way of dealing with pressure.
24:59No surprise, the river is at the heart of it.
25:044.30am, Monday, Wednesday, Friday,
25:07you'll find him on the water with his mates.
25:11The key part of it is to get out of bed at 4 o'clock in the morning
25:15and get your sorry arse down here,
25:17and once you get in the boat,
25:18with the boys,
25:19yeah, you just stop thinking about work
25:21and you stop thinking about building houses
25:24and worrying about that sort of stuff.
25:27I suspect this time on the water
25:29is the only time Richard isn't thinking about the house.
25:32He's in it up to the gunwales,
25:35in part because he and architect James
25:37approach the whole business in entirely different ways.
25:41Jamie's a brilliant concept architect and what he's trying to achieve with the design.
25:49It's just probably my nature and Jamie's nature are very different, I suppose.
25:55I'm a real detailed person and I'd like to know all of that right up front.
26:01Jamie fills in a lot of the details of how we're going to do things as we go along.
26:06And that's where there's a little bit of anxiety, I suppose, is probably the best way to put it.
26:13What that anxiety means in practical terms
26:16is there's not a day goes by when Richard doesn't take the time away
26:19from his busy construction business to visit the site.
26:22He can't help himself.
26:24How are you going, Ollie?
26:25How you doing?
26:27All right.
26:29It's trying to rain again.
26:33Never ends.
26:34This big open house, with its inside-out spaces,
26:38is different to anything they've built before.
26:41There are a lot of questions.
26:43It's a bit of an unusual sort of house,
26:45so there's lots of little spots where there aren't typical details,
26:50so we've got to work out what those details might be.
26:53Dad, he's pretty worn out in that regard at the moment
26:58just because there's been so many questions and conversations about so many details.
27:03We could have done this in a more simple way.
27:08You only live life once,
27:09so you might as well go in and out of every nook and cranny
27:13to experience life to its fullest.
27:16But that's probably what we're doing here to a certain extent.
27:20Yeah.
27:26It's the end of February before the weather lets up
27:29and the complexity of building this simple house
27:32reveals itself to building Manager Simmo.
27:35The connection between the timber work,
27:39like our new timber frames,
27:40and the steel is probably what's going to become a little bit tricky.
27:45But, yeah, it's a good challenge
27:47and it's definitely something different to what we normally do.
27:51It's different, all right.
27:52In fact, I'd say everything from here on in will be unique
27:56because the steel frame will stay exposed
27:59and the challenge will be to seamlessly mould the interiors around it
28:03using flood-resistant timbers, starting with the deck.
28:07It's ironbark, ironbark timber, same as all the joists.
28:13All kiln-dried, just super hard, really durable timber.
28:18A really clean finish.
28:20And then the flooring inside will be the same,
28:22so it'll be really, just a really nice sort of flow through the house
28:26from the decking inside and stuff, so, yeah.
28:30It's going to be pretty cool.
28:32Yeah, really cool.
28:37The 14-month target for the build slips past as winter approaches.
28:44But at last, the roof is going on.
28:47And this is no ordinary roof.
28:49It's quite difficult because it's quite a steep roof.
28:55But it's a nice day and it's finally going on, so we're happy.
29:00Given the house is so high above the river,
29:03a key design challenge is to connect it to the landscape.
29:07To that end, the middle of the house
29:09is a virtually open-air courtyard, garden and deck,
29:13and that's where the roof comes in.
29:15We're coming up to the section
29:17where there's going to be a polycarbonate clear roofing section
29:21over the courtyard.
29:22And that's something that we haven't done yet,
29:24so that will be interesting.
29:28The clear polycarbonate sheets
29:30will allow natural light to flood the pool and courtyard areas.
29:34It's so thin, isn't it?
29:36Mate, it's like glad wrap.
29:41Push it up to the sky.
29:43Keep going. Up, up, up.
29:45The poly's so thin, it's like a soft drink bottle
29:48that's, like, really, like, flexible.
29:51I don't know if you can see that,
29:54but, like, that's not a lot of pressure on there.
29:58And it just shows you how thin it is.
30:02The challenge is that we can't walk on it
30:05because it's, like, quite fragile.
30:07So we're having to screw off the sheets as we go.
30:12Yeah, very awkward.
30:13Just trying to sort of...
30:15It's hard reaching over the sheets
30:18and, like, getting pressure down on the, um...
