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00:00Hello, and here's the weather.
00:02For today's forecast, expect scattered flashes of design brilliance
00:06with prolonged periods of architectural showmanship.
00:09There's a strong chance of concrete at ground level,
00:12timber cladding moving eastwards and intermittent glimpses of polished terrazzo.
00:17Light will play a key role, occasionally dappled, frequently dramatic
00:21and sometimes rather boldly emerging from beneath the stairs.
00:26Temperatures are set to rise in kitchens with underfloor heating,
00:29particularly where there's a hidden wine fridge.
00:31Wind resistance may be tested in houses built on stilts.
00:36And viewers are advised to take shelter immediately if anyone talks about flow.
00:42Welcome to House of the Year.
00:45The competition is hotting up for the Royal Institute of British Architects' House of the Year
00:51as we welcome the last batch of long-listed homes.
00:56That's clever. Oh, heavens.
00:57The pressure's building, and the competition is fiercer than ever for a place on the shortlist.
01:03Oh, this is really, really good.
01:06From houses that were built whilst under attack from midges...
01:10We had to hide in a caravan for an afternoon.
01:12Three grown men hiding in a caravan.
01:16To homes that were built to the strictest of tolerances...
01:19Tim is known as Millimetre Tim in the business round.
01:24The houses we explore will be whittled down to a shortlist of just seven.
01:28I mean, what the heck?
01:30At the end, we'll discover which will be House of the Year 2025.
01:37So get ready.
01:38Grease all nipples and lubricate all joints.
01:40So far, five homes have claimed their place on the shortlist.
02:07Kirk and the Craig on the Isle of Harris.
02:11Hastings House, a triumph of engineering and elegance.
02:15And Triangle House, a house that takes you to the Caribbean.
02:19Then there's a Mento, a carefully crafted cruciform family home.
02:23And Jank's Barn, a barn conversion that keeps its character.
02:30There are two places left on the shortlist and five more buildings to explore.
02:37Snooping around these homes with me is the architect Damien Burrows.
02:42To have a courtyard garden here is quite something.
02:47And the conservation architect, Natasha Huck.
02:50Oh, wow, look at this.
02:52Some houses are born beautiful.
02:57Some acquire beauty.
02:58Others have beauty thrust upon them.
03:01Usually by an architect with a bold vision and a host of power tools.
03:05This category is all about transformation.
03:08And not the kind that involves a new doormat and a pharaoh and bull tester bot.
03:13These are epic, drafty bungalows, weary barns, structures long past their prime.
03:20Reimagined, reconfigured and re-emerged as architectural swans.
03:25They've been wrapped in zinc, filled with light, given poetry, purpose and soul.
03:30Oh, it's so stirring.
03:32I'm beginning to feel it'll transform myself.
03:35And I start wearing linen.
03:39Barth is experiencing a transformation of its own.
03:43You come here for Georgian grandeur, creamy stone and the odd bit of Regency cosplay.
03:50You don't come here for bungalows.
03:54But maybe you should.
03:58This is a house of wood shingle.
04:00A bungalow utterly transformed with a new skin of timber.
04:07Thousands of pieces of it.
04:12Hi.
04:12Hi.
04:13Good to meet you.
04:14Hi.
04:14The owners are Celia and Keith.
04:17Excellent place to be living.
04:20It's sort of beconic and befits a wooden house, I suppose.
04:24You've got a little shingle wooden house in the woods.
04:26Yes.
04:26Yeah.
04:27It used to be a 1960s kind of low energy bungalow.
04:34I was going to say low energy as in really poor.
04:36Poor energy.
04:37Poor, yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:38Yeah.
04:39And then we wanted to kind of upgrade it, retrofit it so that we could put in some sustainable heating elements.
04:46Yeah.
04:47And then the shingle came along as a kind of cladding to cover all the insulation.
04:52But it looks beautiful.
04:53It is beautiful.
04:53It looks beautiful.
04:54Because they're coarsed.
04:55Yeah.
04:56They're not, you know, dropping and rising.
04:58Yeah.
04:59So they're coarsed.
04:59Yeah.
05:00And, of course, they're overlapped so that the joints are always staggered.
05:04Yeah.
05:04If we did it again on a bungalow, I think it's not the place to do the cedar shingle.
05:09Because it's such a vast kind of amount of square meterage.
05:13Yeah.
05:13But it is beautiful.
05:15And from a drone shot, it looks great.
05:17And from a drone shot, it looks great.
05:17When you're working with an architect, you're quite often taking a sort of godlike view of it.
05:24So you're seeing 3D models and you're looking and you're kind of seeing a building in a way that you never really truly see.
05:31Yeah.
05:32You go around to someone's house and knock on the door and they say, come in, would you like the tour?
05:36And you say, no, not really.
05:37Actually, no, I've just come to see you.
05:39Yeah.
05:39But when people come here, you should just say, would you like to see the roof?
05:43Yeah.
05:43We've got a ladder here.
05:44We've got a ladder, yeah.
05:45Get up there.
05:46It's a hidden asset, isn't it?
05:47A hidden beauty, a hidden gem.
05:49Hidden money pit.
05:50Yeah, OK.
05:55More like an investment, I'd say.
06:00Along the back of the house are the three children's rooms and parents' bedroom suite,
06:04all connected by a vaulted corridor with skylights that leads to the new entrance hall.
06:11At the near end of the front half is the glass-walled kitchen diner.
06:16Next to that is a TV room.
06:19And at the far end is the living room with views across the valley.
06:29Inside, this place does not feel like a conventional bungalow,
06:33compartmentalised and closed off.
06:35No, instead, you can see down the length of the building.
06:39It feels connected and open.
06:42It's really neat.
06:45Really neat.
