A home which featured on Channel 4's Grand Designs suffered £200,000 worth of damage due to the roof collapsing after the site's contractor forgot an important rule.

Richard Hawkes and his wife Sophie appeared on the Channel 4 show back in 2009 as they built their dream home in Maidstone, Kent.

The build was described as "lunacy" by Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud mainly due to the "gravity defying" roof arch which was included.

The feature measured in at 20 metres wide, nine metres high and 100mm thick, with three layers of tiles.

Sudbury Mercury: The Grand Designs home, located in Kent, appeared on the Channel 4 show back in 2009.The Grand Designs home, located in Kent, appeared on the Channel 4 show back in 2009. (Image: Channel 4)

Grand Designs home owner describes moment roof collapsed costing £200,000

It was described as a world-first design, with the method usually only used on dome shapes, and the builders were briefed not to lean on the structure during construction.

But one builder seemed to forget this simple room as Richard, speaking to The Sun, revealed the "dramatic" moment the roof collapsed during the middle of filming (for Grand Designs).

Richard, 49, said: "There was a time when Kevin was on site filming with the house in the background when the roof collapsed.

"I was standing by the camera person looking at the camera. You hear this almighty crash."

He added: "One of the things they were told not to do was lean on the first layer of tiles. It's extremely delicate.

"It's the subsequent layers that make it stronger. He leaned too much. It made part of it fail and whatever that was left fell with it. So that was dramatic."

The site's contractor fell through the roof causing £200,00 worth of damage and setting the project back a week.

He came out of the incident mainly unscathed with just a graze to his head and bruised ego.

Grand Designs home has "given us more than we ever expected"

Richard spoke about how he and wife Sophie used to stop outside the property, before they did it up when it was a tiny cottage, and just look up at the sky and stargaze.

He said: "We used to stop the car outside the plot where we now live, and turn the engine off, wind the windows down, look out and see the most incredible starscapes.

"It was proper silence and a black sky and we just thought wow, how amazing. So a few years later when the plot went up for sale we thought we had to have a go."

Richard is an architect and was filled with ideas when it came to designing the perfect home.

He said the home they managed to create, the pair are both now proud of.

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Richard added: "It was very brave and I wouldn't expose a client of mine to that level of risk. But I'm extremely proud of given the opportunity of doing my own house I didn't just do my day job.

"I wanted it to test me and I wasn't shy even with the television camera there. It's the most amazing thing.

"Every day I come home and see my house rearing over the landscape and see the scary thinness of the arch.

"I have such pride. It's as solid as a rock. It's brilliant. I'm very pleased. The house has given us more than we ever expected from a house."