DIY SOS: Grenfell
Nick Knowles on working with the Grenfell community to create two special buildings for their future…
DIY SOS: Grenfell WEDNESDAY / BBC1 / 9Pm
It was a tragedy that broke the hearts of the nation. In the early hours of Wednesday 14 June 2017, a devastating fire broke out in Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey block of flats in North Kensington, west London, which would claim the lives of 72 people, and leave many more injured and homeless.
Three days later, the dedicated team from BBC1’S DIY SOS arrived at the site, determined to help in any way they could, and after months of consultation, they were given permission to construct two new buildings for the community.
Today, the show’s presenter, Nick Knowles, has invited TV Times to see the new community centre and boxing club that the team have been busily working on.
The airy community centre is a two-storey oasis, with upstairs rooms extending into trees outside to create the sense of a high-spec tree house. Hidden from view are discreet counselling rooms. The state-of-the-art boxing gym is the new home for the Dale Youth Amateur Boxing Club, which was destroyed in the fire. On the walls are motivational quotes from club trainer Mick Delaney and photos of the youngsters he inspires. From a corner window, you can see the remains of Grenfell Tower; a stark reminder of why we’re here today.
Nick, 55, tells TV Times why the two-part special, DIY SOS: Grenfell, features a build like no other…
When did the DIY SOS team become involved in Grenfell? We were working on another DIY SOS project and happened to put on the TV late at night. We sat in disbelief as we watched it unfold. Our executive producer Robi [Dutta] was in Grenfell three days after the fire. I came a week later. We talked to the people to see if there was anything we could do.
How did you include the community in the project?
We started a general consultation process, put up posters and flyers and held meetings so people could give their opinions. The consensus was that the boxing club was really important to young people in the area, while a multi-use community centre was seen as the way forward for groups who wanted to use it.
What challenges did you face? Building underneath the Westway presented a few difficulties. It’s the main route in and out of London so
we didn’t want to damage it! You can’t get a regular crane in here, so we needed a spider crane. It’s the toughest build DIY SOS has done but, morally, the most important.
Why was this location chosen?
It was critical we built close to the tower so people felt it was in the community. Working with Child Bereavement UK, we discovered counselling was happening a mile and a half away, which was too far. Everyone wanted this build close by.
What concerns did people raise? People were rightfully suspicious about the motivations. Who would own it? Who was making money out of it? We had a tea tent in the middle of the green and spent hours chatting with no barriers.
did you talk about the fire?
Yes. Among those we talked to were the firefighters, the Gomes family [Andreia and Marcio Gomes are the parents of the youngest victim, stillborn baby boy Logan] and Nabil Choucair, who lost six members of his family. The emotional wreckage is heartrending, but there’s also an extraordinary sense of a community coming together. The fact that they allowed us to work with them was a great honour and something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
if this were a commercial project, how much would it have cost? £2million. There’s £100,000 worth of steel in it, and everything was donated – time, supplies, lighting, electrics, drainage, groundworks… Firefighters came in on their time off. A boxer from the youth club made the front desk. It’s not been easy. We had to shift the stairs by one metre at one point! But we’ve built two buildings with the help of volunteers from the community and all over the country. How long did it take?
We usually do 10-day builds. The street for veterans in Manchester took 15 days. This one took nine weeks. We’ve gone the extra mile on everything. For example, fire regulations say a building of this kind doesn’t need sprinklers, but we’ve put them in. Also, because it’s under the Westway it’s got air-purifying units. We’ve gone belt and braces on everything.
does it feel like an extra special achievement?
It’s special and important. Grenfell was a national disaster, but also a very private and personal disaster to every family involved. Promises had been made and the community were rightly angry when things didn’t materialise. It was critical we completed the task so there’s something that the community can use. It’s important to show that things can and should be built. Can these buildings help the community look to the future? We hope so, but it’s for the people who live through this to decide when they start looking to the future. There’s an enormous amount of grief still to work through. It’s part of the reason we built counselling rooms. But yes, certainly, we hope having somewhere new to gather in will help them to heal.
in the first episode this week, we’ll see the boxing club’s doors open. Was it a big event?
Yes, all the kids came piling into the gym. They were smiling and laughing, using the running machines and hitting all the punch bags! They were so full of joy and happiness that day.
It’s the toughest build DIY SOS has done but, morally, the
most important