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According to research conducted by
me, on the internet, this morning,

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millennials are having
a really tough time of it,

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thanks to the rest of us.

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I mean, they are always on their
mobile phones, aren't they?

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They want everything handed
to them on a plate...

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Thank you, Nikki.

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They have a thing about
avocado toast,

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and they have a really poor
work ethic.

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Look, I think it's about time
we put to rest

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some of those misconceptions.

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Tastes of soap.

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Zara, Singapore-born and now 31,

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is a professional make-up artist
and social media influencer

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who's lived in Reading since
the age of 13.

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I do all the New York Fashion Weeks,

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London Fashion Week
and Paris Fashion Week.

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I do content creation as well,

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where essentially
I create make-up looks

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and teach people how to become their
own make-up artists.

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Her partner is Giuliano,
a 29-year-old gym-fanatic,

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who's been Reading-based for
the past six years

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and has a whizz-bang job working
for a global tech firm.

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I travel and work
with different clients,

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you know, multiglobal corporations,

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helping them on their journey
to move to the cloud

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and ultimately digitally transform
their business.

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In their spare time,
these go-getters somehow also manage

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to run a healthy snacks business.

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Giuliano and I love to cook.

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So I think that was a great common
thing that we both had.

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We work well together.

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We are both pretty driven.

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I think we always have been.

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As driven people often do,

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Giuliano and Zara have their sights
set on the next challenge...

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COW MOOS

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..170 miles from Reading...
I mean, it's really cool.

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..In Lincolnshire.

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You're walking into
the living room.

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I always had this dream
of potentially building my own home.

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The opportunity came up,
we were able to find a bit of land.

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They've made the move from Reading,

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bought a one-acre plot,
with planning,

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to build a contemporary home and,
naturally, they'll be sharing

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their story with other
self-builders on social media.

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Moving to the countryside in
a very remote village

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isn't going to be for everybody.
Yeah!

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But, for us,
it's absolutely perfect.

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This exciting new chapter kicks off
in earnest in early 2023,

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as the foundations
for their new home are dug.

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Hello. Hello.
I do like your site.

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Thank you. What do your friends say
when you say,

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"We're moving
to Lincolnshire"?

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I think the first thing was,
like, "Huh?"

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Was this a long-term plan?

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When we were locked up,
during lockdown,

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no outdoor space,
we sort of craved, you know,

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peace, quiet, outdoors,
garden space.

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And we thought, what's stopping us
from making that move

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to the next chapter
of our lives now?

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To raise a family,
to really put down roots somewhere.

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Yeah. And somewhere that we can
actually call home.

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So, you bought an oven-ready
site, effectively?

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So, just in
a nutshell, what are you building?

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There was a historical malthouse on
the site in the 17th century.

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Malthouse? Yes.

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For making malt to make beer with?
Exactly.

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And so part of the approval is
to reinstate that

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historical context
that was once here...

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How interesting.
..in the form of a modern home.

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We're trying to do our best
to very delicately create character

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without it becoming pastiche. Yeah.

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Lots of strong,
detailed brick buttressing.

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Uniformed windows on the front.

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But then on the rear is when
we're allowed

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to do more kind of modern,
free-range architecture.

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OK. And that's the south
facing side. Exactly, yes.

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It is going to look like
a new building. Of course.

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But, at the same time we want to pay
homage and respect

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to the history of the site, which I
think is important. Nice, nice.

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Talents in the worlds of make-up And
tech these two may be,

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but Giuliano and Zara have no
experience of building anything.

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What's to come, like their site,
is new territory for them.

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Maps from the 1800s show
a malthouse building on the site.

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Planning wanted the placing of
Giuliano and Zara's

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concrete foundations to mirror that.

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Their project, designed by Lincs
Design Consultancy,

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will also smuggle in a new-built,
modern home,

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slotting it behind the camouflage of
a traditional building.

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And it's all off the scale.

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Sizeable, pre-insulated timber
panels made off-site will deliver

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an energy efficient,
two-storey, 400 square metre home.

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The malthouse aesthetic will come
from 25,000 handmade bricks,

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some distinctive brick piers,

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typical narrow windows
and a slate roof.

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And then, audaciously slicing
through the malthouse,

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a glass and Corten steel portal
will connect

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the front door to
an oversized statement,

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a giant 30 metre giant wooden
pergola,

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next to an equally large pond.

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On one side of the hall
will sit a large kitchen-diner

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with a wall of glazing
overlooking the garden.

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At the far end of the house
will be utility spaces and a garage.

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And in the middle, the sitting room,

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a triple-height space with an
over-head walkway strung across it.

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Upstairs, you'll find Giuliano
and Zara's bedroom,

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with an en-suite, a walk-in-wardrobe
and a make-up studio for Zara.

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Across the floating walkway,

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Giuliano's office will overlook
the sitting room.

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Beyond it are two spare bedrooms
for relatives to stay

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and a family to grow.

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And outside, there is more.

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Beyond the pergola,
there'll be a garden room,

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a greenhouse,
a fruit and veg patch and beehives.

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This isn't just a new home,

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it's a whole new world
and way of life.

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So Giuliano and Zara had
better make sure

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whoever builds it
for them knows what they're doing.

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I'll be project managing the overall
process. And are you...

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Do you bring experience of project
management too?

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Experience of project management,

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but not specifically related
to construction. Um...

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Running a project in
IT is clearly not the same

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as putting a building up in the wet.

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We've done our best
to fix price all of the contracts.

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OK. So there shouldn't be any
fluctuation or surprises, hopefully.

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So, the groundworks team,
for example,

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take full responsibility of getting
the site ready

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for the timber frame company,
who will project manage that stage

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and basically get us to
a watertight shell.

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How much did you pay for this land,
then, this beautiful acre?

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135.

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Sorry? 135.
135,000? Are you sure?

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We did our research.
Yeah, we did our research.

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And the farmer who owned it helped
us out, obviously,

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by giving us a good deal.

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Even so, how much are you going to
spend on the house itself,

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building it? 700.
That's all in, is it?

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All in. And that includes
a contingency, as well.

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That's everything, then? 700, tops?

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Plus 135,000 for the land,
that's 835 grand.

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Where does all that come from?

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So, most of the build cost will come
from a mortgage.

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So the mortgage is 660,000.

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At current rates, that's
a phenomenal amount of money.

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Because, well, I mean, standard bank
rates might be say 4.5 at the moment

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but for self-build, I imagine it's
quite a bit more? Yes.

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How much are they charging you?
So, close to 7% now.

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Jeez.
It's around £3,000 a month.

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OK. So, you really,
really do want to finish quickly.

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Absolutely. Because you could save
yourself a stack load of cash

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by finishing early,

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terminating that self-build
mortgage early

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and then presumably converting
to a standard rate. Correct. Yeah.

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And how long is that
going to take, then?

