Kevin McCloud, host of the UK series Grand Designs, has been no stranger to Christchurch since our earthquakes levelled large parts of the central city. He visited the CBD when it was still a no-go zone, lent his profile to Gap Filler and other renewal projects and helped judged the Breathe: Urban Village Project competition.

Kevin will bring his Home Truths show to Christchurch in February, taking to the stage for a Q&A session he knows will range widely. In fact, he’s keen to get your questions already – head to his X (Twitter) account – @Kevin_McCloud – to get yours in.

Here are some we managed to sneak in ahead of the show – thanks Kevin!

So how are you feeling about coming back to Christchurch?

I look forward to seeing the progress every time. Last time I was there, in 2018, it was patchy. There were these great blocks of derelict land and then you got six amazing houses. There was amazing stuff going up all along the river. I like the riverfront, the accessibility of that seemed good.

Ultimately, the urban village project didn’t go ahead.

No, they couldn’t find a developer. We had an amazing scheme in the end. It’s unfortunate that inevitably in the wake of disaster the community rallies and cities rally but unless you can attract and bring in the money it doesn’t happen. And then  of course the money comes in and then the money tells you what it’s going to do. Money talks, the money decides. I think there have been some opportunites there that have been missed. It’s amazing that anything happened and that the city did rebuild itself.  

Our own Grand Designs is screening now. Earlier series copped some criticism for over-egging the drama of an architectural build – are you aware of needing to strike a balance there?

That’s really interesting. I’ve always enjoyed the New Zealand series. I haven’t seen Tom [Webster’s] yet but I know Chris [Moller] the former presenter really well and I always enjoyed his style because I always felt it was in the national character, a powerful gentle reticence. There’s a Yorkshire story about that because where I’m from people don’t talk much. So there’s a researcher interviewing a Yorkshire couple and he says ‘You’re both very reticent’. She says I don’t know that means and her husband says “It means saying nowt for a long time.”

You’re not going to bring that aspect of your heritage to the stage, are you?

No, otherwise it would be a really quiet show. I come from a family of Yorkshire teachers and engineers so there’s no chance of that. I’ve got lots of preachers in my family – my cousin, my grandfather... The thing about being on stage is that you want to approach it in the spirit of generosity because you want people to laugh and enjoy themselves and go away having enjoyed themselves. So not very much finger-wagging and a lot of silly stories.

What can audiences expect from the show?

It’s a big question and answer session, which sounds like a recipe for chaos, which it is. I’m going to be bringing some readymade questions with me. And then I’m going to be asking for questions from the audience as well and we’ll be going on a bit of a journey together through Grand Designs, through architectural design, a bit of engineering for idiots – that suits me – and you know, a history of chairs.

You will be making yourself quite vulnerable with the Q&A session – anything out of bounds?

Yes I am but that’s OK because I’m in control of the screen. If someone throws up a silly question to embarrass me all they’re going to do is embarrass themselves. Anything for a laugh, though – if it gets a laugh I’ll put it up.

What’s your favourite material to build with?

I have to say it’s trees. People can eulogise about concrete and steel but actually they’re very limited in their variety. Yes they’ve got amazing engineering properties but wood when it’s laminated properly can also have the same qualities. I’ve seen motorway bridges, sports halls, huge arenas made entirely out of timber. In Norway there’s a  85m skyscraper built entirely of timber. So I’m a big fan of timber. I love it in all its guises – as insulation, structurally. I love using cork, which is the skin of the oak plant. It’s just the way timber has life and liveliness, and it’s a renewable material.

How’s your own grand design getting on – do you have one?

I have lots of stuff on the go at the moment. Over the weekend I was dismantling the kitchen that was in the house when we bought it. There’s a new shiny kitchen that we’ve put in but the old one that we took out was sitting in the dining room. Now its use as a temporary kitchen has come to an end – I say temporary, it was a year – and I’ve now put it in the boiler room as a workshiop bench. I love being able to repurpose and rededicate things. It’s like you make something and there’s a moment at which you actually dedicate it. It’s quite a sacrosant moment when you say this is fixed and it is done and look at it, it looks different and it’s got a new purpose and it’s beautiful. Or not.  

From your CV you could have ended up doing any number of things. What would you want to be doing if not this?

I have ended up doing pretty well anything. Presenting television programmes – it’s not a job really, is it? It’s a very odd thing. It’s a bit like being a physics teacher for seven-year-olds. I love it. And I’m going to contradict you and say I’m probably incapable of doing anything else. I possibly would have enjoyed being a farmer. Not that you make money out of farming but I enjoy my own company so much and I have to spend great chunks of the day in my own company so I’d be great on the tractor.

I do it as a hobby now anyway. I plant trees. I’m a hobby farmer. Wildflower meadows, traditional standard orchards of local varieties and trees. No animals other than domestic cats. What really interests me is planting for climate change, how in the UK we alter the mix of our timber cropping and woodland species to get the best for biodiversity but also to be resistant to all the changes that are coming our way.

What else is coming for you in 2024?

I’m becoming a grandfather again, in late spring, so that’s pretty exciting. This will be my second. I have some very vague deadlines for the building project at home and then some even vaguer ones for work but we’ve got a series to deliver in September next year. Filming for Grand Designs is constant, that’s year round.   

And I curate an exhibition here in Sussex each year called Barkichecture, which is a competition to design kennels for dogs. It’s part of a wider canine extravaganza called Goodwoof, based at Goodwood, hence all the puns.

What’s your favourite way to relax?

Well I play the piano extremely badly, I’m very slow. I’m the personality type that knows no time when I’m involved in a project so I could be at it for 11 hours or 11 minutes and I have no sense of where I am. I have to say planting trees is probably when I’m at my happiest.

Who’s your personal hero?

I really struggle with this question because there are so many people who have helped me along the way. Loads of people. The only answer really is my dad. He was an engineer, a rocket scientist, he stripped our boiler down... By the age of 10, I had no idea there were professions such as plumbing engineer, garage mechanic, gardener, shed builder, architect, designer – he did everything! He rebuilt the entire house. If there was something wrong with the car he would take the engine out and replace it. And as kids we were inveigled into helping him do this stuff. He would repair other people’s television sets because he was an electronics nut, you know. If you needed a rocket built, he could do it. Usually with stuff he’d half-inched [pinched] from work.

Is there someone you would love to collaborate with?

I’ve got lots of projects on the go at the moment and in the end I would sooner be working with my friends, my great collaborators for a long time. Why make life hard for yourself when you can make every day a pleasure in the company of great people?  

Christchurch Town Hall, Wed 7 Feb, premier.ticketek.co.nz