30:21..on the screw.
30:23The solution is a precarious-looking blend
30:32of gung-ho tradie
30:33and circus performer.
30:39As awkward as it is to build,
30:42the roof is finally offering a glimpse
30:44into what's so special about this house,
30:47drawing in light and space
30:49to the central courtyard.
30:50It's good to get a roof on, that's for sure.
30:56We'll get a bit of coverage.
30:58It'll stop raining now.
31:00That's always how it goes.
31:02Isn't it?
31:06By the end of the week, the roof is on.
31:10Some flesh on the bones of that steel skeleton.
31:13If that's not worth celebrating, I don't know what is.
31:17I don't know. Ready for Friday or what?
31:20I don't know.
31:24Right, I seem.
31:25Choose your weapon.
31:26Sometimes when you're deep in a project, it does well to remind yourself of why you're
31:46there.
31:48That's right, the river.
31:54Let's just say we'll just do it every Friday.
32:10Every Friday.
32:11Once again, you just turn it on.
32:13It's no question.
32:14And bringing the blade in the morning, that's definitely the way to do it.
32:17I reckon.
32:18Yeah, that was good.
32:24This bend in the river has a relentless hold over all the Rolls family.
32:33Richard's dad Clifford's headstone keeps watch on it.
32:37His grandfather William's spirit lives on in the century-old Arboretum next door where
32:42he was the caretaker.
32:47The trees drip with memories.
32:50Richard's brother Graham feels it too.
32:53Life was great.
32:55Yeah, we had fun every day.
32:57We were always down the river.
32:59We used to have a trapeze, go off that tree.
33:02We had a jetty similar to where we've got the new one here.
33:06My grandfather's brother lived in that house.
33:09And now my cousin's there.
33:11And mum's sister was across the road.
33:14Her brother and cousins were up the road.
33:16Mum was adamant that she stayed here till the day she died.
33:20We valued our childhood here.
33:23We valued the effort that she put in with us.
33:26And it was pretty important for Richard and I to keep the legacy of the family,
33:31keep the history here.
33:33That history had value to us.
33:35Graham owns the other half of their mum's old block.
33:39And months after Richard broke ground, Graham started building his own house right next door.
33:45We're both out of the ground.
33:47Richard's well advanced into his house.
33:49And ours will continue to gather momentum from this point on.
33:52And we're confident that we'll both be in pretty close to the end of this year.
33:56So that'll be good.
33:57Looking forward to it.
33:59Graham's is a more conventional house.
34:02And unlike Richard, he's just relying on its height above the river to keep it safe from floods.
34:08They're just different designs, different thoughts, different outlook on things.
34:12So, yeah, there's not... No, I don't think I'd change anything in ours.
34:17No rivalries about who'll be in.
34:19We'll both be here for a while.
34:21The rivalry is who'll be here for the longest, I guess.
34:24He'll win that too, I reckon.
34:33The build is now three months over schedule.
34:37Every day is adding cost to this house.
34:39The bills are piling up.
34:42And there's an unforeseen setback with that awkward clear roofing.
34:47Yeah, so under the poly sheets, there's been, like, condensation forming all on the underside.
34:53The worst thing with the condensation is if it sits on the underside of the sheet and then it runs down and starts to go inside the ceiling space, it can start, basically, just start getting mould and stuff inside, like, up in the ceiling.
35:08It means some of the sheets will need to be pulled out and replaced with a more conventional skylight, costing more time and money.
35:17It just sucks when you've laid all the roof and then you've got to pull something out.
35:21That's all right.
35:23It is what it is.
35:25When it's finished, the house will have a quiet pallet, ironbark timber, white steel, white walls.
35:38Architect James thinks the kitchen bench top offers the chance of something more, but might have some convincing to do with Jeanette and Richard.
35:47As an architect, it is very much my role to talk about what it was in the first place that we're trying to achieve.
35:57So, for Richard and Jeanette, a beautiful site on the river that floods.
36:02And so, how do we bring landscape up to that house?
36:06And how do we bring landscape into that house?
36:09How do you get landscape into a bench top?
36:12For starters, James is insisting they get hands-on.
36:16Hand over it, you can feel the textures.
36:19So, rather than choosing from a picture and then having something sort of similar turn up three months down the track, pretty wild actually.
36:29It's allowed us to run our hands over and get a feel for what those different finishes are like.