06:47Celia and Keith's architect has pulled off a clever trick, too,
06:50in the way he's divided up the house.
06:53So this entire depth, this is social space.
06:58Yeah.
06:59And then all the rooms behind this are all the cellular bedrooms.
07:03Yeah.
07:06The living and sleeping spaces are separated by a corridor
07:10that divides the building into two.
07:12We can kind of close it off so that this space
07:15is completely separate from the rooms at the back.
07:18Yeah.
07:19It's almost like the back part of the house
07:21is what would traditionally be like the upstairs of a building,
07:24and then this front part is like the downstairs.
07:27So we continue that separation even though it's all on one level.
07:34Walking through the kitchen and down to the sunken living room,
07:37your perspective suddenly shifts.
07:40Oh, yes, down some steps.
07:42Oh, so the whole thing kind of expands.
07:47It lifts as you walk into it.
07:49Oh.
07:50It's like two or three and a half metres or something,
07:53that sheet of glass.
07:53So you step down into a sort of sky observatory, really.
07:58Yeah.
07:58Which is actually kind of almost exactly split across the middle
08:03so the horizon cuts halfway across those windows.
08:07Oh, and these clouds suddenly appear to be more powerful
08:10because you're framing this kind of great skyscape.
08:16What I love about this place
08:18is the variety of experiences that it offers.
08:22No two rooms in here are the same.
08:25From a room which just grabs that huge, expansive landscape
08:28and that view to Wales beyond to the most intimate, private window
08:34that's nestled into the hillside.
08:37And then into this.
08:38Oh, my Lord.
08:40This is the first bungalow I've ever seen
08:42that has a sort of ecclesiastical corridor
08:44with little cellular rooms off.
08:47It's like being in a monastery
08:48with these fantastic clear story lights
08:53that just grab sunshine,
08:57and then pull it into the building.
09:02I don't know why I'm whispering.
09:06Forgive me, bungalow,
09:08for I have stared.
09:10But beauty like this doesn't come easy.
09:13The process of making it can floor you.
09:18It was a long process.
09:20Yeah.
09:20And getting materials to site.
09:22I mean, just the logistics of being here.
09:24That was tough.
09:24And I think we had, you know, quite a few phone calls.
09:27Because a private drive sounds like a nice idea.
09:30Yeah.
09:30Until you kind of realise
09:32that you can't get a big truck or lorry down the drive
09:35and they've left everything on a pallet
09:37half a mile away.
09:39Yeah.
09:40Or just refuse to deliver stuff.
09:42So there's a couple of kind of delivery drivers
09:44that we knew they could get in
09:47with one of their kind of grabbers
09:48and drop stuff off.
09:53They've gone to a lot of trouble
09:55re-interpreting this bungalow.
09:59This underrated building form
10:01now reimagined is once again
10:04taking its place in the spotlight.
10:08I suppose we think of bungalows
10:10as being background buildings,
10:12don't we?
10:12You know, part of the supporting cast
10:14of the theatre of architecture
10:18that makes our cities and our towns.
10:21But what this place demonstrates
10:23is you can take an individual
10:25from that supporting cast.
10:28You can believe in them,
10:30remodel them, reclose them.
10:32You can give them a script that works for them
10:35and you can transform them
10:36into a glamorous, eloquent, witty
10:41centre-stage star.
10:52We've seen one shape-shifting home so far.
10:55Four more to see before we find out
10:57which will be shortlisted
10:59for the House of the Year 2025.
11:05The next longlister we're visiting
11:14in our Incredible Transformations category
11:17is in Suffolk.
11:19I'm off to see it.
11:22It's an exciting new set of buildings
11:25that transforms not something
11:26that was already there,
11:28but the very way we could build our homes.
11:31Most homes squeeze all of their functions
11:36underneath one single roof.
11:38But I'm off to see a home
11:40that transforms that very idea.
11:43Four different buildings,
11:45four separate functions,
11:47and one family.
11:49Welcome to House Stead.
11:51House Stead is four buildings
12:04arranged around a cross-shape
12:06in a central courtyard.
12:08To the south is a glazed thatch living pavilion
12:11with a kitchen dining area,
12:13a lounge, and bathroom.
12:15To the west is a solid brick working block
12:17containing a main bedroom
12:19with en-suite and office above.
12:21To the east is the sleeping block
12:23with five children's bedrooms
12:25and a guest bedroom.
12:27There is also a greenhouse structure
12:29to the front which acts as a winter garden.
12:32The corrugated metal north building
12:34is the utility block
12:35with a boiler room, garage, general store,
12:38and upper-level hangout.
12:41The owners are architect, husband, and wife,
12:44Amir and Abigail.
12:45All of the elements of the building
12:48are so far apart.
12:49What was the idea behind that?
12:51One's a living function,
12:52one's a sleeping function,
12:54one's utility,
12:55and one's work and study studio.
12:59It's really to sort of create
13:00four distinct zones
13:01where you have to go outside,
13:03experience the outdoors
13:04between the different functions.
13:06It wouldn't suit everybody,
13:08but I think if you enjoy being outdoors,
13:10you want a way of keeping
13:13a large family together
13:15as families develop.
13:17I think for us,
13:18it's working brilliantly.
13:21As the children grow older,
13:23they can have their own space
13:25and come together with the adults here.
13:28This is the living block
13:29where the family can eat,
13:31chat, and socialize.
13:32It's part sitting room,
13:35part kitchen,
13:36part dining space,
13:38with a mezzanine floating above,
13:40all gloriously open plan.
13:44Oh, hello.
13:46This is, oh my word,
13:48it's stunning.
13:51The thatched roof seems to float
13:53on improbably thin seal columns.
