Grand Designs fans complain about 'pointless' episode as Kevin McCloud revisits 'weird' mill conversion from a quarter of a century ago

The latest Grand Designs 'revisit' episode left viewers disappointed as they complained the Channel 4 show had gone to 's***'. On the episode, which aired last night, host Kevin travels to West Yorkshire to investigate whether a 'radical' mill conversion completed 25 years ago has stood the test of time. Fans felt it was misleading to promote Wednesday's show as 'new' since most of the programme featured clips from one of Grand Designs' earliest episodes after it premiered on 29 April 1999. It saw Kevin, 67, return to West Yorkshire to investigate whether Chris and Gill's 'radical' modernist home inside an industrial mill had 'stood the rest of time' - but viewers said the 'rehashed' episode about the 'weird house' missed the mark. 'There obviously haven't been many new "grand design" projects in the country over the last few years as it's a "revisited" episode four shows into the new series,' one viewer wrote on X. 'Another pointless edition of Grand Designs,' an X user added, as opinion was divided about Chris and Gill's unconventional home hidden inside a textile mill in Huddersfield. The latest Grand Designs 'revisit' episode left viewers disappointed as they complained the Channel 4 show had gone to 's***'.The show opened with Kevin telling viewers how the 'no-nonsense' and exacting couple restored the property 'with grit' and turned it into a 'high-tech' hybrid home a quarter of a century ago. They bought the 'derelict' 19th-century industrial mill 'sight unseen' and set about transforming the property that Kevin described as a 'dump' in footage from the original episode.Kevin, then 40, outlined Chris and Gill's ambitious renovation plans during the first half of the episode. He said the couple had picked the 'sleepy village of Netherton' to build their dream home, as Kevin added: 'This isn't the most obvious location for a sharp-looking radical house.'But you're not going to be able to see the modernist home from the outside, because they're going to hide it inside the shell of another, much older building.' The textile mill had a 'palpable air of abandonment' and Kevin explained it hadn't been used for years when Chris and Gill snapped it up for £50,000. When he met the couple, they were looking at a 3D model of the finished house as Chris told Kevin he hoped it would combine the 'best of both worlds'. 'We like old properties; we're getting that nice old feel and then on the inside we've got a modern feel, and I don't think we would ever get that with a new build,' he explained. The couple set themselves a budget of £150,000 for the build, as Kevin explained the inside of the mill would be completely stripped out to create an open-plan living and dining space. Fans felt it was misleading to promote Wednesday's show as 'new' since most of the programme featured clips from one of Grand Designs' earliest episodes after it premiered on 29 April 1999 Kevin returned to Chris and Gill's home (pictured) inside an abandoned mill 25 years after the couple from West Yorkshire documented the ambitious rebuild on Grand Designs'The core of the new internal structure will be a new steel frame that will be on view. It'll support the first floor and cradle the new sleek steel staircase,' the host explained. One of the modernist home's most adventurous features was to be a £6,000 curved wall shower 'visible from everywhere in the building'. Kevin returned to Chris and Gil's home 25 years later during Wednesday night's episode, as he said the property looked 'just as good' as it in 1999 - but the premise of last night's episode wasn't enough to keep viewers hooked.'"New" Grand Designs is a rehash of a build from 1999. Hardly "new" as the title suggests. So old it's in 4:3 screen format,' one disgruntled viewer wrote. Some complained about the episode's production quality as they noticed 'jagged lines all over the place' on the sections from the 1999 episode. One critical tweet read: 'Grand Designs Huddersfield Mill revisit proves that even 25 years can’t make an architectural “statement” any more comfortable or a liveable home? Weird house…. ' 'On the strength of this, no wonder Kevin is moving onto his new car show on Sundays,' another X user said. Kevin's new Channel 4 show, a six-part travel series called Kevin McCloud's Classic Car Road Trips, premieres this Sunday at 8pm. Not everyone was unhappy about the 'revisit' episode; one viewer ranked the 1999 rebuild among their 'favourites' on the show. One Grand Designs fan said their favourite show had 'gone to s***' while another compared the pricey shower in Chris and Gill's house to a 'pop-up public toilet'. Another said: 'Baby Kev. 4:3 ratio. Murky standard definition. Baggy fleeces. Must mean an actual grand design and not an "eco" shed and/or a stack of boxes. Those were the days...' Chris and Gill bought the 'derelict' 19th-century industrial mill (pictured) 'sight unseen' and set about transforming the property that Kevin described as a 'dump' in footage from the original episode.It comes after a controversial Grand Designs glass mansion, which was derided by neighbours and compared to a 'research centre on some university campus' by Kevin McCloud, hit the market for £5million.Paul and Penny Denby's striking modernist home divided opinion among well-heeled locals when it was built among the mock-period homes of the exclusive Keston Park estate near Orpington, Kent.The glazed contemporary home took five years to be approved by council planners and two complete redesigns, with its architect recalling how furious residents were 'out there with the picks and forks to have a go'.After construction was completed in April 2011, the vast home – containing a cinema room, a library and an enormous six-metre-tall living area – was described on the popular Channel 4 show as a curtainless 'Miami art-deco house' by McCloud.He told viewers: 'Some on the estate will feel that the entire house is a mistake, boxed in in the wrong place.'At the front there's certainly a whiff, not of the suburban, but of a research centre on some university campus or even the HQ of one of Paul's companies.'Its anonymity, however, hides its purposes as a genuine home for Paul and Penny's family.'Accountant Paul and Penny demolished the neo-Tudor house they had lived in for almost 20 years to build their dream home, which they called Sylvan Glade.However, their ambitious project was beset by problems with the couple running short of money during construction.The build, originally budgeted at £1million, eventually cost around £1.6million – with the Denbys needing their fund manager son Mark to step in with a loan after their bank refused to provide the extra cash. A view of the finished kitchen The ground floor has an open-plan living and dining spaceAnd while the finished house impressed with its huge expanses of glass and sweeping curved interior, McCloud was not entirely won over by its appearance.He said: 'Cosy isn't a word to describe the exterior of this house. The over-complicated grid pattern doesn't do justice to the curvaceous interior and the building just seems too big for the plot.'This scale and complexity hasn't come cheap.'Now, 15 years after its Grand Designs appearance, Sylvan Glade is on the market for £4,999,995.The six-bedroom detached house offers around 6,949 sq ft of accommodation and is being marketed chain-free.The sales particulars on Rightmove state: 'Sylvan Glade is perfectly suited to buyers seeking a highly design-led home capable of delivering both privacy and entertaining credentials in equal measure.'Morning light floods through the extensive glazing, while the open-plan living spaces naturally extend onto landscaped gardens and terraces – ideal for summer gatherings, outdoor dining and relaxed family living.'The architectural transparency of the home creates constantly shifting natural light throughout the day, while the woodland surroundings provide a unique sense of calm and seclusion rarely found so close to London.'There is also a self-contained one-bedroom apartment and the potential to create a further ground-floor apartment.Last month, the property was reduced to its current asking price from £5,750,000, according to Rightmove.