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From start to end of the build?
Yeah. We're hoping 18 months.

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18 months. So, 40,000 in interest
across the project.

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18 month project. If it goes over,
you'll be really cursing, won't you?

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You don't want it to go over.
No, we don't want it to go over.

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You don't want it to cost more,
you don't want it to run over.

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Ideally not, no.

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It all sounds so straightforward,
doesn't it?

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Well, all this is incredibly
well organised.

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Now, I can't keep pace with Giuliano
and Zara's organisation,

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the number of ventures
and businesses

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and plans that they all have,
and quite clearly,

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they are so well organised,
they work so hard,

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that they've been able to create
clear boundaries

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around all of their projects to
contain them.

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The thing is, though,

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is that building does not
respect boundaries.

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The process of putting
a house up is...

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..it's traditional, its fraught,
its highly complex,

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it's always specific to a site.

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It's full of problems.

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And, as a result,

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it respects no man or
woman's boundaries.

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It fills your life with
chaos and worry.

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And that's what's
going to happen here.

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It is mere hours before
the first problem rears its head.

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Thanks to a row of conifers on site,

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building control have
stipulated that

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the nearby foundations be dug down
two metres,

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far deeper than anticipated.

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How many more cubic metres
of concrete

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are you going to have to then buy,
do you reckon?

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Probably looking at
a good ten cube, possibility more.

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So, your client's paying?
More than likely, yeah.

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I love the idea of
the fixed price contract,

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for a fixed price specification.

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But when specification changes,
well, then...

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It needs to change the price,
yeah. Yeah.

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The groundworks were supposed
to cost 30 grand. But not any more.

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It's a fair bit more concrete,

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maybe close to £4,000
of extra concrete.

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Unfortunately, it's just one of
those costs

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that we've had to swallow.

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It's never fun just pouring more
unnecessary money into the ground.

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Just three days later,

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the deeper concrete
strip foundations,

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all 160 metres of them, are poured,

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a job so epic it ends up going on
late into the evening,

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while Giuliano's living in this tiny
studio flat near the site,

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somehow holding down a full-time
tech job

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as well as project managing.

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100 miles away in Northamptonshire,

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Zara's getting used

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to generating her social media
content

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from Giuliano's mum and dad's...

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Long wearing... Baaagh! Dammit!

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..in the house where he grew up.

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The one I'm using is
a moisturiser and primer in one,

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so this is amazing.

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A great pro tip is
to let your concealer set

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for about two minutes,

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00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:10,440
if you have time.

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And I edit it later.

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But why can't she do this
influencing in Lincolnshire?

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With my job, I have
a lot of products,

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and I would take up

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the whole, entire place
if I brought everything with me.

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If I were to bring this all
to Lincolnshire,

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I think Giuliano might have
a heart attack.

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She'll be back in Lincolnshire
at weekends,

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and living separately is

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a sacrifice Zara's determined
will be short-lived.

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The moment that we can solidly live
in there,

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I absolutely do not care if I have
to sleep on the floor.

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Personally, I'm hoping October,
I'll be able to move in.

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Hold on,
that's only six months away.

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Then again,
this project's going gangbusters.

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Just weeks in,

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the block and beam floor is
being installed,

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00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,520
and the timber frame is arriving
in ten days' time.

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I'm trying to bring
a bit of efficiency,

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as much as I can, into construction,

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to streamline the process,
as best as I can.

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And that includes doing anything
Giuliano can on site,

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00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:22,960
before and after the working day,
to keep things moving.

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00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,200
When I'm arranging these bricks
for the bricklayers,

241
00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:26,360
the face-side is up,

242
00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,440
that way they're not having
to faff around,

243
00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:34,120
half a second saved, and make their
lives ten times easier.

244
00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:37,240
But a few days later,
a problem surfaces.

245
00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:39,560
The foundations are supposed
to be complete,

246
00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:42,400
but a vital job's been left undone -

247
00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,760
the perimeter levelling of the
foundations in blockwork

248
00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:47,440
around the whole building.

249
00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:49,840
The groundworkers' team said
it's not in their responsibility

250
00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:52,080
and they're not bricklayers,
so they wouldn't do it.

251
00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,200
The brickies on site have said that
groundworks teams would do it.

252
00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:57,240
That's not going to solve
the problem, though, is it?

253
00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:00,320
And that's something that Zara and I
are both learning about

254
00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,040
as we...as we go through
this process.

255
00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:05,160
That fraught complexity

256
00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:10,080
and insipient chaos I warned
of is beginning to set in.

257
00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,760
This project needs
the guiding hand of experience.

258
00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:28,480
Ahh!

259
00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:32,480
In Lincolnshire, Giuliano and Zara
have found an unlikely ally

260
00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:34,640
to help them fit
the concrete blocks around

261
00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:36,480
the perimeter of their foundations.

262
00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:38,400
It's dried up beautiful, hasn't it?

263
00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:41,240
Jim, the son of
the farmer who sold them the land,

264
00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,280
just so happens to be
an experienced builder.

265
00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:45,600
All right, I'll get a mix on, then.

266
00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:47,960
I'm looking at you like
a proud brother.

267
00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:49,400
That's what I'm looking at.

268
00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:50,920
You're the brother I never had, Jim.
Yeah.

269
00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,400
Oh, no, wait. I do have a brother.

270
00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:55,000
Don't tell him I said that. Yeah!

271
00:13:56,040 --> 00:14:00,360
Jim's help is costing £3,000 that
wasn't in the budget,

272
00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:04,920
but without his experience, this
project may well have run adrift.

273
00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:08,240
Jim provides the trusted ear
and the technical expertise.

274
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:09,360
When Jim says something,

275
00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:13,480
I can bet my bottom dollar that it's
true. Isn't that right, Jim?

276
00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:15,160
Yeah. Yeah, it is.

277
00:14:16,680 --> 00:14:21,960
170 miles from Reading,
they're already making new friends.

278
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,560
As to what's propelled them
to move here now,

279
00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:26,320
while still relatively young,

280
00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:30,680
it transpires there's a powerful,
personal motivator.

281
00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:33,160
Most people think about self-build

282
00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:37,320
as a project they might do one day.
But most people don't do it.

283
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:43,920
My mum, um, very out of the blue,
um, died,

284
00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:46,840
just from
a brain haemorrhage from nowhere.

285
00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:49,760
Yeah. It was just a massive shock.

286
00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:55,640
Um, and I don't know if that's
really sunken fully in yet... Yeah.

287
00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:57,800
..and I don't know if it ever will.

288
00:14:57,840 --> 00:14:59,800
When she passed,
she hadn't even retired.

289
00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:03,360
It's events like that that,
that happen in your life that...

290
00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:06,080
That's just when you kind of like
think to yourself, you just,

291
00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:07,880
you just have to grab life.

