- The Home Channel - https://thehomechannel.co.za -

Impossible Builds

Impossible Builds follows the exploits of pioneering families building extraordinary ‘kit homes’ in situations where conventional construction techniques prove impossible.  Each episode charts one of these innovative homes as it is fabricated off site and delivered to the plot on lorries as a kit of parts. This novel approach is helping determined homebuilders to overcome a wide range of challenges in order to realise their bespoke dream homes – from severe weather to tight budgets, rocky or boggy sites to tricky access in some of the most remote locations across the UK.

Architectural designer Charlie Luxton and commercial designer Aidan Keane join the tenacious families going against the odds as they struggle to turn their ambitious plans into a reality.  The new series uses the latest augmented reality (AR) technology to bring the house designs to life, and spectacular drone photography reveals the stunning landscapes surrounding the diverse plots.

We meet the groundwork teams tasked with preparing the foundations on the challenging sites, which range from a stormy rugged island to a remote, cliff-top perch overlooking a loch. We follow the visionary construction teams at their workshops using state-of-the-art technology to fabricate the houses. CGI animations uncover the ingenious engineering and materials at the heart of these revolutionary homes.   

The drama unfolds as the build teams battle to deliver entire homes to the isolated plots and assemble them in a matter of days, or sometimes just hours.  As extreme weather and unforeseen challenges hinder progress, budgets are blown and deadlines are missed. The house builders’ resolve is tested to its limits as they fight to conquer their impossible builds.

26 July – 01 Aug: Episode 4

Ancient Woodland Home

IT guru Steve Langstone and his wedding entrepreneur wife Sharon have to balance busy working lives with looking after their 7-year-old daughter and 10-month-old cocker-poo Willow. For months they had been searching for a weekend getaway, off the beaten track, until they stumbled across Fritton Lake on the border between Suffolk and Norfolk. They found their perfect plot in some ancient woodland on the side of the lake and decided they wanted to construct a new home there. But getting planning permission to build a permanent structure in woodland is virtually impossible.

The family found a solution in the form of an innovative company that specialises in constructing homes that are technically moveable. The houses are entirely fabricated in their factory in Cumbria before being split in two and then transported to site on lorries. But the plot thickens as the family pack their dream lodge full of luxuries, and transporting the two fully fitted sections of house almost the entire length of the country and then through half a mile of dense, protected woodland stretches the team its limits.

Episode 5

Huge Family Home

The Lambert family have spent the last 9 years searching for a home to call their own. The family of five have been living with relatives but are desperate to find a house big enough for their needs, which they can afford. 7 years ago they happened upon a secluded, wood-flanked plot in Buckinghamshire, but the quote they received to construct their dream home was twice their budget.

To make building their new home affordable, the family discover a futuristic kit house company in Poland. The factory employs state-of-the-art, autonomous machinery to make the process extremely efficient and fabricate highly insulated panels, which can be quickly assembled on site. But the entire house must be transported over a thousand miles on the back of five lorries, and with trees making the access to the plot extremely tight, it is an emotional roller coaster for the larger-than-life family of five.

Episode 6

Home Grown House

Bill and Sukie Barber are life-long nature lovers and live on a 6-acre smallholding in the picturesque Scottish Borders. The couple have regular visitors from around the globe, along with their eight, grown up children and four grandchildren. With their croft bursting at the seams, they have decided to build a new house in one of their fields using primarily locally sourced materials to fit with their sustainable lifestyle: an ambitious remit in such a secluded corner of the Borders.

To attempt to achieve their goal, the couple have plumbed for a kit home, built using timber from nearby forests. The specialist construction company are based just 7 miles from the plot, and use Douglas Fir logs to form the frame of the eye-catching, post and beam design. But turning their low-carbon-footprint plans into a reality proves harder than expected, while weather delays and mismatching foundations threaten to wreak havoc with the build schedule.

Episode 7

Season Finale In Surrey, a man wants to construct a building to house his classic car collection, with the flexibility of converting it into a large, sustainable family home in the future.