Grand Designs S26E01 720p HDTV H264-JFF EZTV

Grand Designs S26E01 - Worthing

The iconic property show returns for a new run. Kevin McCloud follows more of Britain's most ambitious self-building projects, as intrepid individuals attempt to design and construct the home of their dreams. Howard and Sarah have embarked on a number of ambitious building projects together over the last 30 years, but now they've devised plans for the most radical yet - a sleek, angled, metallic floating home on a tidal estuary near Worthing. Designed to look like a boat, and nestled within an idiosyncratic houseboat community, the structure will sit on an experimental prefabricated polystyrene slab to deal with high tides alternating with hours sitting in the mud. On top of the floating polystyrene will sit a steel frame that will need to be strong enough to resist the stresses of a moving structure, covered in composite insulated steel cladding. Upstairs will be a soaring, open-plan living space with an outer deck and views of the estuary, while below deck there's to be accommodation for them and their teenage children, a home office and a cinema room. It's a huge experiment, with £385k to spend over an 18-month schedule, especially as they'll be doing much of the work themselves and finalising the engineering as they go. Things get off to an agonisingly slow start when it takes months to painstakingly remove a condemned D-Day landing craft from the plot. Designing and making the floating polystyrene slab is a real headscratcher, and they need to buy a crane to get materials over a tall sea defence wall. Add to all that the constant tidal shifts that disrupt any construction and it's a real recipe for disaster... Can they get their grand design over the line?