36:36More porous.
36:38And that's granite.
36:40That's leather finish.
36:41Leather finish granite.
36:43That's very safe.
36:45Do we want to do safe?
36:48It's not blowing safe.
36:49Yeah.
36:50Just want it to be, um, statement safe.
36:54Shall we have a look at some crazy ones?
36:56Yeah.
36:57Let's go crazy.
36:58I just thought, oh, where do you start?
37:01Um, yeah, that was a bit, a bit daunting.
37:04But, um, once you sort of got the feel for it, yeah, you can eliminate things straight away.
37:10Um, you just sort of know what you like and what you don't like.
37:15Jeanette, Richard.
37:17Hello.
37:18There is one more crazy one.
37:19Okay.
37:20That's like, that reminds me of, um, the Dane tree.
37:23Yeah, or the rain.
37:24That's not a bad thing.
37:25Or the bottom of my sister's fish pond.
37:29And look at this here.
37:30I know.
37:31It looks like a dead bird in there.
37:33It does.
37:34It looks like, yeah, yeah.
37:35It looks like feathers.
37:36The stone is a big bucks purchase, upwards of $6,000.
37:41James navigating the tricky middle ground between what Jeanette thinks she wants and what he
37:47thinks she needs.
37:48Jeanette?
37:49Yeah?
37:50There's one here that I think's worth having a look at.
37:54Like that is, that's really over the top.
37:59These.
38:00I think surprisingly not too over the top.
38:05It's the sort of thing you'd sit around and spend half your time drinking coffee and just
38:10looking at it.
38:11Red wine.
38:12Mm-hmm.
38:13You know, it's got beautiful greys, greens, browns.
38:16It's like a...
38:17It's a landscape.
38:18Mm.
38:19I think we should get a price.
38:20I think so.
38:21Yeah.
38:22And it might be frightening.
38:23Yeah.
38:24Which might help with some of the decisions.
38:26That's usually our go, isn't it, Richard?
38:28What's that?
38:29Whatever we like, we can't afford.
38:30Oh, yeah.
38:31Absolutely.
38:32Yeah.
38:33Yep.
38:34Good taste, but no money.
38:35Whereas some people have got...
38:36Champagne taste, beer.
38:37Beer pocket.
38:38Beer pocket.
38:39If there was a race between the brothers to get their house finished first, by October,
38:48Graham's is closing fast.
38:51The painstaking task of building Richard's bespoke house around that exposed steel frame
38:57is dragging on.
38:59And there's another innovation.
39:01Huge mesh screens will allow doors in the house to stay open all year round.
39:06It'll be tightened up a little bit so you won't see any folds or creases or anything like
39:10that in it.
39:11But the idea, I suppose, is to insect-proof the house.
39:15And there's a bit of weatherproofing to it.
39:18There's a bit of sunscreening to it.
39:20Once fitted, it's structurally strong.
39:23So they shouldn't technically need a handrail across the elevated deck.
39:27The only thing there is probably going to need somewhere to put a beer and, you know, all that sort
39:32of thing.
39:33So, you know, sort of, if there's nothing there, that'll be a bit weird to be standing on the
39:38veranda and not have anywhere to put your beer.
39:40So, yeah, we might need a beer rail.
39:43We won't call it a handrail, just a beer rail.
39:46So, yeah.
39:47That might be the plan.
39:49Jeanette is clearly getting in the beer rail spirit.
39:53Beer time.
39:54As Christmas looms and this fiddly bill drags on, it feels like everyone could do with
39:59a drink.
40:00Particularly as she's not a fan of the screens.
40:04Yep.
40:05It's shade cloth and I don't know whether I like it either.
40:09The kids are going to run through and just bounce off it.
40:13They're going to, yeah, be vertical around the lane.
40:15Yeah, on a bike, push bike.
40:16Yeah.
40:17I can just see Emmy and Harrison.
40:18Yeah.
40:19I'm sport with the view at the moment and I want it to stay just like that.
40:23So, I'd be happy with the balustrade but that's never been on the agenda.
40:28Yeah.
40:33The screens are just one of the jobs yet to be finished.
40:37To add warmth to the home's cold steel heart, tough, water-resistant ironbark battens
40:43are being applied to the exterior.
40:48Four lineal kilometres of them.
40:51Four kilometres.
40:53Every single one painstakingly measured, cut and fixed.