13:56We wanted everything to be
13:56as light as possible
13:57so it's not detracting from the view.
13:59Nothing is bigger than it needs to be,
14:01so it's been finely engineered.
14:04Steel could have felt
14:05like a cold industrial material
14:08to use here,
14:09but it doesn't,
14:10thanks to the clever color choice,
14:12Suffolk Pink,
14:13a color used on buildings in the area.
14:16The Suffolk Pink came from
14:18the fact that they used pig's blood
14:20to become the sort of binding material.
14:24In a lime wash,
14:25so you mix protein and lime
14:27and it reacts
14:28and it creates the Suffolk Pink,
14:29so this is dragging Suffolk Pink
14:31into the 21st century.
14:33This is giving you a bit of an oomph.
14:34Exactly.
14:36And it's the last thing people expect
14:38when they walk in here.
14:39Yes.
14:39This is a gorgeous pink.
14:40This is a gorgeous pink.
14:45Then, outside to another
14:47extraordinary building
14:48in this 21st century house step.
14:51So we've come from
14:53a traditional thatch roof
14:55to lunar space module.
14:58You called it
14:58a lunar module landing
15:00and the way it was constructed
15:02really was very lunar-like.
15:03It was built in the area
15:05where we parked the cars,
15:06assembled,
15:07and then raised by a crane
15:09and very lightly popped onto the roof,
15:12bolted down.
15:13In one section?
15:14The whole thing was built
15:15bar the staircase,
15:17and the whole thing was built,
15:18raised up and popped down.
15:19It was great fun watching it go up.
15:21You have people reporting it,
15:23like there's a spacecraft landing
15:24next door.
15:25It was a giant step for Suffolk.
15:28It's very much a lookout.
15:30It's very much a place for us
15:31to get away from everything else,
15:33but also our studio.
15:34And it's quite high up.
15:36Not quite 33 steps,
15:37but it's 31 steps.
15:39It's a very nice journey,
15:40and you actually feel
15:40that you're just getting away
15:42from everything.
15:42You can go up there
15:43and just escape,
15:44pick up a book,
15:45finish off a project.
15:47Curiouser and curiouser
15:49from a space oddity
15:50to a greenhouse built
15:52into a bedroom wing.
15:54Nothing conventional
15:55about that either.
15:58This is a thermal camera,
16:00and it's a great way
16:01of showing exactly
16:02where the heat is in a house.
16:04Now, in a normal home,
16:05you'd expect to see hot spots
16:07around the radiators
16:08and chimney flues.
16:09But if we take a look down here...
16:12Wow.
16:13It's off the charts hot.
16:16By design, incredibly.
16:18This glazed corridor
16:19helps heat the hot water
16:21for the whole house.
16:23So we've got a sort of
16:25glazed corridor
16:26that is designed
16:27to get very hot
16:28during the day
16:29and helps provide us
16:30with all our hot water.
16:32So you've got
16:33all this hot air here.
16:35It's rising up through there,
16:37passing over the copper pipes
16:38and just heating up
16:39your hot water.
16:40Heating up the hot water.
16:41Meanwhile, the bedrooms
16:42behind remain
16:43really beautifully cool.
16:45Yeah, the temperature difference.
16:46You can really feel it,
16:47can't you?
16:47Yeah.
16:48You're in a greenhouse.
16:49I am.
16:50Oh, as soon as you
16:52come through here.
16:54As soon as you just
16:55react really cool.
16:56Just calm.
16:57It's really cool and calm.
16:59The transition between
17:00the cool, the hot,
17:01and outside into the fresh
17:03in such a short distance of time,
17:06it's quite something.
17:07That's thanks
17:08to the thick timber walls
17:10between the greenhouse
17:11and the bedrooms
17:12which contain the heat.
17:14Ingenious engineering,
17:16thoughtful design,
17:16and a love of innovation
17:18are all things
17:19to be admired
17:19about this house.
17:21Like all good things, though,
17:23Amir and Abigail
17:24had to wait for it.
17:26We didn't finish.
17:28We didn't arrive
17:29when it had finished
17:29because we first moved in
17:31when the building had power
17:33but no lighting.
17:35So we camped.
17:36We camped for quite a long time
17:37and we rigged up lights
17:39and because we wanted
17:40to be here,
17:41we moved in
17:42at the very first opportunity.
17:44So it's been very much
17:46an adventure, really.
17:48The children have been
17:48very patient.
17:52But now,
17:53now it feels like
17:54it's properly finished.
17:55There's this thing
17:56called Suffolk time
17:57that we didn't know about
17:58but we kind of
17:59managed to work with it
18:00and it's very different
18:03to London time.
18:05Well, Suffolk time is,
18:06you know,
18:07things happen
18:08when they happen often.
18:10Not necessarily
18:11that we'd be aware
18:11that they're going to happen
18:12when they happen
18:13but they do happen.
18:15They happen to
18:15a very good standard.
18:16I'll say,
18:21this is a family home
18:22for the 21st century
18:24where children
18:25and adults
18:26each have their own space.
18:28Whether it's the utility block
18:30with its games room above
18:31or the private bedroom wings
18:33where everyone can retreat
18:35when they need to
18:36and then,
18:37when they're ready,
18:38they gather
18:39to cook,
18:40to eat,
18:41to live together.
18:42The Watchtower,
18:46the Thatched Glaze Pavilion,
18:49the Nissen Hut.
18:51Individually,
18:52these are striking,
18:54odd,
18:54even a little eccentric
18:56but together,
18:58they form something
18:59that is unique
19:00and compelling.
19:02They form architecture
19:04that is bold,
19:06inventive
19:07and entirely personal.
19:10We've seen
19:11two remarkable
19:13transformations so far.
