Grand Designs Live is now open for its 19th year at London ExCeL, running from today until Sunday 12th May.
 
This year’s show will promise an immersive home and design experience with hundreds of exhibitors over four key sectors: build, kitchen and bathroom, garden and interiors.

This morning, the show kicked off a nine-day run, with visitors being able to see renowned TV star and design expert, Kevin McCloud, lead engaging talks, as well as having the chance to discuss any home projects with a range of specialists, architects, suppliers and designers.

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EDITORIAL USE ONLY: Kevin McCloud unveils The Grand House at the opening of Grand Designs Live. The UK’s leading home design and innovation exhibition is back at Excel London from 4th May to 12th May 2024.
04/05/2024 Photograph by Sam Frost.

For the first time ever, Grand Designs Live unveiled The Grand House, a ground-breaking Grand Designs build featuring cutting-edge products and designs for your very own grand design. Executed in just four days,the Grand House brims with inspiration for attendees looking to undertake full builds, renovations, interior design projects, or garden landscaping. Visitors will have the opportunity to shop all the showcased products right at the exhibition. In addition, in true Grand Designs style, The Grand House will offer advice and information about how to de-carbonise your home.

With over 50 brands coming together to construct a seven room ‘barn conversion’ in just four days, The Grand House aims to show how small, yet impactful steps can be taken towards making homes self-sufficient and carbon neutral.

With state-of-the-art cladding, glazing and infrared heating, the home also including extras such as a wine cellar and cinema room. Show visitors will be able to explore and purchase all the products at the exhibition.

EDITORIAL USE ONLY: “Step inside The Grand House: Grand Designs Live unveils its first ever Grand Designs Build in the centre of the exhibition, a groundbreaking build featuring over 50 brands and completed in four days. Sam Frost Photography photo. Picture date: Saturday May, 2024. Photo credit should read: Sam Frost Photography/Grand Designs Live.”

One of the major themes for this year’s show is eco-friendly living and sustainability,
where show visitors will be able to engage with a vast range of exhibitors to help achieve their sustainable goals. From carbon reducing heat pumps via Fischer to Zero carbon solar panels from TCA Solar, Grand Designs Live will be a hub of green living inspiration.

This year’s show boasts some incredible features:

· Ask an Expert – Sponsored by Schüco, a complimentary service where visitors can discuss builds and renovation plans on a one-to-one basis with specialists in architecture, construction, finance, interior design and, for the first time, window and doors experts.

Outdoor Living Showcase – New for 2024, the Outdoor Living Showcase will feature top exterior furnishing brands who will be presenting their products in-situ at the show. Including Protek, who will unveil their ‘Show Garden’, designed by Matt Leigh from ITV’s Love Your Garden, alongside other brands such as The Outdoor Kitchen Company and Trex, the number one decking brand that provides a sustainable alternative to wood, made of up to 95% recycled and reclaimed materials.

· Green Living Live – An area dedicated solely to eco-friendly products and services from companies who hold sustainability at the heart of their business. Visitors can expect to find free expert advice, along with a wealth of ideas and solutions for making your home more sustainable.

· Daily Live Talks – An area featuring industry experts sharing invaluable insights with show goers on homes for the future.

· Kevin’s Green Heroes – This platform aims to acknowledge groundbreaking concepts and new-generation construction ideas that prioritise environmental sustainability, from small-scale start-ups to big businesses. Each year, Kevin McCloud handpicks the Green Heroes shortlist to shine the spotlight on ingenious and transformative eco-friendly innovators.

Green Grads – Founded in 2021, Green Grads is a platform for recent graduates of UK universities whose final projectsconfront the most pressing eco and sustainability issues such as climate change, waste, pollution and biodiversity. Some of the Green Grads for this year include:
o Dhruv Shah, Dhruv’s project ‘Decentralised Mycelium Housing’ has at its core, mycelium blocks and enables low-skilled people in poorer countries to build themselves a house.
o Sri Hollema, CEO and founder of Mat Zero, Sri has created the world’s first heated mat designed to provide safe and sustainable warmth for refugees
o FLOD, a co-operative of Sheffield based graduates who hand make plant pots from jesmonite (eco concrete) and recycled glass from Sheffield’s rivers and waterways