List of ''Grand Designs'' episodes
This is a list of episodes from the television series Grand Designs and its spin-offs Grand Designs Indoors, Grand Designs Abroad and Grand Designs Trade Secrets.
Grand Designs (1999–present)
The way the episodes have been released on DVD differs slightly to the order they were aired on TV. The episode guide below shows the episodes as they aired with all the revisited versions also included. The DVD releases slightly reorder some of the episodes in each series and instead of the full revisited shows they simply have the ten minutes of footage that differs from the original broadcast included for the episodes on the disc.
Series overview
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | Average viewers (millions) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||||
| 1 | 8 | 29 April 1999 | 24 June 1999 | TBA | ||
| 2 | 17 | 17 July 2001 | 1 October 2002 | TBA | ||
| 3 | 12 | 12 February 2003 | 29 October 2003 | TBA | ||
| 4 | 8 | 21 January 2004 | 10 March 2004 | TBA | ||
| 5 | 11 | 6 April 2005 | 16 November 2005 | TBA | ||
| 6 | 8 | 5 April 2006 | 23 May 2006 | TBA | ||
| 7 | 12 | 28 February 2007 | 16 May 2007 | TBA | ||
| 8 | 12 | 16 January 2008 | 2 April 2008 | TBA | ||
| 9 | 13 | 28 January 2009 | 29 April 2009 | TBA | ||
| 10 | 14 | 15 September 2010 | 15 December 2010 | 2.85 | ||
| 11 | 12 | 14 September 2011 | 30 November 2011 | 2.71 | ||
| 12 | 12 | 12 September 2012 | 5 December 2012 | 2.67 | ||
| 13 | 11 | 4 September 2013 | 13 November 2013 | 2.66 | ||
| 14 | 10 | 3 September 2014 | 5 November 2014 | 1.92 | ||
| 15 | 4 | 9 July 2015 | 30 July 2015 | 1.12 | ||
| 16 | 9 | 9 September 2015 | 13 November 2015 | TBA | ||
| 17 | 8 | 21 September 2016 | 17 November 2016 | TBA | ||
| 18 | 1 | 30 May 2017 | TBA | TBA | ||
Episodes
Series 1 (1999)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Timber Frame Kit House" | Newhaven, East Sussex | 29 April 1999 |
| Tim Cox and Julia Brock want to build their home on a clifftop in Newhaven. | |||
| 2 | "The English Barn" | Oxfordshire | 6 May 1999 |
| Kevin travels to Oxfordshire to see the conversion of an English barn by Denys and Marjorie Randolph. | |||
| 3 | "The Co-Op" | Brighton | 13 May 1999 |
| Started in 1998, this development of ten timber frame houses is based on the Walter Segal method of construction and was led by Jenny and Paul Crouch. They incorporate high levels of Warmcell insulation and benefit from south-facing solar gain. The roofs are of sedum. Episode Revisited on 13 March 2001.[1] | |||
| 4 | "The Water Tower" | Coleshill, Amersham | 20 May 1999 |
| Kevin travels to Amersham to see the conversion of an old water tower into a stylish new home by Deborah Mills and architect Andrew Tate. | |||
| 5 | "The Eco-House" | Suffolk | 3 June 1999 |
| Kevin travels to Suffolk to see the build of an environmentally friendly house by former tax inspector Rob Roy. Episode Revisited 15 March 2001.[2] | |||
| 6 | "The Chapel" | Cornwall | 10 June 1999 |
| Kevin travels to Cornwall to see the conversion of an old chapel by Gavin Allen and Jane Fitzsimons. | |||
| 7 | "The House of Straw" | Islington, North London | 17 June 1999 |
| In Islington, Jeremy Till and Sarah Wigglesworth are building a house of sandbags and straw. Episode Revisited 13 March 2001.[3] | |||
| 8 | "The Glass-House" | Town Fields, Doncaster | 24 June 1999 |
| Michael Hird and Lindsay Harwood build a glass and steel home in Doncaster. Episode Revisited 8 November 2001.[4] | |||
Series 2 (2001–02)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Regency Villa" | Farnham, Surrey | 17 July 2001 |
| Kevin McCloud meets a woman determined to build the house of her dreams, an enormous Georgian-style mansion. Helen Saunders and her husband Mark Eisenstadt finally found the perfect plot of land in Farnham, and have spent years planning every aspect of their new home. Having undergone extensive preparation, they don't foresee too many problems, but once the build gets underway their dream soon turns into a nightmare. | |||
| 2 | "The New England Gable House" | Sussex | 24 July 2001 |
| Kevin McCloud visits the Sussex Downs to follow the construction of a New England-style kit house bought and designed entirely on the internet. Self-builder Jane Warren loves the New England style, and when she discovered that she could replicate it in the UK by buying an entire kit house, she just had to have one. Will Jane realise her dream of celebrating her first anniversary with her new husband Willem Mulder, in her new home or will her New England kit house become a living hell? | |||
| 3 | "The Wool Mill" | Netherton, Yorkshire | 31 July 2001 |
| Kevin McCloud meets Chris and Jill Heleine, who have chosen to build their dream home in Huddersfield. Some time ago they bought a deserted textile mill, which they dream of giving a light, modern interior. The build has been organised like a military operation, their filing system has left nothing to chance and Chris will even be doing some of the work himself. But will their dream home turn out exactly as they expected? | |||
| 4 | "The Isolated Cottage" | Brecon Beacons, Wales | 7 August 2001 |
| Kevin McCloud travels to Wales to visit Adrian and Corrina, who have decided that their first home will be a 300-year-old ruin. The cottage is set in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Corrina and Adrian have a very small budget and an enormous amount of work to do to return the ruin to its former glory but they are eager and seemingly undaunted by the scale of the project. But how will they cope when the elements suddenly turn on them? | |||
| 5 | "The Cruciform House" | Lambourn Valley, Berkshire | 14 August 2001 |
| Kevin McCloud meets Rupert and Julie Upton, who are building a very experimental idea in the Lambourn Valley. Their dream is to create an amazing cross-shaped house made of oak and glass, strikingly modern with the most superb views. But each piece of wood has to be custom made and the design itself is incredibly complex. Few people would have the courage to take on such an experimental build – will Rupert and Julie's bravery pay off? | |||
| 6 | "The Self-Build" | Birmingham | 21 August 2001 |
| Kevin McCloud checks out a housing scheme in Birmingham. It's near impossible for many people, particularly those on a low income, to buy their own home. However, a Birmingham Housing Association along with Angela and Peter has set up a scheme that allows people to build one instead. The group of 11 men and women will build, not just their own property, but each other's homes as well. None of these budding self-builders have previous experience in the trade and have undergone extensive training to teach them the ropes. | |||
| 7 | "The Jewel Box" | London | 28 August 2001 |
| Kevin McCloud visits a couple who are looking to build their hi-tech modern house in a quiet north London street. Sarah Jordan and Coneyl Jay have long dreamt of the perfect work and living space. Unable to find what they were looking for they decided to build their own. However the site they have found is situated in a predominantly Edwardian street. While they wait to see if the council approve their plans, they employ architect Mike Tonkin to realise their vision but can their ambitious project ever become reality? | |||
| 8 | "The Derelict Barns" | Devon | 4 September 2001 |
| Kevin McCloud travels to south Devon to meet Sue Charman and Martin Whitlock whose dream is to create a family home which feels part of the earth, using old English building techniques. They are not starting from scratch, but rebuilding two ancient run-down barns. Environmental concerns are extremely important to them, but will they manage to realise their vision of rebuilding the barns in same meticulous way they were built originally, whilst incorporating energy efficient, 21st century technology? | |||
| 9 | "The Glass-House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 1: Episode 8) | Doncaster | 8 November 2001 |
| Kevin McCloud returns to Doncaster to catch up with Michael Hird and Lindsay Harwood, who set out to build a futuristic glass and steel house on the edge of a conservation area. | |||
| 10 | "The Eco-House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 1: Episode 5) | Suffolk | 15 November 2001 |
| Alida Saunders and Rob Roy | |||
| 11 | "The House of Straw: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 1: Episode 7) | Islington, North London | 22 November 2001 |
| Jeremy Till and Sarah Wigglesworth built their experimental central London house out of straw bales, springs and sandbags. Nearly nine years after its conception, Kevin McCloud returns to the award-winning house to see the finished property and find out if an adjacent railway line is causing a disturbance. | |||
| 12 | "The Self-Build: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 2: Episode 6) | Birmingham | 29 November 2001 |
| Angela, Peter and housing association people | |||
| 13 | "The Co-Op: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 1: Episode 3) | Brighton | 6 December 2001 |
| Jenny and Paul Crouch | |||
| 14 | "The Isolated Cottage: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 2: Episode 4) | Brecon Beacons, Wales | 10 September 2002 |
| Corrina and Adrian | |||
| 15 | "The Dilapidated Georgian House: Revisited" (Revisited from Grand Designs Indoors - 15 March 2001) | London | 17 September 2002 |
