GRAND Designs has unveiled some of the quirky homes in the running to win the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) House of the Year award – and not all viewers were impressed.
In tonight’s show, Grand Designs: House of the Year, host Kevin McCloud showed off five homes including a house made entirely from cork and a 'modern day' castle.
The Channel 4 show sees Kevin, architect Damion Burrows, and design expert Michelle Ogundehin visit homes that are battling it out for the title.
All of the homes push conventional design and each week Kevin will reveal over the series which seven houses have been shortlisted to be the winner.
The four-show programme will end with the winner of the prestigious prize being announced.
In tonight's show, viewers were not impressed with a concrete pad dubbed a "modern day castle" in Sussex that was built by architect Adam Richards.
This six bedroom property has been called a "modern house wrapped in a roman ruin" on Grand Designs.
To create the unusual pad, Adam used 30,000 bricks and used thick mortar joins to create an illusion of smaller bricks.
The home took two years to complete, and Kevin called it a "modern concrete church" thanks to it featuring a huge vaulted ceiling hall room.
However may fans were less impressed with the decor, likening it to a "crematorium" or a "prison" on Twitter.
Adam's wife Jessica said: "It was very important to balance the ideas with the practicalities of a family home."
The couple have two master bedrooms as Adam is a snorer and Jessica is a light sleeper.
The next house featured on the show that got slated was The Cork House in Eaton, Berkshire, which, as the name suggests is made entirely out of cork.
The pad is the first of its kind in the UK, which has walls and five roofs made from the sustainable material.
Inside lies a kitchen, sitting room, bedroom, bathroom and further sleeping area.
The home was created by Matthew Barnett Howland and Dido Milne, who wanted to build their pad "as simply as possible" and simply stacked 1,200 blocks to make the finished look.
People were quick to take to Twitter to say there were not entirely sold on the design.
One said: "Holy Moly…I thought the cork one was ugly."
And another added: "Not a fan of the cork house #granddesigns I grew up around cork wall tiles. No."
Meanwhile, one person compared the rooftop design to a Yorkie chocolate bar.
It took them six years to build the cork pad, and Matt's dad William sadly passed away mid-way during construction.
The cork structure is so light that the home has sky-lights which act as paperweight so it doesn't blow away.
Dido described it as a "big pin board".
Here are the other homes from the first episode which are in the line-up…
Converted garage in London
Couple Nicola and Ty Tikari decided to create their dream "Pocket House" after they bought a garage polt in South London.
At first they said they faced opposite from the local council with the planning permission.
Ty said: "[It said something like] Don't come back, nothing on the site is going to be accepted. We took that as a challenge."
With a floor space of 35 square metres, the garage home in the smallest home featured on the Grand Designs list, and consists of two boxes stacked on top of each other.
Ty added: "We could only build within footprint of double garage on ground floor. We have to make the first floor even smaller to follow the line of the terraces."
The ground floor and first floor had to be contained within the original garage, but the couple were able to dig to the edge of the site to make a basement.
Now 50 per cent of their living space is located below ground, including their bedrooms.
The couple live in the small two-bedroom house with their two young daughters.
Ty added: "Every millimeter was critical for making the spaces work."
Eco home in Chiltern Hills
Lark Rise in the Chiltern Hills has been described as half home and half eco power station, and was dubbed a "super experimental green home" on the show.
Host Kevin called the two-bedroom home, which took two years to build, as "elegant, unfussy but high tech" thanks to it focusing on being energy efficient.
The fascinating home was created by Swiss psychiatrist, Hannie Verderker, who said: "I grew up in a family where we did not waste. I do not buy more than I want."
Every inch of the home retains energy, including very thick insulation and heat from the oven used to keep rooms cosy.
The home acts a mini power station and has 38 solar panels on the roof, with huge windows allowing light to pour into the rooms.
Contemporary cottage in Derbyshire
Stack Yard cottage in Derbyshire goes way beyond what you'd typically find in a country village and is a surprisingly contemporary pad.
Architect James Boon designed the home for him and wife Carol to have a corrugated roof and plywood inside.
Previously the couple had lived in a semi-detached three-bedroom home in Derby but decided to ditch their traditional house after deciding they didn't want kids.
They made their new two-bedroom home for under £160,000 so had to find low cost furnishings to kit it out.
Carol said: "We had quite a big garden before, so we've got one veg bed and one small greenhouse."
Instead of a regular rectangular shape, James shifted the shape to fit the irregular plot size.
The bedrooms are located downstairs, with the living spaces upstairs under a vaulted ceiling.
Grand Designs airs on Channel 4 tonight at 9pm
HOUSES IN THE RUNNING FOR THE GRAND DESIGNS HOUSE OF THE YEAR TITLE
- Black House (Armadale, Isle of Skye) by Dualchas
- Cork House (Berkshire) by Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne & Oliver Wilton
- Earl’s Court house (London) by Sophie Hicks Architects
- The Ghost House (Stratford-upon-Avon) by BPN
- The Green House (Tiverton) by David Sheppard Architects
- Hampshire House by Niall McLaughlin Architects
- Hannington Farm (Northamptonshire) by James Gorst Architects
- Hill House Passivhaus (East Sussex) by Meloy Architects
- House in a Garden (London) by Gianni Botsford Architects
- House Lessans (Saintfield, Northern Ireland) by McGonigle McGrath
- Kenwood Lee House (London) by Cousins & Cousins
- Lark Rise (Buckinghamshire) by bere:architects
- Max Fordham House (London) by bere:architects
- Nithurst Farm (West Sussex) by Adam Richards Architects
- Pocket House (London) by Tikari Works
- A Restorative Retreat (Sartfell, Isle of Man) by Foster Lomas
- Secular Retreat (Devon) by Peter Zumthor & Mole
- Silver How (Llanhennock, Wales) by Hall + Bednarczyk
- South London House (London) by Jonathan Pile
- Stackyard (Derbyshire) by James Boon Architects
We shared how a Grand Designs couple were forced to flog £35K painting to finish airfield-inspired home SIX YEARS after they started building work.
And a new mum broke down in tears during £500k Grand Designs renovation – after fearing her cancer-stricken husband wouldn’t live to see it finished.
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