19:15Three more to go
19:16before we find out
19:16which will be shortlisted
19:18for the House of the Year 2025.
19:29Some things
19:30just seem understated.
19:32A navy blue Vauxhall,
19:34a pair of traditional brogues,
19:36Geoff from the Parish Council.
19:38And then,
19:40then you look closer
19:41and you discover
19:42that Geoff
19:42is actually a belly dancer
19:44and that the brogues
19:45are handmade in Florence
19:46and that the Vauxhall
19:48does 0-60
19:50in Lesson 5.
19:55Think of our next
19:56longlister
19:56as Geoff.
19:58It's in the quiet
19:59rolling hills of Somerset.
20:01It used
20:02to look like this
20:03before it was
20:05knocked down
20:05and was reborn
20:06as this.
20:12Definitely an upgrade.
20:15This is the Orchards.
20:19The house is mostly
20:20single-story,
20:22stepping down gently
20:23with the landscape.
20:24You enter into
20:25a wide hallway,
20:26the heart of the home,
20:27which leads one way
20:28to the public spaces
20:29and the other
20:29to the private wing.
20:31In the public area,
20:33there's an open-plan
20:34kitchen,
20:34dining and living space,
20:36which opens
20:36onto a veranda.
20:38A flexible room nearby
20:39serves as a playroom,
20:41gym or guest space.
20:43In the private wing,
20:45there are two
20:45children's bedrooms,
20:47a family bathroom
20:47and a main bedroom suite
20:49at the far end.
20:50There's also a small
20:51upper-level guest room.
20:54It's home
20:54to Jonathan and Kirsty.
20:56Hi.
20:57Hi.
20:57Kirsty, right?
20:58Yes.
20:59Hi.
20:59Hi, nice to meet you.
21:00And you too, Jonathan.
21:01Jonathan.
21:03This building
21:04catches you off guard
21:05and that's entirely
21:07the point.
21:08Sometimes buildings
21:09are really loud
21:10and, you know,
21:11they assert themselves
21:12and this one
21:13does the opposite.
21:14Right up until the moment,
21:15you sort of get to there.
21:17It's a low-key entrance
21:18and I think that
21:19fits us.
21:20We're sort of
21:21flashy on the inside, people.
21:26You walk in
21:27to a beautiful
21:28open-plan kitchen.
21:30The RIBA judges
21:31admired the
21:32restrained material palette
21:34and touches
21:35of luxury
21:35inside a home
21:36that was respectful
21:37to its rural setting.
21:40It's really nice,
21:41isn't it?
21:42And they've taken
21:43special measures
21:44to keep it that way,
21:46to defend it
21:46from the ravages
21:47of children.
21:49What is that
21:50kitchen tabletop
21:50made from?
21:51Is that stainless steel?
21:53Yep.
21:53Yes, stainless steel.
21:54Giant piece.
21:55Five millimetres thick.
21:57How did that materialise?
21:59This was your one...
22:00I think one of our themes
22:02throughout the whole house
22:03was it's got to be robust.
22:05Yeah.
22:05If it looks perfect
22:06on day one
22:06but gets beaten up
22:08by family life,
22:09it just won't work for us.
22:10And you've got another one
22:11over there
22:11which is just as reflective
22:12and beautiful
22:13and that's hugely long.
22:14Is that one piece of steel?
22:16It is one giant piece.
22:17One single piece of steel.
22:18I don't think we knew it
22:19when we set out
22:20to make it
22:21but there's only one place
22:22in the country
22:23who could cope
22:23with a piece of steel
22:24that long.
22:27But this room
22:28isn't just built
22:29to be durable.
22:30It hides a few
22:31playful secrets.
22:34Is that a door,
22:34that thing,
22:35that great big piece of wall?
22:36One of our few
22:37kid-free spaces.
22:38So the little one
22:42didn't realise
22:43this was an actual room
22:44for what,
22:45four or five months
22:45of being here
22:46because we kept
22:47that door closed
22:47and then it blew
22:48her little mind
22:49one day
22:49when her brother
22:50had left it open
22:51and she discovered
22:51this whole extra space.
22:52She is going to grow
22:53it was such a complex
22:55about deprivation,
22:56about being the junior
22:57excluded member
22:58of the family.
22:58Or the joy
23:00of what's behind and off.
23:01All that, yeah.
23:02Or she'll just love surprises, yeah.
23:06In this house
23:07no room is quite
23:09what you think it is.
23:10One stayed hidden
23:11for months
23:11behind a barely noticed door
23:13and the corridor
23:15turns out
23:16it's doing far more
23:17than getting you
23:18from A to B.
23:20So this is the corridor
23:21stroke street.
23:23Yes.
23:24Sort of public highway.
23:26It's almost become
23:27an extra room.
23:28It's where kids
23:29come out of the bathroom,
23:30we get them dry,
23:31dry hair,
23:32brush teeth,
23:33spend, yeah,
23:34a lot of time
23:35in this as a space.
23:36You've got
23:37a place
23:38where they can
23:38easily come out
23:39and put on plays
23:40and have a chat
23:41and create a den.
23:43And I've read somewhere
23:44that every house
23:45should have
23:45at least one space
23:46big enough
23:47to get a toddler
23:47up to full speed.
23:49Yeah.
23:50Those bits in between
23:52are not quite a room,
23:53liminal spaces
23:54are what I find
23:56most interesting
23:56about this house.
23:58These are the bits
23:58that quietly steal the show.
24:01We love to have
24:02labels for rooms
24:03and the moment
24:04it hasn't got a label,
24:05the moment
24:05it's ambiguous
24:06we worry
24:07that it's wasteful.
24:09It's been a surprise
24:10but yeah,
24:11we really live
24:12in those
24:12in-between spaces.
