Room to Improve (v2)

Franz Von Peppercorn II

MrMusician18 wrote: »

I just don't get this attitude. Dermot is the expert and if the one with the vision in his head for the project. When you engage an architect you have to trust them, otherwise it ends up a mish mash and uncoordinated.

You wouldn't hire a mountain guide then turn around and tell them this is the way you want to get down the mountain...

but he’s not an interior designer. People might get the impression, from the show, that interior design is common amongst architects, but it isn’t.

And in fact interior designers are more collaborative with their clients. They get a brief, present their ideas, listen to responses and discuss most/all of the furniture they are going to buy. You’re paying.

(I know this from having one in our house for a refurb, but mostly from watching interior design shows.)

jos28

Again I'll go back to the budget issues on this season, they have spoiled the viewing. Normally budgets have gone 10% over or thereabouts but recent episodes have been ridiculous.
How much have you to spend - €150K Dermot and not a penny more.................. QS at the end - total cost €300K. I know it's light entertainment and not on a par with Grand Designs but this budget nonsense really has spoiled the programme

PARlance

Franz Von Peppercorn II wrote: »

but he’s not an interior designer. People might get the impression, from the show, that interior design is common amongst architects, but it isn’t.

And in fact interior designers are more collaborative with their clients. They get a brief, present their ideas, listen to responses and discuss most/all of the furniture they are going to buy. You’re paying.

(I know this from having one in our house for a refurb, but mostly from watching interior design shows.)

The problem facing Dermot/the show a lot of the time is that there's very little architural input sometimes. Tonight's house was basically just put back to it's original layout with the standard big windowed extension bolted on.

There is very rarely enough scope to see much architectural input. Dermot's an architect but it's always a side show. Budgets, relationships, gardens, kitchen units, interior designs etc etc take prominence over architecture more often than not.

awanderer

Franz Von Peppercorn II wrote: »

but he’s not an interior designer. People might get the impression, from the show, that interior design is common amongst architects, but it isn’t.

And in fact interior designers are more collaborative with their clients. They get a brief, present their ideas, listen to responses and discuss most/all of the furniture they are going to buy. You’re paying.

(I know this from having one in our house for a refurb, but mostly from watching interior design shows.)

In fact, from watching shows like "Room to Improve" and "Home of the year", I have reached the conclusion that architects are the opposite of interior designers: when it comes to decors, they seems to have a couple of concepts (straight lines, all white...) they are unable to stray from and seem to be slave to fashion (grey replaced white for a couple of years, plywood everywhere at the moment) and always seem to use the same sentences (bringing the outdoors in, flooding the place with light...). It reached the point where I wonder if they all come from the same school and even now, when I watch Home of the Year on the player I am unable to differenciate the architects from each other.

LizT

MrMusician18 wrote: »

I just don't get this attitude. Dermot is the expert and if the one with the vision in his head for the project. When you engage an architect you have to trust them, otherwise it ends up a mish mash and uncoordinated.

You wouldn't hire a mountain guide then turn around and tell them this is the way you want to get down the mountain...

Because they have to live in the house. I get you have to trust the architect, and they did for all the major decisions like putting the big window in the kitchen, skylight, roof, layout, bathrooms etc.

But they pushed for their wallpaper in the bathroom, they picked out different marble than the one Dermot recommended. It ultimately meant that they ended up with a house that is purely their style, rather than blindly following what Dermot wanted. Just because he is the architect doesn’t mean he should make all the decisions on the project, he doesn’t have to live with it at the end of the day. He even admitted at the end that the kitchen turned out well despite him being so against it during the episode.

Rockbeast2

"I have reached the conclusion that architects are the opposite of interior designers:"

In Bannon's case, I agree.

* Note that I have no architectural experience, save for I once went out with a girl studying architecture in Bolton Steet! ;-)

Bannon seems to have a fixation on Corbusier - I remember stuff from 15 years ago! - I liked helping building the model plans/buildings.

She's now a very successful architect in London, but laughs at Bannon's attempts to bring the "exterior" into the "interior" - he just can't do it.

He brings personal taste (ie Wallpaper)into projects? WTF? His interior lines aren't great at all.

I wish him the best but I wouldn't hire him.

I laugh at how annoyed people here get about Dermot Brannon . This is a TV show !
It’s made to appeal to the masses, no point in analysising it forensically.
So yeah you will get the background, family story , personalities, Dermot pushing his ideas, people going wildly over budget (a weekly event this series) and getting pink worktops, garden sculptures, swinging chairs , yoga rooms. Nobody is putting a gun to the head of the couples in it. They could all cut back on their budget if they had to but they all find extra money.