292
00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,720
It's just like anything can
happen tomorrow.

293
00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:21,160
That's an inspiring ethos which
helps explain why, just six weeks in

294
00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:25,840
and 40 grand spent on foundations
and scaffolding,

295
00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:30,800
their 160 grand timber frame turns
up from Hull,

296
00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:35,120
almost a third of the entire budget
now gone.

297
00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:37,600
Now we actually start seeing what
is essentially

298
00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:40,920
the beginnings of the house.
And within 20 days,

299
00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:43,800
Turner Timber should be able
to get us to watertight stage.

300
00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:45,000
Showing 90.

301
00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:47,800
Only it's not long before the frame
installation manager,

302
00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:52,120
Matt, spots another potential hiccup
in the height of the foundations.

303
00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:53,440
A little bit off?

304
00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:55,640
It does get a little bit
worse as you go around

305
00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:57,440
checking it... Does it?
..to be honest, yeah.

306
00:15:57,480 --> 00:15:59,080
You'd like to think if it was
a main contractor,

307
00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:01,760
then levels and things like that
would have been checked.

308
00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:03,400
If somebody's doing it for
the first time,

309
00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:08,200
you don't really know what
to look out for and not, do you?

310
00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:10,040
It's not an ideal situation,

311
00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:12,320
but the discrepancy is
within tolerance.

312
00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:15,240
The access track onto site isn't
level, either,

313
00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:17,800
so manoeuvring materials around
is tricky.

314
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:20,640
And there's a 55 tonne crane
arriving tomorrow.

315
00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:24,280
It's really soft. It's obviously,
we've had bad weather

316
00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:26,720
and so as we've been running
the telehandler today,

317
00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:30,640
you can see it's just causing ruts
in the site,

318
00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:32,600
and when we bring a crane in,

319
00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:35,160
it's a hell of
a lot heavier than a telehandler.

320
00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,920
Jim, of course,
is on hand to save the day.

321
00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:41,560
Driving lesson, then, go on.
All right, then.

322
00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:45,320
And give Giuliano a crash course
in driving a three tonne roller,

323
00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:49,200
renting it's added
a further £200 to the budget.

324
00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:51,120
Push it forward to go forward. Yeah.

325
00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:52,640
Pull it back to go back. Yeah.

326
00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:53,960
This button on here's to vibrate,

327
00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:55,200
and you want it vibrating.

328
00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:57,360
That on, yeah. Yeah. And it'll
start going again.

329
00:16:57,400 --> 00:16:59,200
It wants to be absolutely flat-out

330
00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:01,520
because it'll compact it better.
OK. Yeah.

331
00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:03,320
Er, little bit nervous but...

332
00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:05,920
Just do this bit, if you feel more
comfortable, for a start, while...

333
00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:07,880
Yeah. Where you are. OK.

334
00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:09,360
That's it.

335
00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:13,400
He'll be all right. He'll be
spot-on.

336
00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:15,200
He's a fast learner, isn't he?

337
00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:16,640
Well, he's got to be.

338
00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:20,440
Giuliano's schedule doesn't allow
for on the job training.

339
00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,120
Yet, come the afternoon,
there's some good news,

340
00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,360
a solution to the not entirely
level foundations.

341
00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:28,880
Now we've laid our sole plate down,

342
00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,360
this point here is 5mm higher than
the rest of the slab,

343
00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,600
so rather than packing the rest of
the sole plate up to that level,

344
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:37,080
we're going to just reduce that bit.

345
00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:38,920
So we're going to run
a planer over it

346
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:40,640
to bring a little bit of
the sole plate down,

347
00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:42,440
to then bring everything back
to a level.

348
00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:46,920
Come day two,
with the help of the crane...

349
00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:49,600
I'll bring it in on angle,
see how we get on.

350
00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:51,960
..and that freshly compacted ground,

351
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,720
the timber structure rockets up
in no time,

352
00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:57,920
176 timber panels in all,

353
00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:01,000
as well as a series of chunky steel
beams that facilitate

354
00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,440
the home's open-plan layout.

355
00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:05,280
It's a bit awkward, isn't it?

356
00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:08,480
Yeah. That, I'm short by 5mm.

357
00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:12,480
Yeah, that's nice.

358
00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:14,120
But this is the easy bit.

359
00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:15,360
Yeah, go for that, Len.

360
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,600
When you remember that this
big timber-frame structure has

361
00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:21,480
to end up like something like

362
00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,680
this vast, industrial,
brick malthouse near Birmingham,

363
00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:26,280
an endangered historic building,

364
00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:28,160
that dates from the 1870s.

365
00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:33,760
Its telltale details include
buttressing brick piers

366
00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:35,000
to strengthen the walls

367
00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:37,440
and to support the load of
the grain on the upper floors,

368
00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:39,440
and also small windows -

369
00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:42,080
light wasn't needed for
the barley to germinate.

370
00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:45,800
But, of course,
the most striking quality,

371
00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:48,280
the hardest to emulate
with new brickwork,

372
00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:51,920
is its time-worn character, its age.

373
00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,360
Remarkable, isn't it,
how we connect to decay?

374
00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,920
The idea that as buildings slowly
rot away,

375
00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:02,440
that there is a kind of natural,
a sort of patination,

376
00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,680
a kind of creation of interest in
the surface texture.

377
00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:09,040
No wonder, then, that we decide we
want to live in houses

378
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,200
that look older than they are.

379
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:13,640
That we want to buy distressed

380
00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,080
and patinated furniture to create

381
00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:18,000
a false sense of history in
our lives,

382
00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,520
to connect us to place and to time.

383
00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:22,160
That we even decide

384
00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,440
to buy clothes which
come pre-distressed!

385
00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:31,040
Maybe Giuliano and Zara will find a
way to distress bricks to give them

386
00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:32,800
a similar patina of age.

387
00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:35,800
Well, they already have.

388
00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,960
This facility in Shropshire is
distressing their bricks right now.

389
00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:42,960
Shall we have a look?
Yeah, yeah, have a look.

390
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:44,640
First, new bricks are sprayed

391
00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,600
with either a light or dark pigment.

392
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,160
Ooh, look at that.
There's a slight sooting.

393
00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:52,160
Yes, make it very subtle... Yeah.

394
00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:53,680
..and replicate the way

395
00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:56,760
a brick would naturally weather
over perhaps 100 years. Yeah.

396
00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:58,280
That's the idea.

397
00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,000
Next, a key ingredient is added,

398
00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,760
to suggest the bricks have been
reclaimed from an old wall.

399
00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,520
What he's now doing is he's dabbing
the bricks by hand

400
00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,600
with a yellow sand
and white cement mix.

401
00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:14,320
This is...
Reproduces the effect of mortar.

402
00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:15,400
This is... I mean, this is what

403
00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:17,600
he's applying, is mortar onto the
back of the brick, yeah? Correct.

