Grand Designs Transformations on ABC – Hosts, Professor of Architecture Anthony Burke and award-winning Interior Designer Yasmine Ghoniem follow two wildly different, but equally challenging home transformations.
In Henley Beach, South Australia, newlyweds, property valuer Paul and intensive care nurse Marie, take on the industrial-sized challenge of transforming a 1940s electricity converter station for trams into a welcoming high-end entertainer’s home. But it won’t be easy, or cheap.
Marie’s dad Chris calls their heritage-listed purchase “the money pit” and he worries that when the pair have children, there will be nowhere for them to sleep. And as host and Professor of Architecture, Anthony Burke points out on his first visit, while the double-height ceilings offer an abundance of volume and light, all the renovations will need to be bespoke, oversize, and costly.
Throw in Marie’s $60,000 order of Cote d’Azure marble for her gourmet kitchen and Paul’s desire to give a nod to the building’s industrial past, with industrial sized, custom-made steel arbor and steel-spined staircase and it’s not long before Marie’s dad’s fears start to turn into reality.
In Queensland, passionate ballroom dancers, electrician Chris and make-up artist Antoinette push their finances to the limit to buy a rundown, three-storey house on the Gold Coast.
To realise their dream of transforming it into an Amalfi-themed, family friendly pink paradise, they need to live on the site with three small children and do most of the work themselves, while holding down their day jobs. And as for working with the colour pink, host and interior designer Yasmine Ghoniem, fears Antoinette is not bold enough with her scale and choices, and that even with ballroom dancing competition to help take their minds off the 24/7 workload, the stress may all prove to be just too much.
Production credit: 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
Media Release – ABC
Grand Designs Transformations on ABC and ABC iview – Thursday 4 January 2024 at 8.00pm
TV Central ABC content HERE
Turned an interesting relevant programme over to a bunch of wankers