24:15The rooms themselves
24:16aren't too shabby either.
24:18Full of personality
24:20and fun,
24:21that was important
24:22to the architect
24:23Graham Bisley.
24:25Each room
24:26has a different character
24:27by what you see outside.
24:29That bathroom
24:30is almost like
24:30a little chapel.
24:31You kind of go in
24:31and the timber screen
24:33as you go in
24:33is a cross shape
24:34and you go through
24:35and there's this
24:35little side chapel
24:36which is the shower.
24:37Everyday experience
24:39should be pleasurable.
24:40It's not just
24:41a functional thing
24:42walking out of your room
24:43and going for breakfast
24:44or whatever.
24:44You can have an experience
24:46on that journey.
24:49This is a house
24:50that is thoughtful
24:51and full of surprise.
24:53It's calm
24:56but never dull.
24:58Every corner
24:59has been considered.
25:01Every detail
25:02earns its place.
25:06And the result
25:07is silently special.
25:09A home that works
25:10and one that keeps
25:12getting better
25:12the longer you spend
25:13time here.
25:15This is a quiet house.
25:19You know,
25:19it has its cholera
25:20and its eyes to the ground
25:22as it slowly slips
25:24its way
25:25through the grasses
25:27in the orchard.
25:29But, you know,
25:30it may be quiet
25:31but it is also
25:33resilient
25:34and it's playful
25:35and it is strong
25:39and in places
25:40also ambiguous.
25:42I mean,
25:42it works a magic
25:43and I'm sure
25:44that if I spent time
25:45here in its company
25:46my blood pressure
25:48would lower
25:49and I would perhaps
25:50be more at peace
25:51with myself
25:52and even perhaps
25:54a little happier
25:55which makes it
25:57a really transformative
26:00building.
26:08Oh!
26:09You know you turn up
26:10at a party
26:10and somebody's just
26:12looking fantastic
26:13and you think
26:14what is it?
26:15Is it their hair?
26:16They've got new glasses?
26:17They've been to the dentist?
26:18What is it?
26:19And then you realise
26:21they sort of just know
26:22what they're doing.
26:23It's just a gentle
26:24all over
26:25even lift.
26:26Yeah.
26:29Like this next place.
26:34I'm in London
26:34looking at our next
26:36long lister.
26:38This is a house
26:39that's been transformed
26:41but rather than
26:42being turned
26:43into something
26:43completely new
26:44it's been redefined
26:46as a sophisticated
26:47version of itself.
26:50This was an unremarkable
26:521960s terraced house
26:54now crafted
26:56into a piece
26:57of iconic looking
26:581960s modernist architecture.
27:01The judges were awestruck
27:03by the fact
27:04it retained the character
27:05of the original building
27:06yet was completely remade.
27:08In this masterfully
27:11reworked home
27:12the ground floor
27:13is a spacious
27:14double height
27:14kitchen dining room
27:15with a utility room
27:17and toilet next to it.
27:20On the first floor
27:21is a living room
27:22with outside balcony
27:23and a cosy snug.
27:25On the second floor
27:26are the two children's bedrooms
27:28and a bathroom.
27:30And on the third floor
27:31is the adult bedroom
27:32with en suite.
27:33The architect
27:38who realised
27:39this extraordinary vision
27:40was Dingle Price.
27:42Hi everyone.
27:43Hi, welcome.
27:44Thanks, how are you?
27:45Well, and you?
27:46You arrive
27:47into a small corridor.
27:49Above are stairs
27:50up to a living room
27:51and balcony
27:51bedroom and bathroom.
27:54But the real magic
27:55is at ground floor level.
27:57It's so lush.
27:59The view teasingly
28:01opens out
28:01over the kitchen
28:02and dining room
28:03to an incredible
28:03garden beyond.
28:06What was here before?
28:08There was a kitchen
28:09on the left side
28:09and on the right
28:10there was a dining area
28:12and of course
28:12it was all
28:13at the same level.
28:16It began as a bog-standard
28:181960s house.
28:20Now Dingle has remade it
28:21in the language
28:22of brutalism,
28:23the cutting edge
28:24of high-end design
28:25in the 60s
28:26when exposed concrete
28:27and bold form
28:28were the height
28:29of architectural fashion.
28:31A lot of the concrete
28:33in the building
28:33is exposing beams
28:35that were already there
28:36but were uncovered
28:37but then we've also
28:38introduced a certain
28:39amount of new concrete.
28:42It's only when you get
28:43to ground level
28:43you can fully appreciate
28:45this extraordinary room.
28:48There's so much drama
28:49to this space.
28:50I mean, the height
28:51of the ceilings
28:52and then this view
28:53out to this lush garden.
28:54I mean, it's really
28:55unexpected.
28:57What did you have to do
28:57to create it?
28:58Well, the key to it
28:59is the excavation.
29:00It was a Victorian building
29:01that stood on this site.
29:03Oh, the building
29:04before the 1960s building?
29:06It just turned out
29:07that the original building
29:08had very, very deep
29:09foundations
29:09and that meant
29:11relatively easily
29:12we could dig away
29:13the earth
29:14to create this high space.
29:15So we've excavated
29:16a metre and a half
29:17down from the original
29:18ground floor level.
29:21But from then on,
29:22Dingle had set himself
29:23an incredibly hard task
29:25by choosing to keep
29:26everything exposed.
29:28It's a project
29:28with no paint.
29:30Everything is the
29:31exposed materials
29:32which goes back
29:33to this sort of
29:34original idea
29:35of brutalism.
29:36But because of that,
29:38you know,
29:38it's very unforgiving.
29:39If you put a light switch
29:40in the wrong place,
29:41you can't just move it
29:43and repaint.