404
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,520
Finally, they're put in an enormous
tumbling machine

405
00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:24,960
to rough up their edges.

406
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:29,040
It's great.

407
00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:32,120
They look like they've come
out of an old building.

408
00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:35,800
An epic 25,000 tumbled bricks
are needed

409
00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,280
to clad Giuliano
and Zara's timber frame...

410
00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,360
..a job Giuliano's tasked
to the brothers Nathan and Ash,

411
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,840
who he, naturally, discovered on
social media.

412
00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:49,560
Good to meet you. And you.

413
00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:52,160
I think it looks bigger than it is
because it's wide,

414
00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:53,600
but it's quite thin, right?

415
00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:57,680
Yeah. Yeah, it's a good size.
Yeah. A good size.

416
00:20:57,720 --> 00:20:59,600
There's 52 pallets.

417
00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:00,720
Nice.

418
00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:03,120
That's because I said, "What does
25,000 bricks look like?"

419
00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:04,680
And they said, "52 pallets."

420
00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,240
And I was like, "OK." Yeah.

421
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:09,000
So then, hopefully,
we get good weather

422
00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,040
for the entire run of bricks. Well,
they say it's...

423
00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:13,040
No, don't anything, Ash.

424
00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,280
Jinx it. Yeah. Yeah. Ready to go.
Yeah.

425
00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:19,360
Nathan and Ash reckon

426
00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,600
the gargantuan task will take
eight weeks.

427
00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,080
All slightly different sizes.
All over the shop.

428
00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:26,520
Yeah. Each one.

429
00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:29,600
Look at that. That's quite extreme.

430
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,480
Giuliano will happily have that side
in as a face.

431
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:33,960
This one? Yeah.

432
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:36,360
Bloody Nora! He says, the rougher,
the better, he says.

433
00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:38,360
That one right above his front door.

434
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:40,200
Go on! Just to annoy him!

435
00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:47,200
Whether this ends up looking
authentic or a bit of a muddle

436
00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,760
is not on Giuliano and Zara's radar

437
00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:52,880
because they're too busy carrying
ten grands' worth

438
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,880
of roof slates up ladders
in a backpacks,

439
00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:57,720
nine at a time -

440
00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,040
as documented on social media,
of course.

441
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:02,480
So, the purpose of doing this...?

442
00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:04,720
We were told by
the timber frame manufacturer,

443
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:06,880
before the brick work gets too high,

444
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:09,040
you need to have the roof on,

445
00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:11,920
or at least the weight... Weight.
..on the roof,

446
00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:13,840
so that it compresses the kit down.

447
00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:15,360
Yeah.

448
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:17,280
We had the option of telling the
brickies,

449
00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:18,760
OK, pull back away for two weeks

450
00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:20,120
and come back when the roof's done.

451
00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,520
Or... Or alternatively...

452
00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:24,480
You do it. Yes.

453
00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:26,480
Wow, you've effectively mimicked

454
00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,920
the full effect of the finished roof
there. Exactly. Exactly.

455
00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:31,040
In truth,

456
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:33,920
I'm starting to admire these
two influencers.

457
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,920
They know how to really graft,
and their labours,

458
00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:41,040
motivated as they are by such a
desire to be living here in October,

459
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:43,880
are propelling this project
forwards.

460
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:46,600
Heroically, Nathan and Ash complete

461
00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:50,480
their vast brickwork job
in the anticipated eight weeks.

462
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,000
And the first roofing slates
are laid,

463
00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:54,680
bang-on schedule.

464
00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:55,840
And, come August,

465
00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,920
contractors arrive
to install £80,000 worth of glass.

466
00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:03,240
Goodness me, I might have to have
to eat humble pie!

467
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:04,880
This project is flying!

468
00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,240
Such a big piece of single glass.

469
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:08,760
Always a bit nerve-racking watching.

470
00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:13,360
The largest pane
for the first-floor landing

471
00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,040
weighs threequarters of a tonne.

472
00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,360
And I thought doing eye-liner
was stressful.

473
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:20,800
Gosh! This is much more of
a steady hand.

474
00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:22,800
If, touch wood anything happens,

475
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,240
it's a major delay,

476
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:30,120
so I think there's just
so much running on this moment.

477
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,240
Just come in with the main beam,
Gary.

478
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:34,280
You can slew left a bit if you like,
Gary.

479
00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:36,760
Whoa! That's Gary's left. Oh. Sorry.

480
00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:37,840
Gary?

481
00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:39,160
Gary!

482
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:42,440
Gary, pull us straight back
into the frame.

483
00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:44,120
Whoa. That'll do fine. That's it.

484
00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:45,240
Wow!

485
00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:46,440
Wow!

486
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,200
Look at that! That is awesome!

487
00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:53,240
That is a window and a half! Wow!

488
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,720
But, there is a frustrating snag.

489
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,840
The window fitters couldn't install
the roof lights

490
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,680
as the panels supplied didn't fit.

491
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,560
Right now, we can't do anything in
the living room

492
00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:10,240
because that's not properly
watertight

493
00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:11,480
when we get heavy rain. Yeah.

494
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:12,800
It's not properly watertight

495
00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:14,920
to start doing plaster boarding.

496
00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:18,960
So, it's pushed us back, which is
a tad annoying.

497
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,720
It's going to take time
to make new panels,

498
00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:25,880
and that has put paid
to them moving in in October.

499
00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:27,120
Ouch!

500
00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:39,920
In Lincolnshire,
autumn's approaching by the time

501
00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:42,360
the right size windows are fitted,

502
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,960
allowing for full steam ahead with
the interior fit out.

503
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:47,560
Plastering walls,

504
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:48,680
screeding floors,

505
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:53,160
and whatever jobs Giuliano
and Zara can turn their hands to.

506
00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,280
We're trying to be as invested in
the process as much as we can.

507
00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:01,320
Every hour that we spend on site
means that we're one step closer

508
00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:02,600
to being moved in.

509
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:04,280
And there's a new urgency

510
00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:06,960
to getting moved in as soon
as possible.

511
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,440
I've learned to have to live in
chaos for a little while.

512
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:12,640
It's all hands to the pumps.

513
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:14,880
Zara's even moved into
the tiny studio

514
00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:16,720
with Giuliano near the site,

515
00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,400
something she hadn't
originally anticipated.

516
00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,240
I don't think I realised how long
these things take.

517
00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:23,320
When we first started,

518
00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:26,200
obviously, things went up quite
quick,

519
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:29,560
and now it's sort of everything's
a little slower

520
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,840
because they're more
intricate details.

521
00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:36,560
The desperation to get in
is...is...is prominent.

522
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:40,320
Which makes it all
the more surreal to see

523
00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:45,120
an entirely new structure being
built, in the garden.

524
00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:47,440
It's took us four days so far.

