★★★★★ 0/5

Grand Designs Australia

Like the homes it is filming, Grand Designs Australia is a faithful reconstruction that takes a blueprint and begins to build with an eye for detail.

28
Leave a comment

There’s a plethora of home renovation shows vying for your attention. Shows that give you homemaker tips, shows that pit home designer against home designer and shows that spruce up your house for auction.

Arguably the most popular of them all is the UK’s Grand Designs -not so much a renovation show as a show about home building. At its heart are stories about real people with dreams to build their very own castle.

Most of the homes and self-builders featured in the show are one out of the box. They are bold, lavish, innovative, historical, impossible, ridiculous. There to guide us through the storytelling is host Kevin McCloud.

Now the LifeStyle Channel unveils its long-awaited adaptation, Grand Designs Australia, produced by FremantleMedia Australia. Hosting this first international version is architect Peter Maddison.

More than a year in the making, this is a show that is a labour of love. But this perfectly matches its subjects.

The first episode features construction manager Chris Clarke, who was working so many hours in his city-job that he became a victim of chronic fatigue. But after 7 years he built a haven in the Victorian rural town of Calignee, a dream home in the bush that was his personal retreat. He finished the home in January 2009. Two weeks later it was razed to the ground by the Black Saturday fires.

It’s this kind of personal story that draws you in.

Now with the cameras documenting every stage of his recovery, Clarke is rebuilding “Calignee 2”, which promises to rise Phoneix-like from the ashes.

What is always so remarkable about the Grand Designs brand is that the viewer sees the narrative unfolding from a blank canvas. Maddison walks through the burnt shell of “Calignee 1” as Clarke begins to outline his next dream. It’s impossible to grasp how such a home, and such an individual, could rise from such despondency.

Eye-catching graphics illustrate the new home so that we can share in the vision. Clarke’s ideas are ultra-modern, ultra-green and hell bent on being a fire-proof furnace. He has $400,000 from insurance to realise it -meaning he has had to scale back from his original 3 bedrooms to just 1.

During the building stages, Clarke is hands-on. He picks out every rock, every old beam and oversees every nail going into place. His building crew are none too pleased by the scrutiny. There are challenges with budgets, near-disasters and a looming deadline. But it’s impossible to ignore Clarke’s passion, and we completely empathise with his circumstance.

Maddison’s narration points out the challenges and helps highlight Clarke’s emotion. Unlike some observational series, his is no post-production voice-over. He’s even seen pitching in with the labour. Points for that.

As expected, the finished home is a work of contemporary art. Slap a Spa Retreat sign out the front and I’d be there for the weekend.

The series features nine ambitious homes across the country, capturing the bush, the city and the beach. One house being showcased is said to have been lost along the way (now there’s some drama that would make good telly).

Like the homes it is filming, this is a faithful reconstruction that takes a blueprint and begins to build with an eye for detail. Sure the host isn’t Kevin McCloud, but Maddison is clearly invested and informed in both the projects and the people he is presenting.

The LifeStyle Channel has a little gem on its hands here. Why can’t commercial television give us stuff this good, please?

Grand Designs Australia premieres 8:30pm Thursday October 21st on LifeStyle.

28 Responses

  1. The show is interesting , the host is fine ( remember he is not an actor but an architect ) He looks young for his age ( still has hair, no beer gut) The houses are interesting although not all my cup of tea ( I am more into traditional Georgian architecture eg, Terraces in Bath) He will in time be on par with Kevin ( Mcleod not Rudd).
    A little bit of the owners background is fine especially if they are interesting people such as a sadistic dentist or womanising lawyer.
    I like the mult million dollar projects, its certainly more interesting that watching a project home bieng built on a new featureless estate.
    Better than commercial TV anyway, keep up the good work.

  2. I like the houses but agree too much is said about the people, the UK one isnt like that. Cant stand the Host and the dribble he speaks. If he needs to learn u cant use the word ‘space’ in every sentence!

  3. I’m disappointed with Grand Designs Australia, too. Not with the designs, which are amazing, and not with the interviewees, who are all genuinely sincere people. No doubt Peter Maddison is competent to comment on the design concept and the building process, but his delivery is so unemotional as to verge on the boring. I wonder, too, who is untimately responsible for the script. This week’s brickbat (November 18) goes to the statement that the Northern Territory building site is in “an environment unique to anywhere else in the world”. Please, Editor, could you be professional and ensure future dialogue makes sense?

  4. Hi Chris,
    I havnt stopped thinking of you and what you have created. My Dad was a timber miller and i spent my younger yrs in the bush at weekends. I was touched and felt so connected when i watched your program.I have just built a new appartment my goal was to have only what i love and use.But when i saw You and what you have created i can feel your charactor ,your soul. Congratulations .
    You have not left a stone onturned even to your Teddy.
    To have the incinciple spirit to press forward further still. When you give your al,l victory is truly exhilarating. Congratulations.
    Wendy Gunn

  5. In answer to Micheles comments,
    The fire proof stuff is called Firefly Plus 60 It’s a 10mm thick high temperature cloth and you can find more details like test results and applications on the Firefly website I hope that you find it interesting.

    Regards

  6. The first episode was excellent. As a huge fan of the original Grand Designs, and Kevin McCloud in particular, I was wary about an Aus adaptation but the treatment was perfect. A uniquely Australian project with a compelling backstory and a truly grand design. Next week’s episode looks great too.

    I was actually about to cancel my Austar subscription but this show will keep me around for a little longer.

  7. Peter Maddison was articulate, professional and more likeable than the other Peter………Peter Coluhoun who gushes all over every-one that he interviews while fronting Australian Sand Castles.
    This will be a must watch for me, I am looking forward to the future episodes.

  9. I was disappointed too. Not enough of the building processes, like more information about that fireproof stuff etc.

    I agree with Daniel. Was repetitive – a bit nothing.

    Of course I didn’t expect it to be as good as the UK & no one can replace my Kevin, but I thought the host did a reasonable job. He may grow on me.

    Jury’s out at this stage.

  10. I watched it last night.
    It was a very big disappointment (to put it mildly).
    I love the original.
    I found the Australian version is over-written (trying too hard) and spending too much time (about 80% – and I’m being generous) of the time talking about the home owner and not enough about the building.
    I kept shouting at the TV… “come on get on with it”.
    I actually gave up 20 minutes into the show and came back in the last 15 – nothing had really changed to the built.
    And suddenly like magic – with 5 minutes to go the house was finished!
    Verdict?
    I’m not going to watch it anymore.
    I’m so sick of what I call the “masterchef syndrome” – i.e. endless (and pointless) participant staged interviews and repeats after the ad of what was just said before.
    Thanks,
    Daniel

  14. How do you know that Lifestyle going HD early next year? Did you email to lifestyle websites? If it is true, then Yahoo!!!! Hope Lifestyle Food will go HD soon.

Leave a Reply