29:45You end up basically
29:46having to replaster
29:47the whole wall.
29:49There was nowhere
29:50to hide mistakes.
29:51No layer
29:52that could cover them up.
29:53Not the usual way
29:54of doing things.
29:55The contractor
29:56wasn't convinced
29:57to begin with.
29:59If I'm honest,
30:01we actually thought
30:02Dingle was going mad.
30:03Everything was experimental.
30:05It was definitely
30:05a challenge
30:06and it's not the way
30:07we usually do our projects
30:09because, you know,
30:09it costs a lot more money
30:10to experiment.
30:12I guess the most difficult
30:14for us was
30:15when we stripped
30:17the structure back
30:18to its original
30:19block work
30:20and brick work.
30:21We couldn't see the vision.
30:24But who could argue
30:26with the elegance
30:27of the end result?
30:29Though what looks
30:30effortless now
30:31took days of trial
30:32and error
30:32that tested the limits
30:34of everyone involved.
30:36It's the level
30:36of craft, care
30:37and control here
30:38that makes this retrofit
30:40so quietly radical.
30:44Everything about this house
30:46challenges what we
30:47would normally expect
30:48from a 1960s infill,
30:50from brutalist materials
30:51and from a retrofit.
30:53Instead of clearing
30:54everything away,
30:55the architect
30:55has made subtle adjustments
30:57to what was here,
30:58completely transforming
30:59the space
31:00and really making the most
31:01of the character
31:02of the existing house.
31:05We've seen four houses
31:06so far,
31:07transformed beautifully
31:09in different ways.
31:10There's one more to go
31:11before we find out
31:12which will make
31:13the shortlist.
31:14And then,
31:15from all those
31:15shortlisted homes,
31:16we'll discover
31:17which one will win
31:18the title
31:19for the House
31:19of the Year 2025.
31:30A key part
31:31of the architectural
31:33imagination
31:33is seeing
31:35how something
31:36can be transformed.
31:37To look at a building
31:38that's unloved
31:39and unused
31:40and imagine it
31:41as a place
31:41entirely new.
31:43Now,
31:44this building,
31:46built by the architects
31:47Tonkin knew,
31:48began life
31:48as a rusty old
31:50water tower.
31:51They had the vision
31:52to transform it,
31:54to turn the concrete stem
31:56into a staircase
31:57and the steel tank
31:58at the top
31:59into this
32:00beautiful living room
32:02with the best seats
32:04in the house.
32:04I mean, literally.
32:06It is a bold bit
32:07of rethinking.
32:09But our next longlister,
32:11they've pulled off
32:12something arguably
32:12even more extreme.
32:17once upon a time
32:19on the Isle of Wight
32:20in the early 1900s,
32:23a humble cowshed
32:24was built
32:25with slurry underfoot,
32:29hay overhead
32:30and the occasional
32:31swallow nesting
32:32in the rafters.
32:35A hundred years later,
32:37it was deserted,
32:39derelict
32:39and forgotten
32:40until Joseph,
32:43an artist and academic,
32:45learned about it.
32:45I saw some photographs
32:47and I was immediately
32:49attracted,
32:50so much so
32:51that I told the kids,
32:52I'll be back in an hour.
32:54I identified
32:54where the barn was,
32:56got in the car,
32:57came here,
32:58let myself in,
33:00it was open,
33:01sort of,
33:02and stood in the courtyard
33:04and thought,
33:04like,
33:05this is where I want to live.
33:06And so,
33:10the old buyer
33:11was born,
33:13an extraordinary transformation,
33:15one that keeps
33:16much of what was there before,
33:17but gently adds
33:19newer elements.
33:21The space we're in
33:21at the moment
33:22is where I socialize
33:23and where I cook
33:24and where I spend the day
33:25and spend time with friends.
33:27This is a really open space,
33:30whereas the other barn,
33:31the 19th century barn,
33:33has smaller,
33:35more intimate spaces.
33:37My library,
33:40corridors,
33:42spaces for sleeping,
33:45bathroom,
33:47and spaces that can be used
33:49as studios.
33:50So in their nature,
33:53they're very,
33:53very different.
33:55The old buyer
33:57is in fact
33:57not one,
33:58but two barns,
34:00one built in the early 1900s,
34:01the other in the 1960s.
34:03The newer barn
34:04houses the main living space,
34:06a bright open kitchen,
34:08a generous dining area,
34:09and a calm,
34:10stripped-back lounge.
34:12The older L-shaped barn
34:14holds the bedrooms
34:15and a couple of quiet
34:16studio spaces.
34:18The RIVA judges
34:19admired the contrasts
34:21this project offered
34:22where new and old materials
34:24and structures
34:25sit comfortably
34:26alongside each other,
34:28nowhere more so
34:29than in the main living
34:30and working space.
34:33The roof is pretty much
34:34as it was.
34:35We reinforced it,
34:37visibly mended it
34:38where we had to.
34:40There are still remnants
34:42of what is probably
34:43cow poo on the wall.
34:45There is a swallow's nest.
34:46There is hair.
34:47There are old nails.
34:48So all of this
34:49is still in the walls.
34:51The construction approach
34:53was deliberately
34:54as rough and ready
34:55as the original building itself.
34:57The doors came from Spain,
35:00I think,
35:01which took a long time.
35:03One of the doors
35:03didn't quite fit,
35:05so I rang the builder
35:06and a few hours later
35:07it was sorted.
35:08I think they shaved
35:09a little bit off
35:10the door frame,
35:11or the door,
35:12or either.
35:12I'm not going to ask.
35:16One of the greatest
35:17interventions here
35:18is what they've done
35:19to the front of the building.
35:21By day,
35:23it brings in soft light.
