Catch up TV

Series 2: Episode 4

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’t take much experience actually living in the place to discover its flaws. \n\nWith four bedrooms and a generous footprint, space isn’t a problem. But the layout couldn’t 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. \n\nWith 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.\n\nEnter architects Laura Jane Clark and Robert Jamison, who both pitch eye-opening solutions to the bizarre layout in virtual reality. Laura’s 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 – but which he believes could change the way the family lives. \n\nHaving had their breath taken away by the two virtual visions for their home, Rachel and Mike face a difficult decision – 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.

Source: BBC 2