| Sharon and Tony Relph. Kevin McCloud revisits a couple who hoped to restore a dilapidated Georgian house in London to its former glory. Once 200 years of redecoration and refurbishment had been stripped away, the property boasted elegant period features, but the pair still had to overcome daunting interior decay problems. | |||
| 16 | "The Water Tower: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 1: Episode 4) | Coleshill, Amersham | 24 September 2002 |
| Deborah Mills and Andrew Tate | |||
| 17 | "The Derelict Barns: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 2: Episode 8) | Devon | 1 October 2002 |
| Sue Charman and Martin Whitlock | |||
Series 3 (2003)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Wooden Box" | Peterborough | 12 February 2003 |
| Kevin McCloud is in Cambridgeshire, where John and Terri Westlake intend to knock down a derelict house and commission commercial architects to build them a new one. | |||
| 2 | "The Water-Works" | Whaley, Derbyshire | 19 February 2003 |
| The 1930s derelict water works Chris Jones and Leanne Smith fell in love with was huge and its design had clearly been inspired by Gilbert Scott's Bankside power station, now better known as the Tate Modern. But nothing would deter the couple. 'We looked at it,' said Chris, 'and saw our home.' | |||
| 3 | "The Woodsmans Cottage" | Sussex | 26 February 2003 |
| For 10 years, Ben Law lived in tents and caravans in a wood in West Sussex. As a woodsman, he needed and wanted to live among the trees, but now he wants a house for some creature comforts. Ben has invited volunteers to help him build a sustainable house by hand, from the materials growing around him. | |||
| 4 | "The Victorian Threshing Barn" | Surrey | 5 March 2003 |
| Philip and Angela Traill set out to convert a 150-year-old barn near Surrey. The barn is grade two listed which means they have to keep the outside intact but are free to do what they please on the inside. They didn't want to do another typical barn conversion, so they decided to build their "house" inside instead. A helical stairway leads to a suspended curved walkway, with master bedroom on one side and the children bedrooms on the other. The kitchen is in an adjacent stable block, which was integrated into the main building. The house is also packed with computer wiring a central stereo system and ambient lighting system consisting of 188 lights. Everywhere you look curves interplay with straight lines. The result is a beautiful mixture of new and old, exquisitely finished in detail. | |||
| 5 | "The Inverted-Roof House" | Buckinghamshire | 12 March 2003 |
| Tom and Judy Perry wanted more than just a home for themselves and their two children. On a site of outstanding natural beauty in Buckinghamshire, they set out to build an ambitious house – a symphony of angles, glass walls and exposed steel, with a dramatic inverted roof. Tom made himself site manager and main contractor. He had no experience but he liked a challenge – and, after all, how difficult could it be? And it turns out to be very difficult. | |||
| 6 | "The Terrace Conversion" | Hackney, London | 17 September 2003 |
| After 10 years of living in a small house in east London, John Flood and Eleni Skordaki hankered after modern, open-plan living. They didn't want to move, so they decided to give their Victorian terrace home a radical redesign. The house was situated in a conservation area, so the outside had to remain unchanged. However, inside they decided to rip out everything; walls, ceilings, floors, and start completely a fresh. | |||
| 7 | "The Underground House" | Cumbria | 24 September 2003 |
| Helen Gould and Phil Reddy wanted their home to make the most of spectacular views, but they also wanted it to be ecologically friendly. Their solution was to build an earth-sheltered home, with most of the house built into the hillside. | |||
| 8 | "The Traditional Cottage" | Herefordshire | 1 October 2003 |
| Merry's family have been Herefordshire builders for generations, so she knew that the county was rich in traditional building crafts. She and Ben Albright decided to combine these with technology for a new house with a genuinely rural feel. | |||
| 9 | "The Cruciform House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 2: Episode 5) | Lambourn Valley, Berkshire | 8 October 2003 |
| Kevin McCloud catches up with Rupert and Julie Upton. The three-year build on the picturesque slopes of the Berkshire Downs was wracked with hold-ups, set-backs and spiralling costs but the gardens have now been landscaped, and the timber frame has aged in colour from honey to silver as the property settles down into its outstanding rural setting. | |||
| 10 | "The House of Straw: 2nd Revisiting" (Revisited from Series 1: Episode 7) | Islington, North London | 15 October 2003 |
| Kevin McCloud catches up with Sarah Wigglesworth and Jeremy Till, who constructed their experimental central London house out of straw bales, springs, cloth cladding and sandbags. They laid themselves on the line, both professionally and personally, as their build slowly advanced from one architectural style to the next. Kevin returns to this award-winning house to find out whether it is well and truly finished. | |||
| 11 | "The Former Electricity Sub-Station: Revisited" (Revisited from Grand Designs Indoors - 1 March 2001) | Sunderland | 22 October 2003 |
| Kevin McCloud revisits a couple who converted a disused electricity substation in Sunderland into a four-bedroom family home, armed with just £50,000 and ideas from a book about Moroccan interiors. Despite a number of setbacks, Anne and Richard Curtis created a living space which, three years later, has had a sumptuous rooftop garden added to it. | |||
| 12 | "The English Barn: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 1: Episode 2) | Berkshire | 29 October 2003 |
| Kevin McCloud catches up on retired couple Denys and Marjorie Randolph, who had decided to embark on their final building project, a brand new, green oak, barn-style house. | |||
Series 4 (2004)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Violin Factory" | Lambeth, London | 21 January 2004 |
| Louise and Milko Ostendorf wanted to build the home of a lifetime. Milko's job as a well-paid City banker meant they could think big, so Louise set up her own architectural practice and they bought a disused violin factory in the heart of London's Waterloo. The crumbling building was hemmed in on all sides and had no views, but Louise had a vision of a spectacular loft-style home that would combine stunning design with utter luxury. | |||
| 2 | "Customised German Kit House" | Walton on Thames, Surrey | 28 January 2004 |
| David and Greta Iredale loved their home, a modernist structure in Surrey that they had built themselves almost 40 years ago. It was filled with things they'd chosen over the years – design classics, mementoes, David's paintings. But that house was falling apart and had to come down. Meanwhile, they had lost their hearts to a German post-and-beam house, designed by architect Peter Huf and available as a customised kit (Huf Haus). | |||
| 3 | "The Inverted-Roof House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 3: Episode 5) | Buckinghamshire | 4 February 2004 |
| Tom and Judy Perry wanted more than just a home for themselves and their two children. On a site of outstanding natural beauty in Buckinghamshire, they set out to build an ambitious house – a symphony of angles, glass walls and exposed steel, with a dramatic inverted roof. Tom made himself site manager and main contractor. He had no experience but he liked a challenge – and, after all, how difficult could it be? | |||
| 4 | "19th Century Sandstone House" | Leith, Edinburgh | 11 February 2004 |
| When Reuben Welch and April Marr came across a ruined 19th-century house amid the tower blocks of Leith, Edinburgh, they saw it as their future home. They had no clear idea of how to restore it, and precious little building experience. Still, they were young and fit (they had met on Reuben's climbing wall) and they liked a challenge. So they bought the crumbling shell and set about transforming it with their own hands. | |||
| 5 | "The Curved House" | Clapham South, London | 18 February 2004 |
| David and Anjana Devoy's tiny coach house was proving too small for them and their two children. So they decided to build a new house in their own garden, which was big by London standards. But this particular grassy plot came with problems. It was overlooked by huge blocks of flats, and in the middle of it stood a chestnut tree they weren't allowed to cut down. They came up with an inspired solution: they would build a curving house along the borders of their plot. What's more, they would do a lot of the work themselves. | |||
| 6 | "The Modernist Sugar Cube" | Pett Level, Sussex | 25 February 2004 |
| Tom Watkins and Darron Copping wanted to build a house that would be home to them, their art collection and their two large dogs. Darron's passion for surfing meant it would also have to be near a beach. They already shared a timber beach house in a hamlet on the Sussex coast, and when a neighbour's bungalow came up for sale, they decided to buy it, demolish it and build a dazzling white modernist house in its place. | |||
| 7 | "The Oak-Framed House" | Kilcreggan, Argyll, Scotland | 3 March 2004 |
