We follow Thomas Heatherwick’s architects as they battle to keep their glasshouse looking just so, while the engineers struggle to work out how to make them. From chasing bats to giant copper still installation, this episode has engineering and conservation in spades setting the scene for what is one of the most ambitious renovation and building projects in Europe. On site there are constant crisis as the unknown history of this century’s old site comes to light causing unexpected delays. With the weather making it all even harder, the project hits a financial crisis, but will the company hold their nerve and stay true to the original ambition?
In the second installment of this epic tale of restoring, building and engineering, the tension created by sky high ambitions is generating evermore pressure and the tension is building. This massive project to turn a derelict 19th century paper mill into a state of the art gin distillery with two pioneering glass buildings at its heart, pushes artisans, architects and gardeners to their limit. In this episode we meet the Italian coppersmiths as they assemble their giant gin stills on site, we visit Kew Garden and see the exotic gardens that inspire Laverstoke Mill’s glasshouse gardens and we learn how to restore a 200 year old flint cottage. However the real intrigue is what goes on deep down in the river bed as civil engineers struggle to overcome never ending floods and blocked pipes in their effort to lay the foundations for Thomas Heatherwicks crowd pleasing glasshouses. Have the engineers carefully laid plans been scuppered by a suspicious and potentially catastrophic flood?
In the final chapter of this epic struggle to turn a derelict 19th century paper mill into a state of the art gin distillery the chickens come home to roost as delays pile up and the schedule has to be ripped apart. Ambitious vision and real world engineering collide as the effort to construct the 2 Thomas Heatherwick designed glasshouses hits a series of huge problems. The world’s best glass experts are left scratching their high IQ heads as they try to figure out how to build, what may in the end turn out to be, the impossible. Thankfully, in the distillery the gin starts to flow from the beautiful Italian made gin stills, but will the plant hunter ever track down the missing botanical ingredient before the grand opening? Finally, will it all be worth it as the finished Distillery in unveiled for all to see?