Episode 4
Two rival architects use virtual reality to pitch their vision for remodelling a family home in Wiltshire. Will the winning design succeed in making sense of the baffling layout?
Wiltshire couple Rachel and Mike, both teachers, thought they had hit the jackpot when they found a reasonably priced, spacious home in which to raise their three children. It seemed full of potential - but it didn鈥檛 take much experience actually living in the place to discover its flaws.
With four bedrooms and a generous footprint, space isn鈥檛 a problem. But the layout couldn鈥檛 be worse. The previous owner ran a hair salon from the house, leaving Rachel and Mike with two front doors and a ground floor that feels like two separate homes. A previous extension to the back has left the kitchen marooned in the middle of the house, with no window on the outside world. The only dining space is in a poorly insulated conservatory that forces the kids to wrap themselves in blankets for winter breakfasts.
With a relatively modest renovation budget and a sprawling property, Mike believes they need to focus their efforts on the entrance hall to sort out the confused circulation and make the house somewhere they want to come home to. But Rachel just wants somewhere for family and friends to cook, eat and socialise. The result? Stalemate.
Enter architects Laura Jane Clark and Robert Jamison, who both pitch eye-opening solutions to the bizarre layout in virtual reality. Laura鈥檚 unerring instinct for balancing beauty and practicality gives Mike the uplifting entrance he has been craving, while also providing the family-friendly functionality Rachel is after. Meanwhile, Robert takes a typically radical and counter-intuitive approach to the problem, dreaming up a remodelled interior that actually reduces the floor area 鈥� but which he believes could change the way the family lives.
Having had their breath taken away by the two virtual visions for their home, Rachel and Mike face a difficult decision 鈥� and then the real work begins, as they set about building the winning design out of bricks and mortar. Angela and the victorious architect return to Wiltshire to see the end result and are confronted with a stunning transformation that renders the house almost unrecognisable. The unliveable layout has been swept away and replaced with a stunning, contemporary living space. And having had a little help to realise its buried potential, Rachel and Mike are finally on the same page about their home.
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Next
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
-
![]()
00:02Years & Years
Don't Panic
-
![]()
00:05Kygo & Labrinth
Fragile
-
![]()
00:07Albin Lee Meldau
Bounce
-
![]()
00:08Gaz Coombes
20/20
-
![]()
00:08Gaz Coombes
20/20
-
![]()
00:09Jarryd James
Do You Remember
-
![]()
00:23Kygo
Stay (feat. Maty Noyes)
-
![]()
00:38James Arthur
Safe Inside
-
![]()
00:43Fickle Friends
Swim
-
![]()
00:43Ellie Goulding
This Blood
-
![]()
00:45Sia
Beautiful Calm Driving
-
![]()
00:48Hilltop Hoods
Higher (feat. James Chatburn)
-
![]()
00:50补濒迟鈥怞
Left Hand Free
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Expert | Laura Clark |
| Executive Producer | Joff Wilson |
| Expert | Robert Jamison |
| Executive Producer | Kitty Walshe |
| Presenter | Angela Scanlon |
| Series Producer | Sarah Knight |
| Production Company | Remarkable TV |
| Series Producer | Zoe Page |
| Producer | Matt Wicks |
| Producer | Ollie Scarth-Saunders |
| Director | Matt Wicks |
| Director | Ollie Scarth-Saunders |
Seven inexpensive ways to improve your home
Architect Laura Jane Clark shares some home improvement ideas that won't break the bank.