| Tony and Jo Moffat, musicians with Scottish Opera, had long dreamed of a home in the countryside. They found a perfect site on the Clyde estuary in Argyll and Bute. Located in a small village on a hillside, it had glorious views as far as the isle of Arran and was less than an hour's drive from Glasgow. Inspired by local oak-framed barns, they gave architect Andy McAvoy an open brief. In return, he gave them a design that fused medieval and modern and promised a beautifully simple interior. However, the construction was anything but simple... | |||
| 8 | "An Idiosyncratic Home" | Avon Tyrrell, Dorset | 10 March 2004 |
| Amid 55 acres of organic farmland in the New Forest, Lizzie Vann and Mike Thrasher set out to build an idiosyncratic home. They wanted a house that would reflect their love of travel and eastern cultures, yet blend into the very English countryside around them. Their first proposal, for a wooden Japanese house, was refused planning permission, but after three years of adapting their ideas with architect David Underhill, they were finally ready to build. Their ingenious design was in three sections: a living wing, a bedroom wing and a romantic tower. | |||
Series 5 (2005)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "19th Century Sandstone House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 4: Episode 4) | Edinburgh | 6 April 2005 |
| April Marr and Reuben Welch. Kevin McCloud revisits a thrill-seeking couple who bought a derelict 19th-century stone house in Edinburgh with the aim of restoring it to its former glory. He hopes to discover whether their lack of building experience hindered their ambitious project or if their energy and enthusiasm managed to pull them through. | |||
| 2 | "The Sliding Glass Roof House" aka "Urban Space Pod" | Cossall Park, Peckham, London | 13 April 2005 |
| Here we see an extraordinary and inventive project in South London. This house proves that even in the most crowded areas of our cities, there is potential for Grand Designs. When Monty Ravenscroft and Clare Loewe began looking for a house to buy in London they soon realised that the only affordable option was to build one themselves. They snapped up a dirt cheap slither of land in Peckham at an auction only to be told it was too small to put a house on. Undeterred, three years ago, engineering whiz Monty began building an extraordinary experimental bungalow that filled the site to bursting point. | |||
| 3 | "The 16th Century Farmhouse" | Gloucester | 20 April 2005 |
| When lawyers Jeremy and Louise Brown walked into Upthorpe Farm in Gloucester, they couldn't believe their eyes. It was like stepping back in time. Apart from a few minor alterations, the Grade II listed 16th-century farmhouse had barely been touched for over 400 years and was completely unmodernised with lots of original features. Now that they've purchased the property their ambitious design plan is to bring the farmhouse into the 21st century, blending the original historic features with modern simplicity and luxury. Kevin watches on intrigued as they tackle the challenge of reconciling the very old and the very contemporary. | |||
| 4 | "Finnish Log Cabin" | Kent | 27 April 2005 |
| John Cadney and Marnie Moon have never had a permanent home. So John, a carpenter, has rolled up his sleeves and decided to build a house for his family with his bare hands. For 16 years, John, Marnie and their children have camped on land owned by Marnie's parents, because they could never afford to buy a house in the area where they live. So now they're building their own place. After much searching for the right kind of house they settled on an environmentally friendly four-bedroom log cabin. The whole thing was imported from Finland as hundreds of pre-cut bits of wood. All John had to do is figure out how this kit house fits together! | |||
| 5 | "The Terrace Conversion: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 3: Episode 6) | Hackney, London | 4 May 2005 |
| Kevin McCloud revisits John Flood and Eleni Skordaki, who completely gutted their Victorian terraced house in Hackney, London, to create an open, light, modern space. He discovers whether the struggle to modernise their home while dealing with an Anglo-German conflict between the builders was worth it. | |||
| 6 | "The Violin Factory: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 4: Episode 1) | Lambeth, London | 13 October 2005 |
| An update on Louise and Milko Ostendorf, who embarked on a project to convert an old violin factory in London into a luxury home. The work was threatened by a battle with their orchestral neighbours over a jointly owned wall, and Kevin McCloud returns three years later to find out whether their dispute has been settled. | |||
| 7 | "Shaped Like a Curvy Seashell" | Shaldon, Devon | 19 October 2005 |
| For the last 20 years, Pat Becker has been living in a large Georgian family house overlooking the sea in Devon. Now that her family have flown the nest and the house has grown too big for her, she's decided to build a new home at the bottom of the garden. Shaped like a curvy seashell, the new house has concrete and polystyrene walls, which spiral down from the central staircase. Her architect has promised it will take only six months to build but constructing a round house is never straightforward! | |||
| 8 | "The Woodsmans Cottage: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 3: Episode 3) | Sussex | 26 October 2005 |
| Kevin McCloud returns to West Sussex to see how Ben Law's woodsman's cottage has changed. The house was built on a low budget, using methods dating back to the early medieval period with raw materials from the surrounding countryside. During the past 18 months the upstairs has been completed and the outside has been landscaped. Kevin also discovers how the property has changed Ben's life since the original programme was broadcast. | |||
| 9 | "A 21st Century Answer to the Roman Villa" | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 2 November 2005 |
| This is Belfast, one of the great cities of the industrial revolution, and home to Thomas and Dervla O'Hare. They've lived here for 18 years, and although they still love their tiny cottage for its compactness, they're about to build something much, much bigger. They're building a 21st century answer to the Roman villa, with a copper roof, glass and concrete walls and vast amounts of living space all arranged around a central courtyard. In order to cope with the incredibly steep slope the house was divided across three levels. At the base of the building there is a garage and all the utilities. Through the front door a double-width processional staircase leads up to the living and dining areas. | |||
| 10 | "The Miami-Style Beach House" | Devon | 9 November 2005 |
| Kevin McCloud meets Julie and Mark Veysey, whose Grand Design is a stunning Miami-style beach house on a beachfront plot overlooking the south Devon coast. Julie and Mark have had several holidays in Miami, and Julie wanted to recreate the outdoor beachfront lifestyle back in England, living in a house full of light and sun, within easy reach of the waves. The house is very much Julie's vision and she is passionate about the design. It is a series of dazzling white interlocking boxes topped with a flat zinc roof. | |||
| 11 | "The Eco-House" | Carmarthen, Wales | 16 November 2005 |
| Andrew and Lowri Davies embark on a project to build an environmentally friendly farmhouse in rural Wales. Encouraged by their architect, they opt for some state-of-the-art experimental building materials; but do their builders know how to use them? As the budget spirals out of control, they find it increasingly difficult to balance the budget with their desire for a sustainable home. | |||
Series 6 (2006)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Loch House" | Killearn, Scotland | 5 April 2006 |
| Jim Fairfull considers himself a very lucky guy. He was out fishing with a friend when he came across a beautiful, secluded loch. It's a magical place with stunning views over the nearby hills. He got chatting to the farmer who owned it and discovered the site was for sale. Within a week, he'd done a deal and bought the land. Jim runs a successful wholesale fruit and vegetable company in Glasgow and his wife, Simone, looks after their two girls, aged 11 and eight. Jim and Simone were not intending to self build. But they fell in love with this dramatic location and decided they wanted to live here. | |||
| 2 | "The Contemporary Barn Conversion" | Ross-on-Wye | 12 April 2006 |
| Robert and Jane Ellis decided to convert an isolated hilltop ruin in the Forest of Dean in Herefordshire. Adding modern steel and glass they created a mouthwatering contemporary structure. They decided to keep as much of the old barn as it is. The new additions are clearly modern and new, with a clear line separating old and new. The old barn was very dark with no real windows and since planners ruled that no additional windows can be added, they had to use as much of available light as they could. The result is a surprisingly bright space, filled with lots of steel, stainless struts, glass and the best of modern furniture, where new and old are sitting in a very easy dialog. | |||
| 3 | "The Contemporary Cedar Clad Home" | Stirling, Scotland | 19 April 2006 |