525
00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:52,920
It's very rare we install pergolas
as big as it is.

526
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:54,720
Right. They're getting heavier!

527
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,920
The scale of it, it's very large.

528
00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:00,560
Not what we're used to.

529
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,680
The pergola's costing £20,000.

530
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:06,320
Yeah, that's really cool.

531
00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:09,360
Ohh! Oh, my word! What is that?

532
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:12,520
That... Surely that's not meant
to be here, is it?

533
00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:15,000
That's huge!

534
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:17,720
It's like they're constructing not
so much a garden

535
00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,440
but a garden centre!

536
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,680
It begs the question, "Why?"

537
00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:28,600
Hello! He shouted down
the mile-long pergola.

538
00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:30,200
It's got an amazing acoustic.

539
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:31,840
So I knew you were
going to build a pergola, right,

540
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:35,920
but I didn't know it was going to be
quite as, um...impressive.

541
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,440
I've seen structures like this in
car parks and large hotels,

542
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:42,320
you know, where they have

543
00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:45,800
kind of, like, 50 chairs
laid out for breakfast.

544
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:46,920
What's the plan here?

545
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:48,480
You're not going to be doing that?

546
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:49,520
No, we're not.

547
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,080
We're just going to have
decking down,

548
00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:54,000
all the way through.

549
00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:56,120
Hopefully, a hot tub at the end...

550
00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:58,720
Hopefully, yeah.
..if we can afford it.

551
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,520
Yes, so the idea of
the pergola is to really create

552
00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:05,800
a permanent feature that ties
the house to the landscape

553
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,600
because otherwise it will just be
a garden.

554
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:12,040
What's wrong with a garden?

555
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:14,520
Ordinarily, people finish
their houses,

556
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:16,480
and then they think about
the landscaping

557
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:17,720
and turn their attentions outside.

558
00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:21,000
We had to do the pergola
first, actually,

559
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,280
so that we could get
the measurements for the Corten.

560
00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,480
So, the Corten steel... Mm. Rusty
metal... Yes.

561
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,400
..is going on the front of
the building and on the back.

562
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:31,080
On both portals, is that right?

563
00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:33,640
Yeah, so the Corten will go on
both portals,

564
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:37,560
and then also on the inside of the
hallway and the landing as well.

565
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:38,680
So, it will run through?

566
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:42,440
Run through to create that visual
illusion that

567
00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:44,400
the Corten portal is punched
through.

568
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:45,640
Yeah. Nice.

569
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:53,640
Yet having drawn down
a scary £580,000 of their mortgage,

570
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,520
they're having to work as hard as
they've ever worked

571
00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,080
to finance this project.

572
00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:03,120
I will be very glad
to not live out of a suitcase.

573
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:06,680
I've been doing that for
a very, very long time now.

574
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:11,120
So I have a pretty heavy week
this week

575
00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,400
because I'm travelling all over
the UK.

576
00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:17,360
Drive safe. Thanks.

577
00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:19,120
Love you. Bye. Love you, too.

578
00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:28,040
Doing this,
the travelling back and forth,

579
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,520
it's definitely hard, I think.

580
00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:36,320
Er, it takes a toll physically
because I'm driving so much

581
00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:37,560
and away so much,

582
00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,160
and I absolutely, like,
I love my job

583
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:44,240
but I think now, having
the build on top of it,

584
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:48,080
and then the business on top
of it, it's a lot of pressure.

585
00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,440
As Zara heads
to a make-up gig in Greenwich...

586
00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:58,440
..back in Lincolnshire, Giuliano's
also on an important mission,

587
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:00,760
to visit the local farmer, Steve.

588
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:03,160
Morning. Steve, how we doing?

589
00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:04,240
Well, thanks.

590
00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:06,680
These two have developed
an unlikely friendship

591
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:08,240
over the last few months.

592
00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:10,920
Zara baked some cookies.
Ooooh! Perfect!

593
00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:12,560
How's Zara? Yeah, she's all right.

594
00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:14,040
She had a bit of
an early start this morning.

595
00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:15,440
Oh, did she? Where's she gone?

596
00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:20,120
She's gone to London,
but she had to wake up at two.

597
00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:21,200
Ooh!

598
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:23,920
I wondered if you'd time, whilst
you're here,

599
00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:27,280
just to have a look at the emails
or the Wi-Fi, if that's OK?

600
00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:28,560
Yeah, absolutely.

601
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,760
Steve lends Giuliano the odd
telehandler or digger on site

602
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:36,000
and, in exchange, tech wizard
Giuliano helps out

603
00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:38,280
with Steve's IT problems.

604
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:41,280
Sometimes he'll say, "Oh, I haven't
got any emails

605
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:43,440
"in the past four days
or something."

606
00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:46,320
It's been quite handy having
Giuliano on the doorstep.

607
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:52,360
Nice to see a bit of youth
and vitality entering area, I think.

608
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,520
You know,
they're modest and understated,

609
00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:59,160
and I think they're a welcome
addition to the community, I think.

610
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:08,240
Come November, some of
the interior finishes begin...

611
00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:10,800
It's so nice.

612
00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,800
..starting with a refined,
micro-concrete floor.

613
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:18,960
Only it transpires this is
the second attempt at the floor.

614
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:21,320
So, their whole kitchen-diner
and the entrance hall,

615
00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:23,480
that was all done to top coat.

616
00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,920
We came in the next morning and,
yeah, Giuliano wasn't 100% happy.

617
00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:28,480
It's taken longer.

618
00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:30,160
I'm over by a week, maybe two.

619
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:31,800
But I'm glad we got there
eventually.

620
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:36,480
Another major tweak is afoot,
at this late stage, in the garage.

621
00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:38,760
So... Oh, you can get
a good car in here.

622
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:42,920
A wide car. Or two tiny ones.
What's the plan?

623
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:44,320
No cars. No cars. No cars?

624
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:46,120
It's not to get
a car in here any more.

625
00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:47,960
This is going to be our home gym.

626
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:50,640
We can't put the dumbbells in
the living room, though, can we?

627
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,800
Yeah, like hundreds and thousands of
other people in this country,

628
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:55,600
you're putting the gym in
the garage?

629
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:57,920
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

630
00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:00,120
But one element that won't change is

631
00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,160
the rusty Corten steel portal frame,

632
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,000
a slice of where fashion
meets architecture.

633
00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,680
Once the Corten's on, it's just
going to really pull it together.

634
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:12,320
I'm so excited!

635
00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:17,800
But money is so tight
and the Corten so expensive,

636
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:20,160
up to 50 grand to supply and fit,

637
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,280
Giuliano and Zara have decided
to take a big gamble

638
00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:26,240
on measuring and fitting it
themselves.

639
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:30,280
We wouldn't have ideally liked to do
the measurements ourselves

640
00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,120
because there's always a risk, when
you do measurements yourself,

641
00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:34,480
of them not fitting correctly.