You will get Dermot being asked to weddings, to help the groom buy his suit , it’s TV folks ! It makes interesting viewing when there’s controversy.

Dermot Bannon has a charm about him and yeah it’s good to see him rattled like last night when he had to say the roof and chimney needed to be replaced and fixed. He can laugh at himself. I really don’t get the negativity, if you don’t like the format or the architect, don’t watch it , maybe BBC4 have something more factual. I’d say this is probably RTE’s most popular series at the moment and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere just yet.

memorystick

It’s as bad as Daniel and Majella’s Road Trip. Scutter

chooseusername

memorystick wrote: »

It’s as bad as Daniel and Majella’s Road Trip. Scutter

Your missus must make you sit through some right sh1te t.v.

tototoe

Used to love it, and still watch but it has really gone downhill imo, last nights episode being a prime example .
The jump from counter top to finished house was ridiculous

Some of the best parts of room to improve used to be the build and the complications, and the qs coming in with pricing and bills. Thats more or less all gone.

The endless supply of money for extras, in a build where there is definitely absolutely no spare money is really becoming tiresome too.

It also seems stuck for good designs, dermots input last night was minimal....except for the usual glass extension which was kind of awful imo.

lawred2

tototoe wrote: »

Used to love it, and still watch but it has really gone downhill imo, last nights episode being a prime example .
The jump from counter top to finished house was ridiculous

Some of the best parts of room to improve used to be the build and the complications, and the qs coming in with pricing and bills. Thats more or less all gone.

The endless supply of money for extras, in a build where there is definitely absolutely no spare money is really becoming tiresome too.

It also seems stuck for good designs, dermots input last night was minimal....except for the usual glass extension which was kind of awful imo.

Same every week - concerned faces and shaking heads - "no money left"...

then - moments later a throwaway comment about the money found to sort the problem plus an extra 50k for bits the clients "added in"

Beechwoodspark

It’s beyond Parody at this stage

Take it out and put it out of its misery RTÉ

iamwhoiam

lawred2 wrote: »

Same every week - concerned faces and shaking heads - "no money left"...

then - moments later a throwaway comment about the money found to sort the problem plus an extra 50k for bits the clients "added in"

And as if no one had thought that an old house could have issues with the roof .Shock horror the roof is iffy the chimney is dodgy !! Surely a decent architect would have spotted that on his way up the path before he ever spoke to the two men ,

Beechwoodspark

You’d think a half decent even trainee architect would have spotted the obvious issues even glancing while walking past the house

I get the sense with bannon his “head is in the clouds”. He has 1 or 2 go to designs. The glass box etc. that is all he wants to impose every week. It doesn’t seem to matter a damn what the ppl who actually live there want.

harr

One of my least favourite episodes, why no full Survey before mentioning any money surely any architect or builder it’s the first thing you would do especially underpinnings and roof . You can bloody see the roof did they not get engineers report before buying such an old house. That chimney was wrecked.
The show has gone totally unrealistic at this stage.
Not mad about the final interior and kitchen had a ridiculous layout.
Again couples pulling cash out of their arse at the drop of a hat.

meeeeh

Architects should be in charge of interior too. It's part of the whole vision for how space should feel and function. Best interiors I saw were designed by architects not by someone moving couple of cushions around.

Anyway I liked the house. I would hate the wallpaper in the bathroom but it suited them. They have very strong sense of particular aesthetic and it works for them. Their personality is imprinted into the house and it feels less of a show room and more of a home.

lawred2

I really liked the living room - those dark wall colours really suit those period properties with the big windows..

However the lips couch and the dead flesh on the walls would have to go.

chooseusername

harr wrote: »

One of my least favourite episodes, why no full Survey before mentioning any money surely any architect or builder it’s the first thing you would do especially underpinnings and roof . You can bloody see the roof did they not get engineers report before buying such an old house. That chimney was wrecked.
The show has gone totally unrealistic at this stage.
Not mad about the final interior and kitchen had a ridiculous layout.
Again couples pulling cash out of their arse at the drop of a hat.

These "discoveries" are kept till 1/2 way into build to add a bit of drama.
Mind you it would have been easy to miss that little chimney , and the holey roof
when you're concentrating on wallpaper and pink worktops :rolleyes:
The format appears to be ; arrive at a final figure,
tell clients to knock 50% off for their budget figure.
Then just add it back in when the discoveries appear.
Even without an engineers survey that builder(seemed to know his stuff)
would have seen the roof and chimney problem, and the what removing joists would have done to wall support.

