Grand Designs Transformations on ABC – With a rot-ridden Melbourne weatherboard bought for $740,000, builder Dylan and landscape architect fiancée Tylah embark on a game changing experiment.
Their vision is to retrofit this uninhabitable draughty old cottage into what’s known as a passive house – an energy efficient, heavily insulated, airtight home, that doesn’t need any heating or cooling. On top of that challenge, they plan to recycle as many of the original materials as possible without losing the 1950s cottage charm. And, with very little money, they need to live on site, in a tiny shed throughout the project.
While Dylan works meticulously on both the retrofit and the new cathedral-ceilinged kitchen and living room, Tylah sets out to create a garden oasis, with a rustic landscape design centered around a glorious 70-year-old golden elm.
Interior designer Yasmine Ghoniem thinks Tylah may in for a shock when she realises how tough it is to create a passive house from a 70-year-old banger, and Professor of Architecture Anthony Burke wonders how she’s ever going to find the funds for her landscape garden plans while her fiancé appears to spend every cent, and every minute, on the endless wrapping and taping task required to make the home airtight.
There’s tension as the home’s passive house credentials are put to the internationally accepted airtightness test, with a wedding to prepare for too – if Tylah can drag Dylan offsite for long enough to tie the knot.
Production credits: A Fremantle Australia production for the ABC financed with support from the ABC. Supervising Executive Producer: Brooke Bayvel. Executive Producer: Michael Collett. Series Producer: Chris Perry. ABC Commissioning Editor: Jo Chichester. Executive Producer: Madeleine Hawcroft. Head of Factual: Susie Jones. ABC Head of Screen Content: Jennifer Collins.
Grand Designs Transformations on ABC and ABC iview – Thursday 22 February 2024 at 8.00pm
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