642
00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:36,440
102.4.

643
00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:37,640
This bit here?

644
00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:38,840
No. No. This bit?

645
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:40,920
Yeah, that rounded bit. OK.

646
00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:42,800
But the Corten company that we're
working with,

647
00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:44,400
we asked how much a site measure
would be,

648
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,360
and they said, "Oh, that will be
thousands and thousands."

649
00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:49,720
Yeah, I'm not paying thousands
and thousands of pounds

650
00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,080
for a site measurement.

651
00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:52,360
No, I think it's up.

652
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:53,800
Check the drawing. Yep.

653
00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:56,480
Look, we've measured it
as accurately as we can.

654
00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:59,400
We've done our best.
We'll just see.

655
00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:03,400
The Corten is being fabricated at
this workshop in Bedfordshire

656
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,560
for £15,000.

657
00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:07,520
We've got a 4-kilowatt fibre laser

658
00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:11,800
which will cut up to
one inch thick mild steel

659
00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:14,080
within a 0.1mm tolerance.

660
00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:17,000
The risk of taking those aspects
on yourself,

661
00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:19,040
and not relying on someone else

662
00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:21,640
and paying for someone else to do
it, is if something goes wrong.

663
00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:23,720
It could end up costing you some
more money at the end of it.

664
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:24,840
It's a lot of metal.

665
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:26,200
I think it's in the region of

666
00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:28,720
four or five tonnes in total,
or something, of metal.

667
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:30,200
It's quite a job to install it,

668
00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:33,400
so I admire them both fantastically
for doing it.

669
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:34,480
It's not like wood.

670
00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:36,040
You can't just shave
a little bit off.

671
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,560
So, fingers crossed, it'll all go
to plan.

672
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:41,920
Four weeks later...

673
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:44,920
..installation has begun.

674
00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:46,600
Sort of.

675
00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:50,560
Our measurements perhaps could have
been a bit more...more accurate.

676
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:54,840
Could this be a challenge too far,
even for dependable Jim?

677
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:56,600
Say the brick work's out 3mm,

678
00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:58,120
the timber frame's out 3mm
the other way.

679
00:32:58,160 --> 00:32:59,200
Combined, it's 6mm.

680
00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:01,320
So all of a sudden, you've got
a 6mm gap.

681
00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:02,600
It doesn't fit.

682
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:04,960
It doesn't fit? Ohhh...

683
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,000
Why is it not going in?

684
00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:09,280
None of us have done anything like
this before.

685
00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:10,640
Oh, bugger!

686
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:12,360
I'm not going to lie, it is tricky.

687
00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:14,120
Yeah, but that looks rough, like,

688
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:16,000
that does. Rough. Properly rough.

689
00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:17,880
Has all this been
a brilliant strategy,

690
00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:21,880
or a false economy jeopardising the
appearance of the entire house?

691
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:24,840
Only time and the rusting of
the steel will tell.

692
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:26,960
We're not going to get it any better
than that. No.

693
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:45,960
Giuliano and Zara took a step into
the unknown

694
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:47,080
when they upped sticks from

695
00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:48,600
the comfortable Home Counties

696
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:50,360
to the Lincolnshire Wolds,

697
00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:52,680
and set about building a new home

698
00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:53,760
16 months ago.

699
00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:55,920
I'm very much looking forward

700
00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:58,680
to seeing this project finished,
you know?

701
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:00,160
I mean, partly because of
the building.

702
00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:01,320
It's such an unusual shape,

703
00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:04,880
long and thin, on the footprint
of that old malthouse.

704
00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:07,240
And that's going to set up all kinds
of unusual,

705
00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:09,120
I don't know,
engagement through the building

706
00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:11,000
with the landscape behind it.

707
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:13,520
I want it to be theatrical.

708
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:18,120
I want it to be not just the usual,

709
00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:21,120
modest Lincolnshire house

710
00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:22,680
on a long road.

711
00:34:22,720 --> 00:34:24,520
I want it to have presence.

712
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:29,280
To be fair to Giuliano and Zara,

713
00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:31,840
they did say it would take
18 months,

714
00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:34,000
and I'm here two months early.

715
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:35,800
So, is it even finished?

716
00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:40,320
Ha-ha-ha-ha!

717
00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:44,080
Nice.

718
00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:46,040
Of course it is!

719
00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:49,840
So sharp!

720
00:34:52,720 --> 00:34:54,280
It puts on quite a show.

721
00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:58,600
Well, it's all beautifully done,
and very tightly finished.

722
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:02,680
And that long shape of
the malthouse on this footprint,

723
00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:04,480
that's really good.

724
00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:05,720
There are the brick piers

725
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:08,320
and the small windows piercing
it rhythmically.

726
00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:10,760
And in the middle of it is
this great piece of theatre.

727
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:13,480
This steel box.

728
00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:15,200
Very, very well done.

729
00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:19,000
But it's thrust right through
the middle of all this softness.

730
00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:22,280
It's quite an aggressive,
energetic statement that.

731
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,320
Make of it what you will.

732
00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:25,480
Ah! Hello.

733
00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:28,640
Hello, both of you. How are you,
Zara? OK. Good. Good to see you.

734
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:31,280
You're looking really well. Thank
you so much. The pair of you.

735
00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:32,920
And you, Giuliano, how are you?
Yeah, good, Kevin.

736
00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:34,040
How long you been living here?

737
00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:36,040
Since May? Yeah, we moved in in May.
Yeah.

738
00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:37,320
Over two months ago, yeah? Yeah.

739
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:39,520
It's great.
The whole building is so crisp.

740
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:41,280
And I was unsure about
the bricks, but in a way,

741
00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:43,760
they've been upstaged by the Corten.

742
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:46,080
Yeah! So they're quit, you know,
they're quite subtle.

743
00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:47,120
Yeah. Yeah, they are.

744
00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:48,200
They're pushed back.

745
00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:49,840
How tough has it been?

746
00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:51,360
Ohhh! It's been tough.

747
00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:53,800
Tough, yeah.

748
00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:56,360
We've spent so much time and effort
getting involved

749
00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:57,840
in every stage of the process.

750
00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:01,400
There's...there's a handmade feel
to it.

751
00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:03,120
Very handmade feel.

752
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:05,640
We like to say, "Come and have
a look, but don't look too close."

753
00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:07,640
Can we see inside? Absolutely.
Yeah, come on in.

754
00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:08,680
Thank you.

755
00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:14,440
Nice, well-proportioned,
small front door!

756
00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:17,640
So solid, though.
Because it's steel, like the Corten.

757
00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:19,040
Oh, blimey! And that just carries on

758
00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:20,080
all the way through.

759
00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:21,600
Oh, that's brilliant.

760
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:23,240
It's really strong.