Sleepy

If they'd done that pattern in the bathroom with tiles it could have been amazing. As it was, it looked cheap and nasty (not even lined up properly ffs).

the_pen_turner

chooseusername wrote: »

These "discoveries" are kept till 1/2 way into build to add a bit of drama.
Mind you it would have been easy to miss that little chimney , and the holey roof
when you're concentrating on wallpaper and pink worktops :rolleyes:
The format appears to be ; arrive at a final figure,
tell clients to knock 50% off for their budget figure.
Then just add it back in when the discoveries appear.
Even without an engineers survey that builder(seemed to know his stuff)
would have seen the roof and chimney problem, and the what removing joists would have done to wall support.

the builder works to the spec given. they only price a b and c even if d is blindingly obvious but not in the spec

the_pen_turner

Sleepy wrote: »

If they'd done that pattern in the bathroom with tiles it could have been amazing. As it was, it looked cheap and nasty (not even lined up properly ffs).

i dont know why the producers left the close ups in. it looked alright from a distance but terrible up close.

Sharp MZ700

Liked the pointing and the stained glass. A bit too fussy for me after that.

DebDynamite

I think they made a lovely job of the house in the end. It was refreshing see a house actually with a bit of character which reflected their unique taste, and not like a showroom for some high-end furniture store. Also, It’s the first time in a long time I have seen a kid’s bedroom actually look like a kid’s bedroom. The kitchen I wasn’t mad about at first. However when I watched that part again, it made sense to me. As the galley kitchen also served as a hallway/corridor, the floating marble kitchen sort of looked like a more elaborate console table as you’d see in hallways, so I thought it was very clever. Do we know if they changed the windows with the stained glass? With original windows and front door, I'd imagine they had to do a lot of work elsewhere to bring it up to A3 rating.

I disagree slightly with the poster earlier who made reference to the “ethnic” QS. No issues regarding her nationality, the issue for me it that it’s yet another female QS. It’s pure tokenism and RTE obviously have gender quotas to fill. I think a male QS appeared in one of the episodes this series, but he was employed directly by the couple, if I remember correctly. Patricia is badly missed. Regardless of her gender, she worked well with Dermot and that dynamic of her trying to rein him in while he fought to keep things in the budget made for good TV.

Agree with the rest of the posters who say it’s too rushed. I feel would benefit from being 1.5 hours long.

Sleepy

the_pen_turner wrote: »

i dont know why the producers left the close ups in. it looked alright from a distance but terrible up close.

Hopefully to deter others from trying it!

ted1

I’m an engineer so like practically. The kitchen units were awful. Those doors will be open 24 7.

The pointing on the outside would be nice if the rest of the terrace was done but in their own was awful.

The two bathrooms beside each other was a daft idea.

Calhoun

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

You’d think a half decent even trainee architect would have spotted the obvious issues even glancing while walking past the house

I get the sense with bannon his “head is in the clouds”. He has 1 or 2 go to designs. The glass box etc. that is all he wants to impose every week. It doesn’t seem to matter a damn what the ppl who actually live there want.

We don't know what gets edited in our out when we watch these programs, maybe they were aware of the possible issues with the roof but took a gamble on the basis of getting stuff done.

He has an open plan design he likes to implement and anyone who has seen the program knows what he tries to do. There was not allot of room for scope on this one due to the age of the building and the budget so bar the extension on the back what else could he do.

You have to remember these people are clients and they agree to what his vision is before he goes ahead with it, if they don't like it then they dont have to go for it. You would swear he was holding them down forcing them to pay for it.

Sharp MZ700

ted1 wrote: »

The pointing on the outside would be nice if the rest of the terrace was done but in their own was awful.

I think it makes it look better, accentuates it. Pity they didn't show more of your man doing it, might have learned something.

Radio5

I enjoyed last night's programme. The motto to take from this series seems to be 'discard the budget'.

recipio

I thought the overall mix of taxidermy, Salvador Dali couches and religious pictures was a bit naff - somebody was trying to be uber cool :rolleyes: There is something to be said for Dermots white box with a few good items thrown in ?

Vicarious Function

I enjoyed the show. A beautiful house! Not mad on some of the clients' quirky ideas such as the "lips" sofa or the "sausage dog" seating.