r/granddesigns

I love that people are willing to take a risk and build something they've dreamed about for years, but I think I'd struggle once the costs started spiralling. There's only so many times you can dip into savings or push the budget further before you have to question whether it's still worth it.

I also wonder how many people would make the same decisions if they knew the final cost before starting. It's hard to walk away when you've already put so much time, money and emotion into a project.

Now that the post-episode dust has settled on Episode 4, what did everyone think of Jana and Rory converting that old driving test centre in Edinburgh?

Going upside-down to maximize light and living space was a clever idea given the footprint, but I'm curious if others felt the layout actually worked well once completed. The drive and determination to finally push it across the finish line after stalling for so long was proper Grand Designs spirit, but would you have kept standard layout floors or gone for the upside-down living setup?

Synopsis: Jana and Rory's conversion of an old driving test centre into sleek upside-down living has stalled over the years. With drive and determination, can they finally take the project up a gear?

Airing on Channel 4 at 9pm on Wednesday 7th October.

I’ve been a huge fan since the very first episode and have watched them all. A friend of mine featured on an episode self building his house and highly recommended that I never consider the idea - he said the contract allowed the crew the ability to edit freely even if it meant changing the entire context of a conversation.
And, he also said when they had problems causing delays they got a fair bit of pressure to get more funding to finishing it instead of delaying. Much of their build is a bit rough when outside of the filmed areas.

I understand they don’t get paid and to my mind I can’t imagine the pressure of having cameras around when things go wrong ….

So why do people apply to go on Grand Designs?

I wasn't convinced by the design when they first showed it, especially with how ambitious the cladding system was, but I thought the finished house came together really well. It felt like there was actually a reason behind most of the unusual choices rather than just doing something different for the sake of it. The £420k budget was the bit I found harder to believe though.