Kits and Mortar

Grand Designs Live 2008 started on Saturday, but today has been the first day I’ve been able to make it along. There was supposed to be a press launch this morning with Kevin McCloud, which I’d been really looking forward to, but his filming schedule has rather got in the way and it was cancelled. I’m so disappointed!

The first thing I did this morning was head straight for the Grand Village to see what progress is being made. The House That Kevin Built appears to be making good progress, but as I’ve not been able to watch any of the TV shows about it, I’m rather unsure whether it’s on schedule or not. There are walls up with straw bails and bundles thatch, though, and workmen swarming all over it, so I will pop out again later to see how far they’ve got.

I then took at look at the Log House, which is as cosy and comfortable as you might expect a log cabin to be, but also a lot more stylish. The interior is light and airy, and has been kitted out with an array of green and recycled items.

I particularly liked the kitchen, which featured “reclaimed base units clad in reclaimed timber, reclaimed copper water tanks” and had an 85% recycled glass worksurface, lit from underneath so that it glowed. I liked the glass chandelier too, although frankly, you can keep the recycled plastic chair! Not keen on new plastic, and recycling does nothing to make it a nicer material.

Then I popped into the Eco Hab, to see just what it’s like inside one of these tiny pods. And the answer? Tiny! It looks small in the photos, but it’s much smaller in real life. There’s barely room for one person, and when a family of three came into the pod with me, I felt compelled to leave to give them space.

You can’t access the bathroom and toilet whilst the front door is open, and the upstairs was closed, so I couldn’t really take a good look round. How you’d ever sleep in the tiny bed also defeats me. Kevin (that’s my Kevin, not McCloud!), who’s fairly tall, would really suffer.

I can’t say that I’m overly impressed with the finish either. There’s a lot of plywood around, and whilst that doesn’t have to mean poor quality or finish, it’s done rather mundanely. I was also rather disappointed by how ugly the floor light was, the meter diameter circle of glass that lets light into the lower storey from the rooflight in the upper story. Perhaps it was because they were doing work up there, but it seemed like it would be difficult to keep clean. Overall, a disappointing first impression, but I will go back for a closer look.

I’m afraid I can’t offload the photos from my camera onto this computer, but hopefully will be able to upload and embed them in this post tonight! Meantime, I think my next target is the main exhibition floor… more reports later!