35:25By night,
35:28it glows.
35:30The facade
35:31that faces the courtyard
35:32is made from polycarbonate,
35:33so it looks like paper.
35:36It lets light in
35:37and brings light into the space.
35:40This insulated facade
35:41cost an eye-watering 17 grand,
35:44a unique expense
35:45in what was otherwise
35:46a cost-conscious home
35:47built for $360,000.
35:49Extraordinary for a project
35:51of this ambition.
35:51The budget was tight,
35:55but that led to
35:57most of the decisions
35:59we made about everything.
36:00I don't think there's anything
36:01where we thought
36:02we're going to spend more
36:03on this element.
36:04So we tested thoroughly
36:06the costs
36:07of different approaches,
36:08and that's how
36:09we made decisions.
36:10So no,
36:11I wouldn't say
36:11it was to do with
36:12spending more
36:14on certain elements.
36:15The old buyer
36:22is masterful,
36:24not a glossy reinterpretation
36:26of raw rusticity.
36:27New materials
36:28and ideas
36:29have here
36:30been finely tuned
36:31to an appropriate level
36:32of humility.
36:34With that
36:34comes a gentle,
36:36brutal honesty.
36:37It's a cowshed
36:38made livable,
36:39not just through redesign,
36:40but in the refusal
36:41to lie about
36:42what it ever was.
36:45Why did I keep
36:46the swallow's nest?
36:47What would be
36:48the advantage
36:49of removing it?
36:50Like, I would take away
36:51a story of the building.
37:00We've explored
37:01five remarkable homes
37:03so far,
37:04but which will earn
37:05their place
37:05on the coveted shortlist?
37:08The house of wood shingle,
37:10a 60s bungalow
37:11wrapped head to toe
37:11in timber,
37:12part house,
37:13part hedgehog.
37:15Housestead,
37:16four buildings,
37:17one family home,
37:19a place that rewrites
37:20the idea
37:20of what a house is.
37:23The orchards,
37:24barn on the outside,
37:25bond lair on the inside.
37:28London brute,
37:29a concrete wedge
37:30in a polite London postcoat,
37:32brutalism
37:33with a posh accent.
37:35The old buyer,
37:37a luminous barn conversion
37:39where the history's intact,
37:41swallow's nest and all.
37:42joining me is the chair
37:48of the judges,
37:49David Kohn.
37:50David,
37:50how many projects
37:51from this category
37:52have you selected
37:53for the shortlist?
37:54So, there are two projects
37:55in this category.
37:56First being?
37:57London Brutes.
38:01Of all the ones we saw,
38:03probably it's the project
38:05that is most concerned
38:06with elegance.
38:08It's a very refined,
38:11calm experience
38:12to be there.
38:14And I think
38:15the abiding memory
38:16one would have
38:17of the visit
38:18is the relationship
38:19of these exquisitely
38:20proportioned rooms
38:21and gardens.
38:25That's fantastic.
38:28Feels, yeah,
38:29feels all of that work
38:31as being worthwhile.
38:35So, what's the second house
38:36that you've chosen?
38:38The second house
38:38is Calstead.
38:39which is more
38:44than a house.
38:45It's a stead.
38:46It's an arrangement
38:47of buildings.
38:48Living,
38:49sleeping,
38:50service,
38:51quarter.
38:53Take away
38:53any one of the parts
38:54and it doesn't work.
38:55Yeah.
38:55It needs them all
38:56and the house is
38:57all of them together.
38:58A lot of people
38:59won't like it.
39:00A lot of people
39:01will look at that
39:01and say,
39:02I'm not going to live
39:02like that.
39:03Why should I walk
39:03in the rain
39:04just to go and put
39:05a log in the wood burner?
39:06It is an experimental
39:07project.
39:08I think it's a project
39:09which takes
39:10a lot of licence
39:11with a lot of things
39:12and makes something
39:14utterly unique.
39:17Being shortlisted
39:18is fabulous.
39:20Really, really pleased.
39:22Yeah, couldn't be
39:22more pleased.
39:24Fabulous.
39:24It's a great reward.
39:25Yeah.
39:26Thank you very much.
39:29So,
39:30House Stead
39:30and a London brute
39:31take their place
39:32on the shortlist.
39:34That's it.
39:35The shortlist is complete
39:36and we now have
39:37our seven finalists
39:39for the 2025
39:40Royal Institute
39:41of British Architects
39:42House of the Year.
39:44In the running,
39:45we have
39:46Kirch and the Craig
39:47on the Isle of Harris
39:48and Hastings House
39:50on the south coast.
39:52There's the glorious
39:53Triangle House,
39:55the agricultural
39:56Jank's Barn,
39:58Amento,
39:59and then
40:00Housestead
40:01and London Brute.
40:04The judges
40:05have a very difficult
40:06decision to make.
40:11So I'm walking up a hill
40:12to visit
40:13this year's winner
40:15of House of the Year.
40:16Now,
40:16I'm hoping the background
40:17is out of focus
40:19because it's important
40:20that you shouldn't be able
40:21to tell where I am.
40:22No, no, no,
40:23come back here.
40:24Sorry,
40:25not just yet.
40:26What I'll say is
40:28the building's
40:29right in front of me
40:30and it looks extraordinary.
40:38It is this
40:39incredible home
40:40that takes the prize.
40:41Kirch and the Craig
40:43on the Isle of Harris
40:45in Scotland,
40:46built through sleep
40:47and struggle
40:48and storm
40:49by its owners
40:50Ailey and Jack.
40:52Hi.
40:52Yeah.
40:53Nice to meet you.
40:54Ailey, how are you?
40:55Hi.
40:55Good to see you both.