| Theo and Elaine Leijser hoped to bring a bit of Dutch style to Scotland in the building of their first family home – a colourful, contemporary three storey house, with a striking cedar clad exterior. The couple stumbled across the perfect plot overlooking the beautiful Campsie Fells near Glasgow, bought it and began to plan their dream build. | |||
| 4 | "Water Tower Conversion" | Ashford, Kent | 26 April 2006 |
| For six years Bruno and Denise Del Tufo stared at the large concrete water tower at the bottom of their garden trying to figure out what to do with it. It's a very rare object – a square water tower on stilts designed by architect Edwin Lutyens, who built it to supply the manor house nearby. It's not exactly beautiful but Bruno and Denise feel very protective towards it. When they sold their house, they were worried that someone might knock the tower down, so they decided to try to find a way to live in this huge, concrete monster. | |||
| 5 | "19th Century Manor House: Revisited" (Revisited from Grand Designs Abroad - 29 September 2004) | Creuse, France | 3 May 2006 |
| Denise Daniel and Doug Ibbs | |||
| 6 | "300 Year Old Chalet: Revisited" (Revisited from Grand Designs Abroad - 20 October 2004) | Les Gets, France | 10 May 2006 |
| Nicky and James Dobree | |||
| 7 | "Garden House" aka "Mies van der Rohe Inspired House" | Exeter | 17 May 2006 |
| Charting the building plans of Peter and Christine Benjamin, who are hoping to construct a small retirement home within a walled garden in the grounds of the Edwardian manor house where they used to live. The proposed property has floor-to-ceiling glass on one side, with a traditional potting shed-style exterior on the other, but Peter's ambition to design as they build causes problems. | |||
| 8 | "The Curved House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 4: Episode 5) | Clapham, London | 23 May 2006 |
| Anjana and David Devoy | |||
Series 7 (2007)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The 14th Century Castle" (90 minutes) | Skipton, North Yorkshire | 28 February 2007 |
| Every Englishman's home is his castle, but for Francis Shaw this is quite literally true. He and his wife, Karen, and their two young daughters, bought the ruins of a 14th-century castle in North Yorkshire and took on the remarkable challenge of turning a pile of stones into a beautiful home. Surrounded by rolling green fields, the location is idyllic; however, the castle itself was little more than four crumbling walls. | |||
| 2 | "The Thatched Cottage" | Hampshire | 7 March 2007 |
| Eight years ago Alex and Cheryl Reay left London for a new life in the New Forest. They bought a run down medieval thatched cottage and lovingly brought it back to life. Then just before Christmas, with Cheryl pregnant, disaster struck. A fault in the chimney caused a massive fire which destroyed the entire building. Overnight Alex and Cheryl had lost almost £400,000. Whilst most people would have walked away from this, Alex and Cheryl couldn't let go of their dream. Nine months after the fire, they decided to start all over again and rebuild the cottage, bigger and better than before. | |||
| 3 | "The Eco-Barge" | Medway | 14 March 2007 |
| Chris Miller and his wife Sze Liu Lai lived in a tiny flat in East London with their two children Alexion and Tayszea. It was very tight for space and as the kids grew they really felt in need of more room. Chris and Sze are both social workers on low incomes and they have very little in the way of savings. They did however own a small narrow boat, which inspired a solution to their 'no money, no space' dilemma. They decided to build a houseboat which would give them more space for a fraction of the price of a home on land. They began with an 86ft steel barge moored in a boatyard on the River Medway... | |||
| 4 | "The Bournemouth Penthouse" | Bournemouth | 21 March 2007 |
| James and Katrin Gray live in Bournemouth on the south coast. James runs his own book distribution business and Katrin works for an investment bank. They used to live in an apartment on the second floor of a former Victorian hotel. But three years ago, James bought the top floor flat. It was originally built as a solarium for the hotel in the 1920s where holiday-makers could soak up the sun. Now James and Katrin plan to convert it into a modern, luxury penthouse. The first project was to build a large rooftop extension which became the main living area of the new penthouse. This steel frame structure was cleverly knitted between all the obstructions on the roof and leads out onto a fabulous roof top terrace with exclusive views along the coast. | |||
| 5 | "The Eco-House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 5: Episode 11) | Carmarthen, Wales | 28 March 2007 |
| Kevin McCloud returns to rural Wales to visit Andrew and Lowri Davies, who dreamt of replacing their cramped cottage with an environmentally friendly farmhouse built using state-of-the-art eco materials. The couple needed to reduce their mortgage and work to a strict budget - but after an argument with the architect, they found it increasingly difficult to balance the books. | |||
| 6 | "The Birmingham Church" | Tipton, Birmingham | 4 April 2007 |
| Dean Marks has dreamt of living in a church for as long as he can remember. After searching for the right building for years, he came across St Martin's near Birmingham, a huge 18th-century grade II listed church which looks more like a mausoleum. The church wanted £25,000 for it but Dean knocked them down to £12,500. Now, after fighting for planning permission for four years, Dean and his wife, Hilary, are about to transform this derelict monstrosity into a family home. | |||
| 7 | "The Art Deco House" | Guildford | 11 April 2007 |
| When Pilots Andrew Berry and his wife Helen bought their cottage near Guildford in Surrey 7 years ago they always planned to add a small extension. But over the last few years the modest extension has evolved so much that retaining any of the original cottage simply wasn't practical. Now it's being completely demolished to make way for a new five bedroom Art Deco style house. | |||
| 8 | "The Sliding Glass Roof House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 5: Episode 2) | Peckham, London | 18 April 2007 |
| Claire Loewe and Monty Ravenscroft | |||
| 9 | "The Oak-Framed House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 4: Episode 7) | Argyll, Scotland | 25 April 2007 |
| Musicians Tony and Jo Moffat began building a home on the west coast of Scotland, investing in an architect who developed an experimental design emulating a Norwegian longhouse, using a medieval-style oak frame. However, the project soon hit problems, with rocketing costs leaving them struggling to continue. Three years on, Kevin McCloud revisits the couple to see how their creation has progressed. | |||
| 10 | "The Cambridgeshire Eco Home" | Cambridgeshire Fens | 2 May 2007 |
| Kelly and Masoko Neville set about building not just a spectacular oak frame and straw bale house, but a whole new way of life in the Cambridgeshire Fens. Kelly is a carpenter by trade and has always dreamed of building an eco friendly home with his own hands. This highly sustainable house, sitting in harmony with nature and its surroundings, will become the base for Kelly and Masoko's new self-sufficient life where they will produce their own food and energy from the land. | |||
| 11 | "The Tuscan Castle: Revisited" (Revisited from Grand Designs Abroad - 13 October 2004) | Tuscany, Italy | 9 May 2007 |
| Janne Hoff-Tilley and Howard Smythe | |||
| 12 | "The Glass & Timber House" | Dulwich, London | 16 May 2007 |
| Bill and Sarah Bradley are a couple whose dream of living mortgage-free rests on building not one, but two timber framed houses in south London. Building on the site of Bill's old wood workshop, the couple plan to sandwich the houses in between two existing rows, leaving them overlooking, and overlooked, by over twenty neighbours. To get around these difficulties Bill and Sarah's houses will use oblique windows, skylights and double height glazed courtyards to create two beautiful but private homes. But before long the budget is soaring and Bill's desire to go more luxurious and high spec leaves their dream of debt free living looking ever more remote. | |||
Series 8 (2008)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Underground House" | Cheltenham | 16 January 2008 |
| A couple, Zoe and Tim Bawtree, who live in a Regency house in Cheltenham that is expensive to run decide to sell up and build a modern low maintenance house in their back garden. However, height restrictions mean they have to build 60 per cent of their new home underground and neighbours make 90 complaints about their planning application. Undeterred, the pair continue as planned, but the project encounters further problems including the departure of the builders. | |||
| 2 | "The Decagon House" | Oxford | 23 January 2008 |
| Kevin McCloud meets a commercial surveyor, Henry Chopping, with an £800,000 budget who is planning to build an unusual home in Oxford. His chosen plot is situated behind a listed wall and strict planning conditions mean the house has to be only one storey high. With the help of an architect, the owner comes up with a design that makes the most of the land and available light, but his perfectionist nature causes the project to run behind schedule. | |||
