The Grand Designs water tower that went £1.5million over budget – breaking records for all the wrong reasons
GRAND Designs returned to the small screen this week with host George Clarke at the helm, helping people build their perfect pads - and hopefully within budget. With the show’s hotly anticipated return to Channel 4, the architect felt it was worth reflecting on some of the homes featured on previous episodes - which sometimes broke the bank. One project that came to mind immediately was The Water Tower in Kennington, London, a property that busted the budget by a whopping £1.5 million. The building in South East London belonged to Leigh Osborne and his partner Graham Voce, who had put everything on the line to transform the 100-foot water tower into a stunning, comfortable family home. The couple picked up the tower for £380,000 with the expectation they’d need to throw around £600,000 at the renovation. How wrong they were, with the final figure bill for the revamp of this Grade II listed building finally coming in at an eye-watering £2 million.