Grand Designs, Flamborough: 'I wanted to build something that creates discussion'

Wetherby businessman Zahid Iqbal says he hopes people will react to his creation - whether they loathe it or love it

In this week’s Grand Designs, the hugely popular Channel 4 show presented by Kevin McCloud since 1999, viewers saw the multiple set-backs which faced Zahid who bought the old coastguard station at Flamborough at a housing auction in Leeds in 2017, with the dream of transforming the defunct building into a family home for themselves, their three children and their grandchildren

His plans for the “mega cantilevered” project, which sits between the headland’s old and new lighthouses, however, ended up taking five years – far longer than expected – with Covid, planning problems, health scares and terrible weather all playing a part.

However the result is spectacular, with an ultra modern three-storey building, with extensive (bird friendly) glass to the south and east sides to take advantage of the views across the golf course, the chalk headlands and to the North Sea.

Zahid, who is owner of five shopping centres in Yorkshire including Bradford Plaza, Batley Shopping Centre and Hull’s Prospect Centre, said there’s still another four weeks to go before it will be finally completed.

“We are waiting for Juliet balconies and balustrades on the staircases. We will just be living there the odd weekend, it’s a place for the family and I believe it’s the first Grand Designs that’s a second home.”

He added: “I’m so happy with it. It has come out exactly as we were hoping.

“It’s not about the building, it’s about where it is. For us the exciting thing was always the nature - what you can see. The biggest part is what the building shows you, what it frames.”

“As I said to Kevin I wanted to build something that creates discussion. There will be people who will absolutely loathe it and people who will love it. Buildings should provoke reactions. As long as someone has an opinion - it means they can be bothered to look at.”

“Believe it or not we’ve had really good feedback from people who live around here, we didn’t get any negative comments.”

In 2020 he had to reapply to East Riding Council for planning permission after knocking down the building, which is at the end of a row of terrace cottages built in 1940 for Coastguard personnel. He’d originally been given permission for “alterations and extensions” in 2018. Eventually the council accepted that the end result would “visually appear the same as the approved conversion”.

Nearly two years were lost to Covid, which had a drastic impact on retail. Then daughter Sana suffered serious heart problems. Zahid said: “Basically we had a lot of setbacks, but some of the setbacks were not to do with the site, they were more to do with the line of work I’m in.

“My daughter suffers from tachycardia. She had an attack of tachycardia (when the heart beats too fast). Most people will have heard of sudden death syndrome where the heart switches off. If they are lucky it switches back on. She now has a defibrillator that will shock her.

“The whole purpose of this place was for family and our children to enjoy. She loves it and that’s the most important thing.”

He said they’d grown quite fond of Kevin and his team: “It was a very positive experience and it’s something I’d advise anyone to go for.”