| 3 | "The Modernist Sugar Cube" | Sneyd Park, Bristol | 30 January 2008 |
| An architect, Martin Pease (and Katherine) plans an unusual home for his family where everything is white and open plan. He calls upon his experience of designing commercial buildings to build the house and uses materials and systems more commonly used in office projects. The biggest risk is that his house may look more like a car showroom than a comfortable retreat. | |||
| 4 | "The Gothic House" | Herefordshire | 6 February 2008 |
| A couple, Jo and Shaun Bennett, with a love of gothic architecture and horror movies plan to use their budget of £250,000 to build an Addams Family-style house, complete with a stained glass window, a stone fireplace and an oak staircase featuring gargoyles. However, completing the five-bedroom house on limited funds proves difficult. | |||
| 5 | "The Lime Kiln House" | Midlothian, Scotland | 13 February 2008 |
| A couple, Pru and Richard Irvine, decide to build a family home on an industrial site in the Midlothian countryside complete with lime kilns, but are only allowed to do so if they become custodians of the kilns and their house blends in with the landscape. This proves challenging for the pair as they want to build a modern property that could be seen as a blot on the landscape to the locals. The task is made all the more demanding when they underestimate the long hours needed to be a project manager. | |||
| 6 | "The Bath Kit House" | Bathwick Hill, Bath, Somerset | 20 February 2008 |
| Rather than go down the traditional building route, Tiffany and Jonny Wood opted for a German pre-fabricated kit house with great green credentials. Before they could even think about building their house they had to prepare their site: a fiercely steep hillside. Tiffany and Jonny embarked on the biggest ground works project Grand Designs has ever seen, costing around £300,000. And, just when they were about to complete these mammoth works, the weather turned bad and disaster struck. Their neighbour's wall collapsed in a storm. The resulting damage could have cost them nearly £100,000. Determined to carry on, even through 80 tonnes of extra mud, Tiffany and Jonny persevered, and a year into their project, were finally able to go to Germany to choose their house. Every fixture and fitting had to be decided and, once made, no changes were allowed. Now, with the promise of the house taking only five days to go up on site, and with no possibility of landslides, hopefully their build will now run smoothly... | |||
| 7 | "Masseria Impisi: An Artists' Retreat: Revisited" (Revisited from Grand Designs Abroad - 22 September 2004) | Puglia, Italy | 27 February 2008 |
| Kevin McCloud revisits artists David Westby and Leonie Whitton three years after they bought an olive farm in the Puglia region of Italy and planned to convert it into a home on a budget of £25,000. The project proved difficult due to their lack of experience and problems with Italian planning laws. When the presenter last visited they had built a guest house but their own residence was untouched. | |||
| 8 | "The Wooden Box: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 3: Episode 1) | Peterborough | 5 March 2008 |
| Five years ago, John and Terri Westlake built a timber box that even they weren't sure about on the edge of a forest in the middle of open countryside. Now Kevin's back to see whether they've warmed to the design, and what life is like living the modernist dream in splendid rural isolation. | |||
| 9 | "Customised German Kit House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 4: Episode 2) | Surrey | 12 March 2008 |
| Checking on the progress of a couple, Greta and David Iredale, with a building background who replaced the timber house they designed themselves more than 40 years ago with a Huf Haus that was constructed by an efficient German construction team in just six days. Kevin McCloud finds out how successful the pair were in personalising the inside of the property. | |||
| 10 | "The Victorian Threshing Barn: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 3: Episode 4) | Surrey | 19 March 2008 |
| Kevin McCloud returns to a Surrey village, where brain tumour sufferer Philip Traill and his wife Angela created a high-spec contemporary house in the shell of a barn. The design involved two bedroom pods connected by a walkway, leaving an open-plan living space between. Five years on, the presenter discovers whether the couple have managed to turn the building into a relaxing family home. | |||
| 11 | "The Underground House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 3: Episode 7) | Cumbria | 26 March 2008 |
| Kevin McCloud revisits Helen Gould and Phil Reddy five years after they built an earth-sheltered home in Cumbria. The presenter finds out if the house has survived without leakage and whether it has delivered the eco-friendly life the couple desired. | |||
| 12 | "The Hi Tech Bungalow" | Maidstone, Kent | 2 April 2008 |
| In Maidstone, Jean and Bill Letley, a septuagenarian couple plan a highly contemporary bungalow complete with underfloor heating and prototype steel foundations. The project would test even the most accomplished workmen, but is left to their daughter and son-in-law, who have little building experience and have to make personal sacrifices. | |||
Series 9 (2009)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Apprentice Store" | Somerset | 28 January 2009 |
| Ian and Sophie Cooper met at university and have since spent their time together enjoying life in London. Ian works as a marketing consultant in telecoms and Sophie is a sales manager for a fashion firm. Both are passionate about design. They've done the usual thing of renovating flats and moving on... but three years ago they realised they wanted a different kind of life in a different kind of building. | |||
| 2 | "The Chilterns Water Mill" | Oxfordshire | 4 February 2009 |
| Inspired by an illustration on a yoghurt pot, Chris Ostwald decides to build a New England-style water mill in the Chilterns, on a hill and nowhere near any water. Londoner Chris bought the plot 20 years ago and it has always been his dream to build a retreat for himself and his family. | |||
| 3 | "The Newport Folly" | Newport, Wales | 11 February 2009 |
| Sarah and Dean Berry grew up on a council estate in Newport. Having moved away to London and made good, they have now returned home 17 years later and bought an 18th-century folly – a castle perched on a hilltop. They not only plan to restore the folly to its former glory, but wrap a large modern extension around the original structure, with lots of glass to capitalise on the amazing views. | |||
| 4 | "The Eco Arch" | Kent | 18 February 2009 |
| Young architect Richard Hawkes and his wife Sophie have decided to move out of London to live the good life in the Kent countryside. They buy a plot of land on which they plan to grow their own food, and lead as sustainable a life as possible. For Richard it's an opportunity to experiment and build the house of his dreams; one that embraces cutting-edge green technologies and is capable of providing almost all its own energy. | |||
| 5 | "The Brittany Groundhouse" | Brittany, France | 25 February 2009 |
| Daren Howarth and partner Adi Nortje live in Brighton, and are champions of sustainable living. They want to build an earth-sheltered home from recycled materials, based on ideas pioneered in the 1970s in New Mexico. But land prices and planning laws have forced them out of England, across the Channel to Brittany, in France. | |||
| 6 | "The Marlborough Farm House" | Wiltshire | 4 March 2009 |
| Kevin McCloud meets dairy farmer Andrew Ainslie and his artist wife Meryl, who runs a gallery on their farm in Wiltshire. But their farmhouse has been separated from their land by the expanding village, and Andrew and Meryl want to build a new house at the heart of their farm, so they can keep an eye on their herd of 200 cattle. | |||
| 7 | "The Headcorn Minimalist House" | Kent | 11 March 2009 |
| Mimi D'Costa and her husband Andre have moved to the Kent countryside to bring up their two boys. They have bought a large plot of land and want to build a home on it that is functional enough to serve their young family, but that will also blend beautifully into the landscape. | |||
| 8 | "The 14th Century Castle: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 7: Episode 1) | Skipton, North Yorkshire | 18 March 2009 |
| Not everyone gets to live out their childhood dreams, but Francis Shaw did exactly that when he bought a crumbling castle on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk Register. Little did he know what he was letting himself and his family in for. In the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, the peel tower dates back to the 15th century and was protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Kevin McCloud returns in this program to see if their dreams have become a reality. | |||
| 9 | "The Cambridgeshire Eco Home: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 7: Episode 10) | Cambridgeshire Fens | 25 March 2009 |
| In 2005, Kelly and Masoko Neville set about building a spectacular oak framed and straw baled hexagonal house in the Cambridgeshire Fens. Kelly, a carpenter, had always dreamed of building an eco-friendly home that could provide a base for a new self-sufficient life where he and Masoko could produce their own food and energy from the land. Kevin returns to see their progress from series 7. | |||
