Church Hill Barn was featured as an exemplary project in one of the latest episodes in the new series of Channel 4’s Grand Designs. Below is a brief glimpse of my experience behind the scenes when the Channel 4 Grand Designs team visited Church Hill Barn.
In the final programme Kevin shows the viewers around the barn and then joins me in the dining room to talk about the project. The tour of the barn and my appearance is brief, however, the production team spent half a day on site filming the barn and interviewing me about the process.
Filming took place early on a foggy morning last Spring when I joined Kevin McCloud and the crew. The only sign that something was occurring were a couple of camper vans parked
The low key theme continued there was very little disturbance within the barn. The nimble crew were welcoming and easy going, quickly putting everyone at ease.
Clearly they have a lot of fun and at one point the team filmed Kevin riding one of the owners children’s scooters around the vast central area of the barn.
Between takes Kevin described his genuine enthusiasm for architects and the projects that can result when good architects are paired with understanding clients.
It also transpired that we both spent our formative years in a similar area of the country and we recalled visiting Dunstable Downs and the Ashridge Estate, near Tring as children.
All in all it was a pleasure to be involved with the programme, an enjoyable day and heartening to hear Kevin’s behind the scenes respect for architects and their designs.