761
00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:26,000
That's quite something.

762
00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:28,000
And the ceiling here is running

763
00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:29,680
to join with the pergola,

764
00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:34,800
which is the most fantastically
majestic exercise in perspective.

765
00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,080
And it's ready and waiting for
the aircraft to land.

766
00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:38,960
Yes! It is!

767
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:40,600
What's that? Oh, my word!

768
00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:42,320
It's a living chandelier.

769
00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:47,200
Yeah. I really wanted to bring
the feel of Singapore

770
00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:49,600
because there's an amazing place
there called Gardens by the Bay

771
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:51,040
and that just reminds me of it.

772
00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:53,240
Oh! What a lovely thing!
To bring that here!

773
00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:59,000
This almost civic-scale
entrance hall...

774
00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:00,480
Oh, yeah.

775
00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:04,840
..leads directly to
the restaurant-sized kitchen-diner.

776
00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:07,000
It's very strong!

777
00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:09,560
Nice big spaces. Mm-hm.

778
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:11,960
I could never bring myself to paint
a ceiling that colour.

779
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:14,480
I paint all my ceilings white.
You know, how dull!

780
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:17,520
But this is amazing!

781
00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:18,920
The table's fabulous.

782
00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:21,280
It's like... It's just a big slice
through a tree.

783
00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:23,240
Yeah. That is exactly what it is.

784
00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:24,520
Where's it from? Vietnam.

785
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:28,280
We work with a company who salvage
trees

786
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:30,200
that have been left to rot... Mm-hm.

787
00:37:30,240 --> 00:37:33,680
..so it's quite a sustainable way of
making something quite beautiful

788
00:37:33,720 --> 00:37:35,440
from something that would have been
lost.

789
00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:38,280
The table was very important

790
00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:41,160
because my mum always talked about
having a round table.

791
00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:43,640
When you're on a circle you speak
to everyone,

792
00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:45,320
everybody's involved
in the conversation.

793
00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:46,520
It's a good thing.

794
00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:48,800
And you've got a really interesting
heritage

795
00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:50,600
between the two of you. Yeah.
Haven't you?

796
00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:53,160
And it's kind of...
It's inter-continental.

797
00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:54,520
It is. Yes.

798
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:57,200
It's a bit of everything really,
isn't it, almost? South American.

799
00:37:57,240 --> 00:37:58,680
And then we're from Asia,

800
00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:00,760
half Asian, and then we're half
Indian/Kenyan.

801
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:03,560
All of the spaces are quite open
to allow family

802
00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:05,240
to connect with one another,

803
00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,080
and that's such an important thing
in both of our cultures.

804
00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:11,120
Yeah. So having family to stay...
Exactly.

805
00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:13,640
..is important here. Absolutely.

806
00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:15,200
So, kitchen other there.

807
00:38:15,240 --> 00:38:17,320
Have you designed it for
the food business?

808
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:18,400
We have.

809
00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:20,920
And when you run a food business,
you have to have all of those things

810
00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:23,760
to make sure that, you know,
you're separating everything.

811
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:27,440
And what's that beam?
Surely that's not a piece of wood?

812
00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:32,120
No, it's a false oak beam which
has been sculpted and made on site.

813
00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:33,960
In what? Just in plaster.

814
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:36,040
It's hugely persuasive. Yeah.

815
00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:40,640
I mean the colouring is brilliant,
and also the detailing.

816
00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:42,280
It's naughty, really. I mean,

817
00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:45,440
it's straight out
of Pinewood Studios 1956 that.

818
00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:47,120
Yeah! Amazing!

819
00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:48,880
To the other side of the hall sits

820
00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:50,760
the impossibly high sitting room,

821
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:53,320
open right up to
the building's ridge.

822
00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:55,200
Wow! Lovely room.

823
00:38:56,240 --> 00:38:58,040
Lovely view of the pond.

824
00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:02,040
And then you get this extra layer

825
00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:03,680
above there through that glazing.

826
00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:07,360
You've got this...all this contact
with the sky.

827
00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:09,160
The space comes into its own.

828
00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:13,000
And everything that's on there is
all my mum's.

829
00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:17,080
And that's her? Yeah, that's my mum.

830
00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:20,480
Yeah, yeah, lovely.

831
00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:22,280
What a lovely thing!

832
00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:24,600
Also down here are a bathroom,

833
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:27,400
utility room and that all-important

834
00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:28,880
former garage gym.

835
00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:32,960
While upstairs,
the usually more humdrum spaces...

836
00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:34,200
Oh, wow!

837
00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:37,760
..are here, anything but.

838
00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:41,000
It's quite hard to describe
this experience, isn't it?

839
00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:42,400
Yeah.

840
00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:44,200
It's like you're outside.

841
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:47,480
These must be some of

842
00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:49,760
the largest sheets
of glass you can get.

843
00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:52,440
They are commercial scale units.

844
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:54,960
Yeah. It works brilliantly.

845
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:58,160
And it's all the more
strongly framed by the steel.

846
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:01,480
Oh, and then this.

847
00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:04,560
Yes, there's yet more drama,

848
00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:07,760
thanks to the suspended walkway
above the sitting room.

849
00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:09,200
What I love about this is the fact

850
00:40:09,240 --> 00:40:11,960
that the hallway is set off
the wall. Mm-hm.

851
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:13,880
It's a flying bridge.

852
00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:17,360
So, there's this sort of element
of suspense.

853
00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:19,360
I mean literally!

854
00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:21,440
Yeah, drama in that.

855
00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:25,040
Of course, Giuliano and Zara's
bedroom is up here, too.

856
00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:27,480
Arguably, what is most important is

857
00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:30,640
Zara's permanent make-up studio
next door.

858
00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:32,400
So, north-facing window?

859
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:34,000
North-facing.

860
00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:36,880
North-facing creates a steady light,

861
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:38,880
a natural light all through the day.

862
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:40,600
Is that a tripod?
That is a small tripod.

863
00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:42,880
Yeah, my tripod.
Before, when I was filming,

864
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:45,480
I would have to do essentially
a balancing act.

865
00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:47,280
I'd have to pile up books. Yeah.

866
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:50,640
And now filming is just easy.

867
00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:52,560
One of my most favourite views,
and you'll laugh,

868
00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:55,840
is looking down this extremely
long corridor,

869
00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:57,520
because it's an extremely long
building,

870
00:40:57,560 --> 00:40:59,120
at a toilet pan!

871
00:41:00,240 --> 00:41:01,960
The internal doors haven't
arrived yet.

872
00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:04,800
Maybe they shouldn't.

873
00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:09,800
Also on the far side of the walkway,

874
00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:11,280
is Giuliano's office,

875
00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:14,200
and two guest,
or future family, bedrooms

876
00:41:14,240 --> 00:41:18,440
which, to some extent, explains
the staggering size of this place.