| 10 | "The Brighton Modern Mansion" | Brighton | 8 April 2009 |
| Barry Surtees, a self-made property developer, his wife Julie and their teenage children live in a large comfortable house in Brighton's most moneyed suburb. Barry decides to build a four storey modern mansion, complete with pool, gym, artist's studio, fantasy bedroom and Japanese roof garden. | |||
| 11 | "The Thatched Cottage: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 7: Episode 2) | Hampshire | 15 April 2009 |
| Cheryl and Alex Reay | |||
| 12 | "The Loch House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 6: Episode 1) | Killearn, Scotland | 22 April 2009 |
| In 2005, businessman Jim Fairfull and his wife Simone set out to build a glass pavilion by a loch in Scotland. Jim was suffering from a stress-related disease and hoped that living in a tranquil setting might cure him of his condition. But there is nothing calm about the process of building; and with such a beautiful location, it was a challenge to find a design that would do it justice and appease local planners. Kevin catches up with the couple to see how their build was getting on. | |||
| 13 | "The Woodsmans Cottage: 2nd Revisited" (Revisited from Series 3: Episode 3) | Sussex | 29 April 2009 |
| For 10 years, woodsman Ben Law fought for planning permission to build himself a house in the heart of the woods where he worked. But there was a condition attached: he could never sell the house; only pass it on to his successor. Ben wanted his home to be totally self-sufficient with no mains services, and decided to build it using only materials from the woods, using techniques pretty similar to those used a thousand years ago. Kevin catches up with Ben to see how he and his house are doing. | |||
Series 10 (2010)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Tree House" | Isle of Wight | 15 September 2010 |
| Lincoln Miles and his wife Lisa Traxler modernise a stone-clad bungalow on the Isle of Wight. | |||
| 2 | "The Stealth House" | The Cotswolds | 22 September 2010 |
| Helen and Chris Seymour Smith get planning permission to build a house in open countryside. | |||
| 3 | "The Modest Home" | Woodbridge | 29 September 2010 |
| In Woodbridge, Lucie Fairweather and Nat McBride plan a responsible, low impact, ecologically sensitive home for their young family. Nat tragically succumbs to cancer early in the build, leaving Lucie to continue on her own with a downsized version of the original design. | |||
| 4 | "The Barn & Guildhall" | Stowmarket | 6 October 2010 |
| Kevin follows Simon and Jill Bennett's conversion of two timber framed barns. However, one has turned out to be a medieval guild hall. | |||
| 5 | "The Radian House" | Ipswich | 13 October 2010 |
| Lindsay and Jonathan Belsey hope to build a house that is aesthetically pleasing, cheap to run and ecologically sound. | |||
| 6 | "The Scandinavian House" | Lizard Peninsula | 20 October 2010 |
| Following Kathryn Tyler as she designs and builds her Scandinavian-inspired eco house in Falmouth. | |||
| 7 | "The Adaptahaus" | Cumbria | 27 October 2010 |
| Alan Dawson attempts to build house like a giant Meccano set, in that he will make the pieces in a workshop and then assemble it all on site. | |||
| 8 | "The Dome House" | Lake District National Park | 3 November 2010 |
| Robert and Milla Gaukroger plan to extend an old 1980s house overlooking Windermere. | |||
| 9 | "The Brittany Groundhouse: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 9: Episode 5) | Brittany, France | 10 November 2010 |
| Kevin returns to see how Daren Howarth and Adi Nortje's project has fared four years after they decided to build an earth-sheltered home in Brittany. | |||
| 10 | "The Glass & Timber House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 7: Episode 12) | Dulwich, London | 17 November 2010 |
| Kevin returns to see whether Bill Bradley has completed the work on his two timber houses in south London. | |||
| 11 | "A 21st Century Answer to the Roman Villa: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 5: Episode 9) | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 24 November 2010 |
| Six years after his first visit, Kevin returns to see how the O'Hare's fared with their split-level home cascading down a practically vertical hillside in Belfast. | |||
| 12 | "House from Straw: Revisited" (Revisited from Grand Designs Abroad - 15 September 2004) | Lot, France | 1 December 2010 |
| Kevin McCloud returns to see the Sampson family in France. | |||
| 13 | "The Water Tower: 2nd Revisiting" (Revisited from Series 1: Episode 4 and Series 2: Episode 16) | Coleshill, Amersham | 8 December 2010 |
| Over ten years ago, as one of Grand Design's first projects, Andrew Tate and Deborah Mills found a site with a monstrous, dilapidated, 100 foot tall water tower on it. Unusually, they saw it as the perfect spot to build a contemporary family home and convert the old water tower into a seven-storey bedroom wing. Andrew is a commercial architect and so the modern new build went up in just four months, using fast-track methods alongside unconventional building materials. However, things were not so easy when it came to the three feet thick water tower: a doorway they expected to be made in two days, took two weeks. Kevin went back to see Andrew and Deborah three years after they had moved into their contemporary extension, but they had still made no progress on the water tower, and were living with minimal bedroom space. Now Kevin returns again to see if the water tower conversion has finally happened, and if their dream home has worked out just as they envisaged all that time ago. | |||
| 14 | "The Lime Kiln House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 8: Episode 5) | Midlothian, Scotland | 15 December 2010 |
| Kevin returns to see how Pru and Richard Irvine fared one-and-a-half years after they began building their bespoke home in the Midlothian countryside. | |||
Series 11 (2011)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Derelict Mill Cottage" | Morpeth, Northumberland | 14 September 2011 |
| Kevin McCloud looks at the transformation of a derelict mill cottage in Northumberland into a contemporary family home, the longest-running project ever featured on the programme. Stefan Lepkowski and Annia Shabowska began work in 2006, and their ambitious plans involved restoring the Georgian building, reconstructing a watermill and adding a steel-and-glass atrium, but their budget of £250,000 was completely inadequate. | |||
| 2 | "The Contemporary Mansion" | London | 21 September 2011 |
| Kevin McCloud meets Paul and Penny Denby, who are demolishing their mock-Georgian home on an exclusive south London estate to replace it with a contemporary mansion. The couple have no building experience and they struggle with many design decisions, finding themselves £250,000 short of the amount needed to finish the property. | |||
| 3 | "The Lifeboat Station" | Tenby | 28 September 2011 |
| Kevin McCloud meets Tim and Philomena O'Donovan, who are trying to convert a lifeboat station in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, into a contemporary home and preserve the historic building for posterity. A weather-worn, rusting and rotting hulk that was never designed for habitation, it is perched on a steel pier 40ft above the sea and can only be reached by crossing the sandy beach at low tide. | |||
| 4 | "The Large Timber-framed Barn" | Essex | 5 October 2011 |
| Kevin McCloud follows the conversion of a large, Grade II-listed timber-framed barn in Essex into a family home and work-space by artists Freddie Robbins and Ben Coode-Adams. Their plans involve few interior walls to display their collection of toys, but at seven times the size of an average three-bedroom house, the transformation of the 500-year-old building proves extremely challenging. | |||
| 5 | "The Recycled Timber-framed House" | Herefordshire | 12 October 2011 |
| Kevin McCloud meets estate manager Ed Waghorn and his wife Rowena, a couple living an almost self-sufficient life with their four children on a smallholding in Herefordshire. They have been constructing a timber-framed house using recycled materials, wood from nearby forests and stone from around the site, but as construction becomes a way of life for Ed they seem to have lost sight of their goal. | |||
| 6 | "The Dilapidated Engine House" | Cornwall | 19 October 2011 |
| Stonemason Adam Purchase and his partner Nicola Brennan try to restore a dilapidated Grade II-listed engine house in Cornwall, which was formerly part of a silver mine. With a budget of £100,000, Adam takes a year off work to transform the property into a new home, but has to rely on favours to complete the project before he runs out of time. | |||
| 7 | "The Disco Home" | London | 26 October 2011 |
| Kevin McCloud meets Claire Farrow and Ian Hogarth, who are trying to construct a home containing a sauna, spa, dance floor and DJ booth on a small patch of land in London. They have applied for planning permission to include a basement and started work on the construction, but setbacks including their digger smashing into a neighbour's wall and the re-emergence of the old river under the project threaten to prevent them completing the build. | |||