41:00Inside, the timber needs to be fitted around the exposed steel frame.
41:06It's a very slow process but they won't get in there.
41:10It's just, it's like everything we got to do when you're trying to fit into this steel.
41:15There's like, there's bolts in the way.
41:18There's like the angle that's coming down.
41:20You've got to check into here, around there, you've got to back out the corner.
41:24And coming across here, you've got like another plate there and then you've got bolts in the way there.
41:29And everything you have to mitre, cut, scribe around every little piece of steel.
41:35When they're not doing that, there are the melamine sheets.
41:47They're commonly used in kitchen cabinetry, but Richard is using them to line the entire building,
41:53including ceilings, in part to mitigate against flood damage.
41:59The panels here are, they're water resistant anyway,
42:03but nothing's completely water resistant when it comes to a flood.
42:07So all the bottom ones and that sort of stuff, they just screw them off and put new ones on.
42:12So it's pretty simple.
42:15What isn't simple or fast is putting the sheets up.
42:20So the process is we get it to length fairly accurately.
42:26We then have to put the sheet up and then scribe it against the steel.
42:33Send it back down, cut it, pre-drill all the screw holes,
42:39and then we're sending it back up and we can finally screw it on.
42:44Total sheets, there's 170 to do.
42:48And I think so far this is number 61.
42:53So some of the days we're only getting like three or four panels up a day.
42:59So it's been a slow process.
43:04In fairness, building a bespoke, flood-proof house that opens up to the landscape
43:09was always going to come at a price.
43:12But this 12-month project now looks like running double that.
43:17Not to mention all the additional costs that go with it.
43:21And with more than an eye to Nextdoor rocketing up,
43:25all the extra costs and time are testing Jeannette's patience and her nerves.
43:31A house built like next door.
43:34That is a breeze compared to this.
43:37You can see so much happening quickly.
43:40We don't do anything that's easy.
43:45It's part of Richard's DNA.
43:48Everything has to be done the hard way.
43:50Yeah.
43:51Unless it's been done the hard way, it hasn't been done well enough.
43:54You know, you've got to do it.
43:56It's kind of a bit overwhelming at the moment.
43:59It's stressful.
44:00Time-consuming.
44:01But you're at a stage now where you can't court us.
44:06It's just not good for the job.
44:08It's not good for the house.
44:10So.
44:11Yeah.
44:12This is our heart and soul.
44:15We have kind of got nowhere else to go.
44:18Yeah.
44:19So it's, um, it is a bit scary, but, oh, I don't know.
44:22What do you do?
44:23What do you do?
44:25It would be just soul destroying if we did have to, um, sell it.
44:33Yeah.
44:34And where would you go?
44:35Yeah.
44:36I don't know.
44:37Just have to make it work.
44:39For 160 years now, the Rawls family has been drawn to the Brisbane River's beauty
45:01and, at times, awed by its power.
45:07For Richard and Jeanette, finding a way to live safely on the river has proved a much bigger
45:13mission than they expected.
45:15I can't wait to see if they've achieved their flood-proof house.
45:19Oh, now that's unexpected.
45:20A bold statement.
45:21Wow.
45:22That's so striking.
45:26This is unlike anything Sherwood has seen before.
45:33Look at this.
45:34Jeanette, Richard, you have created a masterpiece.
45:37What a beautiful presentation to the street this whole thing is.
45:45How are you feeling?
45:46A bit relieved.
45:47Yeah.
45:48It's been a long road.
45:49Very happy.
45:50Yeah.
45:51I mean, it's very, it's quite bland on the outside.
45:52It's a tin shed with, you know, batons each end.
45:53Inside it's very rich and that's where I get excited every time I come out here.
45:59Well, I mean, you said all this is bland and I think that's being a bit cruel.
46:00I actually think, you know, it's a very elemental kind of geometry.
46:04There's a simplicity to it and a straightforwardness.
46:09It's sort of suggesting there's a life behind here.
46:14Why don't you come on inside and see what it's like, you know?
46:30Okay.
46:31Come on in.
46:35From the outside, the house only shows its pragmatic functional roots.
46:40That strong steel shed-like frame anchored deep into the riverbank.
46:49But step through the door.
46:51Welcome, Anthony.
46:53And the magical secret of this house is revealed.
46:57Welcome to our palace.
47:01You walk in, but you're still out.
47:04Bathed in the cool open air and light and space.
