Grand Designs host on absurd trend as he shares 'biggest bugbears' of new homes
The Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud is back for a new series of the Channel 4 show and has explained worrying trends in new homes which he dislikes
Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud says people are potty with some new builds and have become obsessed with large homes - and lots of toilets.
TV presenter and designer McCloud, 65, has been advising Brits on house design for many years. “My biggest bugbear is things being too big,” he tells Radio Times. "Most houses could shrink overnight by a third, and the occupants would never notice. Number two? Houses with more toilets than physical occupants. Why do people judge the status of a house by how many toilets you can offer your guests? It’s absurd. Thirdly, complexity. Most people say to me that if they had known how complicated building is, they would have made their idea simpler. Complexity has become a demonstration of the need to be grand.”
On his own home he adds: “I have Ikea cupboards and drawers, the work surfaces are by Cosentino and the taps are posh. And the kitchen table is an original Eero Saarinen 1960s Tulip table. That is the point. I am a fan of Ikea, the democracy of good design and also of properly sustainable furniture, and I like doing stuff myself.”
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McCloud is a familiar face on Channel 4 screens having hosted Grand Designs now for well over two decades. This year the programme celebrate a big milestone and has now been on our screens for an astonishing 25 years. It first began filming 27 years ago in Peacehaven, East Sussex and McCloud admits he didn't really know what he was doing.
Nowadays he is very recognisable from the series and he also spoke about struggling with the selfie generation when stopped in the street. “It’s the sense of entitlement that people have over your privacy,” he told the magazine. That you are public property and therefore I have to do a selfie with you. You have to supply a resource for someone else. And in that moment you feel dehumanised."
But more cheerfully he adds: "Actually [more cheerfully], young people have started asking for autographs. I think what one might call the ‘selfie generation’ has started to shrink.”
Since 1999, Grand Designs has been a much-loved and iconic architectural showcase on Channel 4, captivating audiences across Britain. If a house is not completed before filming finishes, it will sometimes be revisited in a later episode so viewers can see the finished house and discover how many years over time and how many thousands over budget the project was. A new series will begin later this month on Channel 4 as it reaches its quarter-century landmark.
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