| 8 | "The Dome House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 10: Episode 8) | Lake District | 2 November 2011 |
| Kevin McCloud revisits Robert and Milla Gaukroger, who were in danger of their bank foreclosing on their unfinished timber house with views of Lake Windermere when he last saw them. They had begun construction with only a quarter of the £400,000 budget needed, and the physical effort of turning the 1980s property into an eco-home that mirrored the surrounding mountains had begun to put Robert's health at risk. | |||
| 9 | "The Eco Arch: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 9: Episode 4) | Kent | 9 November 2011 |
| Kevin McCloud revisits an arch-shaped home made of clay tiles in the Weald of Kent, built by Richard Hawkes, who designed the property, and his wife Sophie. It was intended to be self-sufficient in energy and supply some to the national grid but serious problems occurred when the arch collapsed during construction, so the presenter returns to see if their innovative home has lived up to its promise. | |||
| 10 | "The Water Tower Conversion: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 6: Episode 4) | Ashford, Kent | 16 November 2011 |
| Kevin McCloud revisits Denise and Bruno Del Tufo, who hoped to transform a concrete water tower designed by Edwin Lutyens into a contemporary home. Kevin was originally far from enthusiastic about their project, believing the original building to be ugly and brutal in its design – but the couple soon had other problems to worry about, as rising steel prices forced them to make drastic changes to their budget. | |||
| 11 | "The Adaptahaus: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 10: Episode 7) | Cumbria | 23 November 2011 |
| Kevin McCloud revisits Alan and Judith Dawson in west Cumbria, where they began constructing a prefabricated home in 2009. They employed a method of building that should have allowed them to assemble the home in just 15 days on a budget of £300,000, and the presenter returns to find out whether they were successful. | |||
| 12 | "The Headcorn Minimalist House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 9: Episode 7) | Kent | 30 November 2011 |
| Kevin McCloud revisits a couple who took on the task of constructing a sustainable two-storey timber house heated by glass panels in the Kent countryside. Mimi da Costa managed the project despite a lack of experience, while her husband worked, and intended to have it completed in 16 weeks. But as the complex build threatened to drag on for months it became unclear whether their home would succeed in blending into the landscape and providing them with a greener, healthier lifestyle. Last in the series. | |||
Series 12 (2012)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Cloontykilla Castle" | Roscommon, Ireland | 12 September 2012 |
| Kevin McCloud meets more people trying to build dream homes, beginning with Sean Simons, who bought the ruins of Cloontykilla Castle in the Irish county of Roscommon with a view to using them to create a spectacular mock-16th-century home. However, the outlandish plans - including jacuzzis in the battlements and water-spouting gargoyles - have Kevin worried the project could become a garish nightmare, and his scepticism increases when he realises Sean has not consulted an architect. Disaster seems to be looming as the contractors get frustrated and planning regulations are ignored, but somehow things begin to slowly take shape - until a national economic crisis plunges everything into chaos. | |||
| 2 | "The Computer-cut House" | Hertfordshire | 19 September 2012 |
| Kevin McCloud meets a pair of civil-partnered university professors who have decided to build their first home from scratch. In addition to all the complications this usually entails, Celia Brackenridge and Diana Woodward have also enlisted the services of industrial designers who have developed a new computer-assisted method for cutting precision-engineered building blocks from scratch. However, though the technique may be clever, its creators have never created a building before - meaning everyone involved with the project is taking a giant leap into the unknown. | |||
| 3 | "The Glass Cubes House" | Brixton, London | 26 September 2012 |
| Mary Martin and Carl Turner want to build a home that resembles a giant stack of glass cubes in Brixton, south London. The couple are hoping the structure will become an instant landmark, while on the inside they are planning a Zen retreat. But to succeed, their finances must be pushed to their limit, so Carl takes on as many of the specialist jobs as he can to save money. Kevin McCloud follows their progress. | |||
| 4 | "The Thames Boathouse" | Oxfordshire | 10 October 2012 |
| Kevin McCloud follows Lysette and Nigel Offley, who are knocking down an old Thames boathouse and constructing a cutting-edge home in its place. Taking inspiration from the river itself, they have designed a building of waves and curves with a huge glass porthole for a roof light. But problems begin almost from the start, as they can't find a contractor willing to build over the water, their architect leaves unexpectedly and the costs turn out much higher than expected. To make matters worse, the neighbours aren't happy about such a radical sight in their traditional community. As they begin to compromise, Kevin wonders if the couple's dreams will ever be realised. | |||
| 5 | "The Derelict Water Tower" | London | 17 October 2012 |
| Kevin McCloud marks the 100th episode with one of the programme's most ambitious projects to date. Leigh Osborne and Graham Voce want to convert and extend a landmark 150-year-old water tower in central London into a luxury home. Grade II-listed, derelict and with 6ft-thick walls, it's a huge challenge for the pair, who also plan to build two structures at the base - a lift shaft connected by a series of glass tunnels, and a modern living space. The result will be a four-bedroom property over nine floors, complete with a room at the top offering spectacular 360 degree views across the capital. The tower, which is located directly above London Underground's Northern line, was originally built for Lambeth Workhouse in 1877[5] and became a Grade II listed building in 2008.[6] | |||
| 6 | "The Edwardian Artist's Studio" | London | 24 October 2012 |
| Kevin McCloud meets Audrey and Jeff, who dream of living in one of west London's most exclusive areas. However, the only way they can afford it is to go underground. Their plan is to transform a listed Edwardian artist's studio - along with 5,000 sq ft of derelict basement - into a bespoke subterranean home, complete with supersize kitchen, mezzanine sitting room, four en-suite bedrooms, a gym, cinema, steam room and wine cellar. As if the task weren't tricky enough, they are doing it without proper architect's drawings and Audrey is project managing - and the difficulties begin almost from the start. | |||
| 7 | "The Larch-Clad House" | Isle of Skye | 31 October 2012 |
| Kevin McCloud meets artists Indi and Rebecca, who are planning to build a modern, larch-clad home on the Isle of Skye, with a second hand-crafted building alongside to use as their studio, all on a tight budget of £150,000. They have been saving for years, but making it happen will mean taking on the savage weather, not to mention the sceptical locals - and as if that weren't enough, most of the work is being done by one man, local builder Donald. | |||
| 8 | "The Joinery Workshop" | London | 7 November 2012 |
| Architect Henning Stummel and his partner Alice Dawson plan to convert a dilapidated joinery workshop in north London into a contemporary family home and office. They want to preserve the building's original steel frame, but to restore it they will have to take it down, which means carefully extracting it from the neighbours' walls without causing damage to their property - and that's just the start of the couple's problems. Kevin McCloud follows their progress. | |||
| 9 | "The Tree House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 10: Episode 1) | Isle of Wight | 14 November 2012 |
| Two years ago, architectural designer Lincoln Miles and his wife, artist Lisa Traxler, found an uninspiring 1970s bungalow on a plot on the Isle of Wight surrounded by ancient woodland. As part of their renovation project, they added a three-storey "tower" extension and used a range of unconventional techniques and alternative materials. Kevin McCloud returns to find out whether the couple's methods led to success. | |||
| 10 | "The Disco Home: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 11: Episode 7) | London | 21 November 2012 |
| In 2010, Claire Farrow and Ian Hogarth built a home containing a sauna, spa, dance floor and DJ booth on a small patch of land in London. It was a notorious project, with several setbacks - including their digger smashing into a neighbour's wall and the re-emergence of the old river under the building, which threatened to prevent them completing the project. Kevin McCloud revisits the couple to see how they are getting on two years later. | |||
| 11 | "The Large Timber-Framed Barn: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 11: Episode 4) | Essex | 28 November 2012 |
| Kevin revisits artists Freddie Robbins and Ben Coode-Adams. | |||
| 12 | "The Co-Op: 2nd Revisiting" (Revisited from Series 1: Episode 3) | Brighton | 5 December 2012 |
