IT WAS a blockbuster project, but few would have known that a Grimsby business played a key part in the renovation of a former cinema on Channel 4's Grand Designs.
Bennett's Timber, based on the South Humberside Industrial Estate, supplied the timber cladding for Thorne couple Gwyn and Kate ap Harri's ambitious quest to transform a crumbling Edwardian cinema into a modern family home, which screened on Wednesday.
The thermowood cladding featured on the new extensions at the back of the former 1920s Kensington Picture House.
It is not the first time that Bennett's has provided materials for Grand Designs, having previously been featured in an episode of the show in Falmouth in 2011 where it supplied Western Red Cedar.
And is it also believed cladding supplied by Bennett's has been used on other projects coming up in the current series, too.
Bennett's managing director Edward Bennett said: "I am really pleased that our products have featured again on Grand Designs.
"This is becoming a bit of a habit as I believe two further episodes in this new series highlight timber cladding that we have supplied."
And the local connection to the episode didn't end there, as the couple told presenter Kevin McCloud how their inspiration for the pine cladding came from a visit to the Cleethorpes Discovery Centre, where the couple said they had visited to see how the material weathered.
The ap Harris' project cost £450,000 and drew support from a Thorne campaign group, set up to fight against the loss of many of the town's historic buildings, who inspected the site to ensure it was up to scratch.
The house, made almost entirely from concrete, features an impressive and unique four metre hydraulic door at the back, a walled garden, outdoor pool and, fittingly, a cinema room, so the legacy of the old cinema can live on. The restoration initially began in 2011 after a battle with the town's planning authority, who insisted the facade of the historic former cinema building be preserved, and was finally completed in March this year.
Presenter McCloud was initially disappointed to see the couple had decided to knock out a floor from the old cinema foyer which he had discovered when busying himself with a sweeping brush, but he later described the replacement marble-style design as "magnificent".
Bennett's is now in its sixth generation of the family, who initially founded the business way back in 1804.
Mr Bennett added: "We have found a niche market for external cladding over the past few years which has become increasingly popular as a building material and this has developed through our specialist website www.timbercladding.net."
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