877
00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:24,120
It's a miracle that they built it in
under 18 months.

878
00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:27,200
But they did have the help of
countless others, too,

879
00:41:27,240 --> 00:41:28,840
especially Jim.

880
00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:31,840
When they met you,
things fell into place.

881
00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:33,600
It's surprising how things
happen, yeah.

882
00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:36,800
Somebody to hold his hand through
the process, guide it, build it.

883
00:41:36,840 --> 00:41:38,280
I distinctly remember
a Sunday evening,

884
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:39,760
and the poor lad was nearly in
tears.

885
00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:42,400
And then, from then, yeah,
here we are.

886
00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:43,440
This is it.

887
00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:45,240
To be fair, we've worked well as
a team.

888
00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:46,800
Like, he got stuck in,
credit where credit's due.

889
00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:48,320
And the Corten,

890
00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:50,880
me and Giuliano tackled that.
We did that.

891
00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:52,480
I have to say I've been looking for

892
00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:54,640
the faults in the Corten
and I can't find them.

893
00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:56,480
Please look harder, Kevin!

894
00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:57,560
Are they there?

895
00:41:57,600 --> 00:41:59,920
Yeah. If you can't find fault,
I'm happy!

896
00:41:59,960 --> 00:42:02,640
No, it's worked well, it has.
It's worked well. Yeah.

897
00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:06,160
Constructing any building,
especially one on this scale,

898
00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:10,160
comes at a cost,
and not just financial.

899
00:42:10,200 --> 00:42:13,360
It's probably been
the toughest thing that I've done

900
00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:15,080
and we've done. Mm.

901
00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:17,720
Yeah, I think I probable went
into construction -

902
00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:19,840
maybe with
a bit of delusion, I don't know -

903
00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:20,880
thinking that...

904
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:25,600
..each stage of
the project would align nicely.

905
00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:28,200
But that certainly wasn't the case.

906
00:42:28,240 --> 00:42:31,560
But it really does suck up every
single moment

907
00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:33,160
of free time that you have.

908
00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:35,520
We've had to give up every single
weekend...

909
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:38,640
..for the past 14 months.

910
00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:39,800
Zara, for example,

911
00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:42,400
I have no idea how she functions
on three hours of sleep.

912
00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:45,640
I don't know how many couples could
do this.

913
00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:46,800
Tell me about money.

914
00:42:46,840 --> 00:42:48,960
You wanted to be in for 700,000.

915
00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:50,600
623.

916
00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:51,640
No, no, no.

917
00:42:51,680 --> 00:42:54,240
That's... You've come in under?

918
00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:55,840
Yeah.

919
00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:56,920
How?

920
00:42:56,960 --> 00:42:58,840
Our hand's been forced
by the state of the economy

921
00:42:58,880 --> 00:42:59,920
and interest rates,

922
00:42:59,960 --> 00:43:02,080
and it basically doubled
in interest. Yeah.

923
00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:03,520
We started to get to thinking,

924
00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:07,640
"OK, can we even afford
the monthly payments?"

925
00:43:07,680 --> 00:43:12,440
And so we made the decision
to... Yeah. ..not take down

926
00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:15,200
the last stage of the mortgage,

927
00:43:15,240 --> 00:43:18,880
and try and finish it
as much as we could on our own.

928
00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:23,520
I've always been told,
nothing is given,

929
00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:24,600
you have to earn it.

930
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:26,600
And so... Yeah. ..we've had to

931
00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:29,120
sacrifice big time for this.
We have.

932
00:43:29,160 --> 00:43:31,720
Um, tell me, your mum,
what would she think of it?

933
00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:34,640
Oh, my gosh!

934
00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:36,760
My mum, I think she'd...

935
00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:39,040
She'd just love it so much.

936
00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:42,960
I think she'd be extremely proud.

937
00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:46,240
It's come in ahead of programme,

938
00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:48,880
and it's come in under budget.

939
00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:52,160
Credit where credit is due.
Very, very well done!

940
00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:56,680
Giuliano and Zara's tenacity,

941
00:43:56,720 --> 00:44:01,880
resilience and sacrifice have
more than left a mark on this home.

942
00:44:03,720 --> 00:44:05,440
There's a commonly held belief

943
00:44:05,480 --> 00:44:08,920
that if you want to self-build
you've got to be of mature years,

944
00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:11,360
have wisdom and experience,

945
00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:14,120
be in your 40s, or even your 60s.

946
00:44:14,160 --> 00:44:15,560
I don't think that's
the case at all.

947
00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:19,240
I think you need to be in your 30s,
or even your '20s.

948
00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:22,600
Because, yes, it does help if you've
got project management experience.

949
00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:23,880
Giuliano does.

950
00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:26,960
It does help if you've got
a bit of a pioneering spirit.

951
00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:29,400
Well, both Zara and he have that.

952
00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:32,440
But what's really needed,

953
00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:35,200
is energy, and vast amounts of it.

954
00:44:35,240 --> 00:44:37,840
And fitness and stamina.

955
00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:39,400
And, goodness me,

956
00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:41,560
have these two demonstrated

957
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:42,880
all of those qualities in droves.

958
00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:47,640
They've brought such resource
to this project!

959
00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:49,520
And not only that,

960
00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:51,840
in collaborating so tightly,

961
00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:56,000
in sharing all the physical jobs,
like lifting slates onto the roof

962
00:44:56,040 --> 00:44:58,280
and blocks into the ground,

963
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:02,440
they've...they've actually
multiplied the energy,

964
00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:03,920
as it were, of the project.

965
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:06,520
They've actually shared that spirit

966
00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:08,440
with the local community here,

967
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:10,480
brought people along with them
to help them out.

968
00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:13,840
So it's paid dividends, in the end.

969
00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:18,680
And it's also, it's reshaped my view
of millennials.

970
00:45:18,720 --> 00:45:21,200
I mean, goodness me,

971
00:45:21,240 --> 00:45:25,960
I'm not sure if I could do what
they've done here.

972
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:27,160
Could you?

973
00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:31,800
No,
I take my hard hat off to them.

974
00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:42,920
This is had to happen
because of my disability.

975
00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:44,440
I just don't want to get it wrong.

976
00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:47,080
I don't want it to look,
it's made for a wheelchair.

977
00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:49,400
At the minute,
it does feel a bit never ending.

978
00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:51,000
The fibreglass isn't completely dry,

979
00:45:51,040 --> 00:45:53,840
if there's any water on there,
the resin will not cure.

980
00:45:53,880 --> 00:45:56,200
Everything is very wet.

981
00:45:56,240 --> 00:45:58,600
You've suffered
a baptism of fibreglass.

982
00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:01,040
That's going to take
a lot more work and money.

983
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:02,960
We're going to be skint.

984
00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:04,880
It's just a bit difficult sometimes.

985
00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:22,440
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