47:09Talk about an oasis.
47:13I mean, you come through that sort of mysterious front screen and look what's sort of been laid out in front of us here.
47:20Bit unusual, isn't it?
47:21It's a great way to enter a home.
47:23Yeah.
47:24It feels really good.
47:26Yeah.
47:27Do you get that feeling when you walk in?
47:28Oh, yeah.
47:29Yeah, we love it.
47:30I was, you know, thinking, how is the polycarbonate going to work?
47:33And I'm a bit nervous about polycarb because it can get a bit dirty.
47:36Yeah.
47:37But sitting on that slope, it's going to be self-cleaning.
47:39The battens work really well there.
47:41Yeah.
47:42And I think too, especially opening up that space, allowing the green.
47:44It just softens it.
47:45Yeah.
47:46It does.
47:47It softens the light.
47:48Yeah.
47:49The big feeling is that this is a house that understands its climate very well.
47:51Yeah.
47:52That works very easily with it.
47:53Yeah.
47:54Absolutely.
47:55It's very important to get the cross breezes.
47:57Yeah.
47:58It's very important to get Queenslander traits.
47:59Yeah.
48:00All those lessons.
48:01Yep.
48:02Here they are in a contemporary expression.
48:03Exactly.
48:04Yeah.
48:05With guest bedrooms and a study on the street side, there are lovely details everywhere.
48:15The pool tucking under a bathroom.
48:22Internal awnings bringing that soaring ceiling down to human height.
48:27And sliding walls, opening up nearly every room to the cooling breeze off the river.
48:34So are we calling this the roadside?
48:36Roadside.
48:37The roadside and the riverside.
48:38And the riverside.
48:39Yeah.
48:40Yeah.
48:41Can we have a look down the river?
48:42Sure.
48:43Yeah.
48:44Absolutely.
48:45Let's go.
48:46It's so clever.
48:48That's what I love about this.
48:50I mean, it's a whole inversion of the Queenslander.
48:53Your veranda is on the inside here and you've made one house actually out of two beautiful
49:00little houses.
49:01This whole moment where you've kind of got a kitchen island bench which becomes a bench
49:08against the kitchen window.
49:09Yeah.
49:10That's kind of a nice little option for you.
49:12Now I've got a cosy little kitchen.
49:13You've got your cosy little kitchen happening.
49:15Yeah.
49:16Look how clever this is.
49:17Yeah.
49:18Yeah.
49:19That's beautiful.
49:20And then they all slide across.
49:21So then we've reset the whole house.
49:23You've brought the veranda which is on the outside to the inside here.
49:26And that's this game that's going on.
49:28Yeah.
49:29You spent a lot of time picking this stone didn't you?
49:33Yeah.
49:34Yeah.
49:35And I just love it.
49:36Great.
49:37I'm so glad you said that.
49:38Yeah.
49:39Yeah.
49:40It's not showy at all.
49:41No.
49:42But it's quite subtle, rich.
49:43And it's, yeah, it just sort of works.
49:45One thing it does lead to is, you know, like there's a slightly industrial almost kind
49:49of sense when I look at just this part of the room here.
49:52Yeah.
49:53That's an interesting choice to make in a home.
49:55Homes would normally, you'd think, oh, a bit softer perhaps.
49:58How are you feeling about that now that you see it like that?
50:01Probably the key for us is the honesty of the design that we've stuck to all the way
50:06through.
50:07So I am very comfortable seeing the structure of the house because that's what it is and
50:12that's what you see.
50:14Are you happy with the bolts?
50:15Yes.
50:16You were questioning those.
50:17No, I'm happy with the bolts.
50:18Yeah.
50:19Just simplicity is pretty well what we were aiming for.
50:22Yeah.
50:23It was simple but it wasn't simple to build.
50:24Exactly.
50:25It's hard to get simple.
50:26It is very hard to get simple.
50:28Yeah.
50:29Yeah.
50:30Ask the builders and they'll tell you how hard simple is.
50:36The perfectly crafted timber, the blemish-free steel, all those individually fitted crisp melamine
50:45boards.
50:48The effort is everywhere you look.
50:53And so is the river.
50:59The house dances with reflected light.
51:06This is really what it's all about, isn't it?
51:08Oh, yeah.
51:09This is it.
51:10This is the river meets the house moment.
51:13And the river was always the beginning and the end of this story, right?
