Episode 4: In which the illusions of TV are revealed

A couple of weeks ago the television program The Renovators screened an episode* where two teams of amateur renovators were challenged to build a site shed at a tip using only materials found on site. The tip in question was Kimbriki, and the two teams, under the guidance of sustainable house guru, Michael Mobbs, were provided with identical bare frames from which they had to construct sheds. Each shed would have solar panels for power and the renovating teams had to consider sustainability design aspects as well as the materials to be used.

The episode was actually shot a couple of months ago so the two little sheds have been sitting in the bare expanse of the landfill area for some time now and are starting to show the effects of the environment and also the, ahem, workmanship. Today I learned the background story to what appeared on the TV show and as this is a blog about stripping bare our consumer culture and revealing what happens behind the scenes, I am going to share some secrets with you.

But, sshhhh. Don’t tell anyone.

First thing to remember is that the point of TV shows, even (so-called) reality shows – in fact, especially reality shows – is not actual events or people. The point is entertainment, ratings and advertising dollars. If that point is best served by bending, or totally dismantling and reconstructing, reality, then that’s what they do. The second thing to remember is that in the episode of The Renovators where the site sheds were built, the teams were given only five hours to complete the task. A tall order by any standards but that sort of challenge makes for better viewing (ratings, advertising dollars, etc) than if they had, say, a week or so to fully consider the task and then build it with a view to the long-term.

Those disclaimers made, this is how it unfolded on the ground.

The network first approached Kimbriki some months before the scheduled episode to seek permission. Kimbriki has been reluctant lately to allow film crews on site due to insurance concerns, although they do occasionally allow commercials to be shot there. However, after some consideration they decided that The Renovators would be a worthwhile project, not least of which because it would showcase some of what they are doing at Kimbriki.

The question then was, where to do it? This is a big site, but most of it is dedicated to specific purposes. There was also access to consider. The initial thought was to use the carpark at the Eco House, but it’s not big and while the location would have been appropriate, when they considered the amount of support vehicles and equipment that the TV network would need to bring in, it really wasn’t viable. That left only the landfill site. The actual tip face was closer to where the sheds are than it is now, but even so, it was a large enough space to accommodate the two sheds plus all the support vehicles and equipment.

Secret No.1:  Not everything that was used for the eco-sheds was salvaged from the tip site. The network did bring in some stuff with them which they placed in the Buy Back Centre so it would look as though the contestants were picking it up there. As a result they had to shut the Buy Back Centre for the day under the ruse of ‘stocktaking’– how embarrassing it would have been if an unsuspecting member of the public inadvertently bought and walked off with a vital piece of equipment needed for the show. They also had to close the landfill down for the day.

Secret No.2:  The shells of the sheds were already built. All the renovating teams had to do was fill them in – a bit like colouring by numbers only with building materials.

A lot of the effect of the finished sheds in the TV episode is in how they looked. That is, the ‘styling’, in TV renovating jargon. Now, we’re talking a tip, here. The guys who oversee the landfill and tip face really aren’t interested in décor, so most of it has been removed. The ‘winning’ shed had a lot of plants around it, but as there is no water at that end of the site there is no way of keeping the plants alive, so they’ve been removed. Likewise a lot of the interior and exterior decoration from both sheds.

Both sheds were equipped with solar panels but they, too, have been removed before, according to Richard, my guide for this morning, ‘someone nicked ‘em’. Quite so.

I’m not sure whether TV renovators are judged on the quality of their workmanship, but the ceilings of both sheds have both collapsed and need to be rebuilt, and part of the roof guttering on one has also fallen down. If these guys were renovating my house I’d be bumping up my insurance.

Secret No.3:  Despite the brief that the sheds had to incorporate sustainability designs, the only consideration seems to have been the roof angle on one (the winning shed angled the roof towards the north to accommodate the solar panels) and the recycled materials. The walls are not lined or insulated and they are going to be like little ovens in the summer.

The ‘losing’ shed was meant to be demolished but the Kimbriki guys are going to keep them both standing. Despite the collapsed ceilings, unlined walls and lack of power and water, the landfill staff do use the sheds as their lunch rooms and have plans to repair them and bring up to a standard where they really are functional as site offices and lunch rooms and along with the Eco House, will remain as a showcase of what can be accomplished with stuff that other people have thrown ‘away’.

*you can watch the episode here