Kevin McCloud says British homes are getting more playful

British homes are getting more playful, Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud says.

Domestic architecture in the United Kingdom has become more relaxed, he told Dezeen, the architecture and design publication, in an interview published on 8 October 2026. The change is about looseness as much as looks. More wit. Less stiffness. That assessment was reported by Dezeen.

McCloud has presented Grand Designs since it first aired in 1999. That is a long run at the front of a television series about people who design and build their own homes. He has watched tastes come, go and come back. His latest read is that confidence is rising.

One of his examples was the arch. He pointed to a steady return to building arches in homes, according to the same interview. An arch is a curved structure that spans an opening. In a house that can mean a rounded doorway, a curved niche or a softer junction between rooms.

Think curves instead of corners. Think gentle thresholds. The effect is simple and easy to read on screen, which matters for a general audience.

He also talked about language around green building. Sustainability is the broad term. It covers energy, materials, waste, water and wildlife. Carbon is tighter. It counts the greenhouse-gas emissions linked to making materials, putting up a building and running it day to day.

McCloud told Dezeen he sees renewed interest in that carbon question, as opposed to just sustainability. The distinction matters for householders. A home can look green without tackling its emissions. A focus on carbon asks where the emissions actually come from.

Brick came up too. Five buildings on the 2026 shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize are brick-built. The Stirling Prize is the annual award for Britain's best new building. Among the shortlisted brick buildings is a brick home on the edge of Epping Forest by architecture practice Sergison Bates.

For viewers, this means the next run of ambitious self-builds may feel warmer. Curves beside heat pumps. Texture beside solar panels. McCloud is not picking winners. He is describing what he sees on plans and on site.