40:57Who, by the way,
40:58think I've just come
40:59to visit their
40:59shortlisted building.
41:01It's nice to show you
41:01in person
41:02and actually be here.
41:03Well, no,
41:04it's so important,
41:05isn't it,
41:05to actually make the effort
41:06to go and visit something
41:07and be there
41:07and experience it.
41:08I mean,
41:08it's made from that.
41:10It's made from
41:10everything around it.
41:11So good.
41:12It's so good.
41:13And by the way,
41:14congratulations
41:14on making the shortlist.
41:16So deserving.
41:17Oh, sorry,
41:18I forgot to say,
41:18also, congratulations
41:19on winning.
41:21Yeah.
41:22Incredible.
41:22This is
41:23House of the Year 2025.
41:24Wow.
41:29Oh, my God.
41:30How about that?
41:30That's fantastic.
41:31Sorry, I couldn't
41:32not tell you.
41:32I couldn't not tell you.
41:35Congratulations.
41:36Oh, my God.
41:37Thanks very much.
41:38So good.
41:38So good.
41:39And so well-deserved.
41:41Oh, my gosh.
41:42I can't believe it.
41:44Have we actually?
41:45Oh, my God.
41:45Yes, you have.
41:46That's why I've come to see you.
41:49Because it's so clever.
41:51Well, it's built from the landscape
41:53and they point out this rock
41:54and everything is moving around it.
41:56Yeah.
41:57Yeah.
42:00This house is crafted
42:02from the very rock
42:03that the island is made from.
42:05This is the local stone.
42:07Local stone.
42:08And it's called?
42:09Louisian gneiss.
42:11From the Isle of Lewis.
42:12Yeah.
42:13Louisian gneiss.
42:14But that's one of the most ancient stones
42:16on the planet, isn't it?
42:17Yeah, it's incredibly old
42:18and it's the reason why Harris is still here
42:20because it's made of the hard rock.
42:24It makes your house a billion years old.
42:27Yeah, exactly.
42:29Louisian gneiss.
42:30Tough as anything.
42:32And exactly what you want
42:33between you
42:33and a howling Atlantic storm.
42:36That protects the house.
42:38They've got this
42:39to protect the occupants.
42:41I love this.
42:41This is your fantastic threshold.
42:44A glorious entry.
42:48A beautiful porch.
42:48Very deep.
42:49Covered.
42:50Yeah.
42:50Yeah.
42:51The shelter's really important.
42:52Why is that?
42:55Is this...
42:56It gets a bit wind.
42:57Nothing quite prepares you
43:01for the experience of walking in.
43:07This is unexpected
43:08because you approach the building
43:09from the front
43:09and it's like a pillbox.
43:11Yeah.
43:11It's like a very small.
43:13It's like a TARDIS in stone.
43:15Yes.
43:15Then reaches back.
43:16You think it's just long and thin.
43:17It's not long and thin at all.
43:19I look down there,
43:20see the reflection.
43:21Yeah.
43:21There's the dining table
43:22which is a lovely thing
43:23because it's circular and welcoming.
43:25And then there's this view
43:26of just the rock on the hill
43:28and what's clever here
43:29is the...
43:30It's like this floor
43:32and the outside.
43:33It's simply a continuation.
43:35Yeah.
43:35I think that's one of the hardest things
43:36that we find in architecture
43:37is trying to allow...
43:40talk to people and say
43:41that is a really good view,
43:43maybe the best view of the site
43:44but don't just reveal it all straight away.
43:47You know, layer through it
43:48like you were saying,
43:49almost like a story.
43:50Architecture should be this revealing,
43:52this kind of staged act,
43:54if you like.
43:55I think it makes it quite creative.
43:56Yeah, and I'm very taken with it.
44:00So what was it particularly
44:02that won over the judges?
44:05Why did you choose this to be the winner?
44:07It was, I would say,
44:09really hard but unanimous decision.
44:11To do a project like this
44:14in such a remote location
44:15on that budget
44:17required a partnership
44:18that is really admirable
44:21and I don't think every couple
44:23would survive
44:25doing that kind of self-build project.
44:29What an amazing achievement
44:30against lots of odds.
44:31I mean, this project's just been ambitious
44:33on so many levels,
44:34not only with the detailing,
44:36the way it's actually made and crafted,
44:38but also the couple
44:39and their plan to build the house themselves.
44:42Such a good point, isn't it?
44:43Yeah.
44:44Often the bigger,
44:45the baggier something is,
44:47the less energy it has
44:48and that you can find extraordinary energy
44:50in this more perfectly made thing.
44:57It's this quiet, determined, palpable energy
45:01born of hands that shape stone,
45:04of minds that listen to the land
45:06that makes this building
45:08the house of the year 2025.
45:09That building speaks eloquently
45:15of this entire place.
45:18It speaks of people.
45:19It speaks of the story
45:20of a handful of them
45:21carrying stone, drying wood
45:24and crafting with their knuckles
45:27and their fingers
45:28every tiny square inch of this building.
45:32This is the future, isn't it?
45:35This points somewhere else.
45:37This doesn't say, look at me.
45:38I've got a huge cantilever.
45:40This says, I have a role
45:43and an important role here
45:45in responding to people and to place.
45:48It's almost as though
45:50this is the building
45:51that this island
45:53and this part of the world
45:55was waiting for.
45:55Tomorrow at eight
46:08consequential claims
46:10and a high stakes war
46:11with the press
46:12dispatches examines
46:13the prints versus the paper
46:14in Harry Hacking and the Mail.
46:16Next tonight
46:17a forensic look
46:18at the biggest scandal
46:19in Church of England history.
46:20New documentary
46:21See No Evil
46:22starts next.
46:23The End
46:33The End
46:33The End
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