51:15Yeah.
51:16I was worried at the beginning when we first met, we were standing down there on the lawn
51:19and I was thinking, oh, you're kind of really taking yourself up the hill.
51:23Are you going to lose that connection?
51:25But it doesn't feel like it.
51:26No, we haven't.
51:27Not at all.
51:28No?
51:29No.
51:30We just sort of perched over, sort of looking down on it.
51:32Yeah.
51:33And now I can see you've won the battle about the copper mesh screen.
51:36Yes.
51:37The full-length mesh is gone, replaced by a more conventional balustrade.
51:42Yeah.
51:43It was a big decision.
51:45We really agonised over that, didn't we?
51:47Yeah.
51:48But everyone that comes, they just put their elbows and leave.
51:51Yeah.
51:52Put your beer on the balustrade?
51:53My beer.
51:54Yeah, my beer.
51:55And that's been a big problem for you?
51:57It is a big problem.
51:58It's just a boy thing, isn't it?
52:00Yeah.
52:01This is your suite.
52:02So this is your bedroom over here.
52:04That's it.
52:05Yeah.
52:06This is interesting because normally the master bedroom is very generous.
52:10Yours is, if I take the footprint here, it's actually quite modest.
52:14It is.
52:15Oh, yeah.
52:16But if you open up the doors as you have here, you've got the whole deck.
52:18That's right.
52:19Yeah.
52:20And do you imagine that you'll have the windows and doors open most of the time?
52:23Yes.
52:24Very good.
52:25That's just us, isn't it?
52:26Yeah.
52:27Leave the doors open like this and that's just how you sleep on the balcony.
52:29Yeah, pretty much.
52:30You really are sleeping in the balcony.
52:31Yeah.
52:32Can't get much more Queensland than that, can you?
52:34No, you can't.
52:35That's right.
52:36That's exactly right.
52:37Yeah.
52:38That's right.
52:39That's right.
52:40That's right.
52:41This house is a thing of beauty.
52:43But it's also a thing of strength, anchored above the floodline.
52:49But with its hose-out undercroft and tough ironbark timbers, it's resilient enough to withstand
52:56the water if the worst should ever come.
53:00quite an achievement first thing I've got to say is congratulations on on
53:07finishing yeah yeah looking at the house from here I think it looks pretty
53:10great just saying I mean this is a homecoming really yeah yeah how's it
53:15feel coming back I wouldn't call it coming back I'd call it going forward
53:20yeah so we're we've sort of reinvented our lives and this and this property
53:28your brother's place next door here mm-hmm started after you started and
53:32finished way earlier yeah well no way earlier it's only been in for a month or
53:37so yeah yeah was it worth the wait it it is to us yeah on our journey it's been
53:46worth it for us yeah it did take a long time you said initially 14 months 12 to
53:5214 months I think mm-hmm and it took 29 months oh stop it yeah yeah extra time
54:01usually equals extra money you started off with one and a half million I seem to
54:05recall yeah as your budget yeah sorry drumroll where do we end up
54:13yeah a little bit more than that yeah thanks Jeanette I gotta guess that yeah
54:18how much more this is say two million yeah north of two okay yeah just two and a
54:23half no just north no no not two and a half okay so between two and two and a
54:28half yeah so with that in mind I mean it's a beautiful outcome and there's a lot
54:32of really intelligent and very clever things that have gone into this do you
54:38feel safe from the floods after going to all of this trouble do you feel safe
54:42yeah I think I do yeah especially with all the in-ground works yeah very much so
54:48yeah so we know that we are sitting on rock-solid ground
54:51yeah
55:08this will all be yours one day you're so gorgeous thank you for doing all that's
55:16all very clever and I'm very proud of you no problems at all come on through to
55:21the party all right Richard's heart dragged him home to the river but he
55:28didn't leave his head behind
55:31this house is a smart pragmatic approach to the increasing issues of climate change
55:37in their cool open airy home he and Jeannette can sleep more soundly by the river
55:48great architecture like art and fashion is a response to the world in which we live but
56:05Richard and Jeannette with the help of James have gone one better pushing the
56:09boundaries of design function and materials to create something that is not
56:13only practical but beautiful and perfectly suited to its situation and its
56:19surroundings so let the rivers rise and let the winds speak this home will
56:25welcome every ebb and is perfectly poised to go with the flow
56:32do
56:35O
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