A DAD-of-two who built a world-first Grand Designs home has told how his roof dramatically collapsed when his builder forgot the most important rule.
Richard Hawkes, 49, lives with his wife Sophie, 50, near Maidstone, Kent in a home described as “lunacy” by Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud.
Their “gravity defying” home features a stunning arch that’s completely unsupported and made of just a 100mm-thick layer of tiles and Plaster of Paris.
It was a world-first design, with the method usually used on dome shapes, and builders were briefed not to lean on the structure during construction.
But in one heart stopping moment of filming, as Kevin presented to the camera, the structure collapsed behind him – costing them another week of work and £200,000.
Richard told The Sun: “There was a time when Kevin was on site filming with the house in the background when the roof collapsed.
“I was standing by the camera person looking at the camera. You hear this almighty crash.”
The stonemason had leaned on the first completed layer of tiles while laying the second on top, causing it to fall beneath him.
DON’T LEAN
Richard added: “One of the things they were told not to do was lean on the first layer of tiles. It’s extremely delicate.
“It’s the subsequent layers that make it stronger. He leaned too much. It made part of it fail and whatever that was left fell with it. So that was dramatic.”
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The site’s contractor Tony fell through the roof onto a crash pad below, grazing his head but coming out otherwise unscathed.
Except for the bruised ego.
“Our contractor Tony was crying and really upset. Some of the bricklayers were frustrated but it was hugs and ‘are you okay’. We had a meeting the next day and the contractor was upset he had to rebuild it.
“It was his responsibility. I said there were 15 people working onsite. Other than Tony falling through and getting a graze and dented ego, no one was hurt.”
A week later the project was back on track.
“There was a crash deck that caught the falling material and Tony. No windows got smashed. It could have been a lot worse,” Richard added.
“Sometimes you’ve got to dust yourself down and think actually we were very fortunate in the grand scheme of things. Within a week we were back to where we were.”
Richard had the idea for the curved roof after he and his wife fell in love with the land for it’s remote location.
The pair regularly stopped by when there was just a tiny cottage so they could look up at the pitch black sky and stargaze.
He said: “We used to stop the car outside the plot where we now live, and turn the engine off, wind the windows down, look out and see the most incredible starscapes.
“It was proper silence and a black sky and we just thought wow, how amazing. So a few years later when the plot went up for sale we thought we had to have a go.”
As an architect for his day job Richard was filled with ideas for his new land, and set to work designing a building that would blend into its surroundings.
He said: “I planted the home. The model was me trying to make part of the building living and what form could hold up a lot of clay to sustain things that grow in the landscape, so it blends.
“Then it was ‘how do I hold up all this clay?’ An arch. The idea of this arch with these objects nestled seemed to be a natural sculptural response but I didn’t know how to build it.”
PERFECT THE TECHNIQUE
He soon came into contact with a master builder, who’d used the Plaster of Paris and stacked tiles method on another home.
He said: “We’ve had people tell us it’s the most bonkers thing they’ve ever seen. Maybe it was my age or enthusiasm. I’d been working in London on big things and this was small. I wasn’t scared of it.”
The tiles would be stacked without anything but themselves holding them up, a risky process and the first time it’d have been done in the form of an arch.
But Richard had professors from the University of Cambridge working on the plan.
He added: “I had Cambridge University and two professors as my structural engineers. They said it could be done. Kevin and I built a little mock up and Kevin was convinced it would break.
“We stood on the little arch. It set the jeopardy up. We stood on it and it held us both. Then we stepped off. It was one layer thick.
“I went and stood on it but I put one foot on first but the weight wasn’t evenly distributed and it collapsed underneath me.
“It set up the jeopardy or building the real thing. It was cleverly thought through and was a fantastic technique.”
Although his builders were dubious at first, they soon grew in so much confidence over the project they became “complacent”, Richard said.
He added: “They grew in confidence. When it collapsed they’d gone so complacent, they were so comfortable up there they forgot the rule about not leaning on the first layer of tiles.”
Richard doesn’t have any regrets over the build, with his passion for the home he still lives in and loves shining through.
He added: “It was very brave and I wouldn’t expose a client of mine to that level of risk. But I’m extremely proud of given the opportunity of doing my own house I didn’t just do my day job.
“I wanted it to test me and I wasn’t shy even with the television camera there. It’s the most amazing thing.
“Every day I come home and see my house rearing voer the landscape and see the scary thinness of the arch. I have such pride. It’s as solid as a rock. It’s brilliant. I’m very pleased. The house has given us more than we ever expected from a house.”
The roof arch is 20metres wide, nine metres high and just 100mm thick, with three layers of tiles.
“The first layer is glued with Plaster of Paris and the others are cross bonded laid at 45 degree angles across from the layers below.
“It’s the world’s largest timbrel vaulted arch. It’s the technique usually used to build domes. In a landscape where we have lots of clay it’s a wonderful use of local materials.
“The money for the materials went back into the local community. I know the people who made the tiles. They made us jugs with the children’s names on.
“It was lovely to have that connection, they’re very proud of it.”
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It comes after the curse of the saddest ever Grand Designs house took another twist.
And a woman revealed her heart-breaking reason behind spending £1million on a Grand Designs home.
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