| Kevin revisits the co-op. | |||
Series 13 (2013)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The 1920s Cinema" | Thorne, South Yorkshire | 4 September 2013 | 2,715,000 |
| Kevin McCloud follows a project to renovate and extend a classic 1920s cinema in Thorne, South Yorkshire. With little knowledge of restoration, Gwyn and Kate boldly set about turning the dilapidated building into a family home using masses of concrete after taking advice from an architect friend. The couple are hoping to create a hydraulic glass wall that opens up one side of the house to form a UV-filtered canopy, and there are also plans for a white roof extension that resembles a diving board. | ||||
| 2 | "The Miniature Hollywood Mansion" | North London | 11 September 2013 | 2,643,000 |
| Jonathan Broom, one of the founders of Ecoigo, and his wife Deborah have put everything on hold while he pursues his dream of building a miniature Hollywood Hills-style mansion. They stumble across a scrap of land in north London, but it's fraught with problems and the only way they can complete the £1million home is by sinking half of it six metres below ground. Surrounded on all sides by their neighbours' back gardens, the couple have to dismantle walls and fences and promise to put them back together again, and that's just the start of their difficulties. Kevin McCloud follows their progress. | ||||
| 3 | "The Giant Farm Shed" | York | 18 September 2013 | 2,732,000 |
| Commercial architect Martin Walker and his art-director wife Kae want to build the ultimate family home near York, inspired by a giant farm shed. However, her idea for a warm and cosy design conflicts dramatically with his penchant for building large square warehouses, and finding something they both agree on proves extremely challenging on their tight budget. Kevin McCloud follows the couple's progress. | ||||
| 4 | "The Crooked Chocolate Box Cottage" | Devon | 25 September 2013 | 2,525,000 |
| Marine captain Jon's life changed for ever when he stepped onto a land mine in Afghanistan and lost three limbs. After viewing many uninspired specialist homes and considering awkward conversions, he and partner Becky realised their best option was to build a property themselves. The design is cutting-edge, with sleek glass walls, open-plan spaces and a dramatic wing-like roof, and the couple want there to be no noticeable adaptations. However, they soon use up their budget of £250,000 and encounter problems with their incredibly tight schedule. Kevin McCloud follows their progress. | ||||
| 5 | "The Metal Sculptural Home" | Strathaven, South Lanarkshire | 2 October 2013 | 2,604,000 |
| Colin Mackinnon and his partner Marta Briongos take on an ambitious project to build a bespoke metal home next to an airfield runway, designed by one of Scotland's most eminent architects and inspired by aircraft hangars. They have to contend with violent rain, snow, 100mph winds and the worst storms for 100 years, and the couple have to draw on their reserves of mental energy as what was supposed to be a 12-month build heads into a third year. | ||||
| 6 | "The Japanese House" | Monmouthshire | 9 October 2013 | 2,980,000 |
| Kevin McCloud meets Tamayo Hussey, who has missed Japan ever since she moved to the UK 14 years ago with her husband, quantum physics professor Nigel. The couple want to transform a 1960s forester's lodge into a unique Japanese house, complete with a tatami room - decorated in her homeland's traditional style - sliding paper walls and a bath on the roof. Keen to keep costs down, they have decided to engage only the design skills - rather than the full services - of an architect, so with no previous building experience they tackle the project alone. | ||||
| 7 | "The Modernist Masterpiece" | Brockwell Park | 16 October 2013 | 3,007,000 |
| Ben and Rachel Hammond have spent a year searching London for somewhere exciting to live with their two daughters, and they have finally stumbled on a 1950s home on a unique plot, situated within the leafy depths of a park in the south of the city. The only problem is the house itself - an ugly, inefficient and uninspiring property - and their solution is to radically redesign it into a sleek, modernist masterpiece. But this is no easy task, as Kevin McCloud finds out. | ||||
| 8 | "The Cob Castle" | Devon | 23 October 2013 | 3,102,000 |
| Kevin meets Kevin McCabe who wants to build what may be the largest Cob structure in the world. With 6 metre-tall walls, McCabe fights a battle with the weather and his implausibly small 350,000 pound budget. He plans to form the huge property out of two vast curved roundhouses - the largest of which is inspired by the natural geometry of a snail shell - connected by glazing and topped with wildflower meadow roofs to mirror the surrounding countryside. However, the project involves mixing and laying a mind-boggling 2,000 tons of cob, all during warm, sunny weather - and the sheer scale of the task soon becomes clear. | ||||
| 9 | "The Christmas Farm" | Newbury | 30 October 2013 | 2,878,000 |
| Michael Butcher and Phil Palmer fell in love with Christmas Farm, near Newbury, and decided to give up their urban media jobs and move to the country. Michael Butcher and Phil Palmer want to bring a touch of urban glamour to their new home at Christmas Farm near Newbury by creating a modern farmhouse that combines an open-plan party pad with functional spaces below. As the builders set to work on the handcrafted flint exterior, complete with a vast trapezoid window, the pair juggle construction with farming the land, and in an attempt to make the project work financially, they set up a microbrewery in the barn. | ||||
| 10 | "The Modernist Villa: Revisited" (Revisited from Grand Designs Abroad) | Málaga, Spain | 6 November 2013 | 2,329,000 |
| Around ten years ago Gil and Hillary Briffa retired to southern Spain. Instead of creating a home like the traditional old fincas in the area, their architect son designed them a confrontational, modernist glass box, surrounded by boldly colourful connected rooms, behind a giant citadel wall. A few years ago, Gil died, but now Kevin McCloud revisits Hillary to find out whether her home has settled into its landscape and how life is treating her as a British widow living abroad. | ||||
| 11 | "The Modest Home: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 10: Episode 3) | Woodbridge | 13 November 2013 | 1,799,000 |
| Six years ago Lucie Fairweather and Nat McBride began to build an affordable eco home in Woodbridge for themselves and their two young children. However, their journey was to be about more than bricks and mortar. Just before they got started, Nat discovered he had cancer, and after just a few months he died. Lucie decided to carry on with the project Nat had devised. Kevin McCloud returns to find out just how life has moved on for Lucie and to discover whether her wonderful and striking house has become part of the landscape. | ||||
Series 14 (2014)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Clifftop House" | Gwynedd | 3 September 2014 | 2,066,000 |
| Rob Hodgson and Kay Ralph plan to build a sleek glass-fronted house on a crumbling clifftop in Gwynedd, taking inspiration from the villas of California. However, access will be extremely difficult and expensive because of a low bridge over the narrow track to the site, and problems arise when one of the heaviest storms in recent history batters the coast. To make matters worse, erosion specialists predict the property could fall into the sea within just 60 years and the pair are prohibited from reinforcing the cliff face. | ||||
| 2 | "The Cross-Laminated Timber House" | Cornwall | 10 September 2014 | 2,265,000 |
| Product designer Rebecca Sturrock has returned to her family home in Cornwall with her partner Gregory Kewish and a highly ambitious plan. Together they hope to transform a small, damp bungalow into a cutting-edge home to share with their twin three-year-old daughters - all for just £80,000. The design is radical - to reinforce the walls of the old property and add a new living space on top to take advantage of the views. This extra floor will be made entirely of thick wooden panels engineered in Germany and normally assembled by a crew of specialist installers. However, budget constraints mean the couple are determined to do it all themselves. | ||||
| 3 | "The Round House" | Milton Keynes | 17 September 2014 | 1,999,000 |
| GP Peter Berkin and his wife Chard, an alternative medicine practitioner, have decided to build a new home at the bottom of their garden, but cannot agree on any part of the design - even the basic shape. Peter is a keen hobbyist who wants the house to feature a workshop where he can build a plane, and he's planning to spend twice the £200,000 budget Chard has in mind. Kevin McCloud follows their progress. | ||||
| 4 | "The Shipping Containers House" | County Londonderry | 24 September 2014 | 2,558,000 |
| Architect Patrick Bradley has come up with an unusual £100,000 house design built out of four 45ft shipping containers, welded together to form a giant cross and cantilevered over the top of a stream on the family farm in County Londonderry. His mother is hoping the new home will help her son find a girlfriend, but the small budget and tight schedule soon pose problems. Kevin McCloud follows his progress. | ||||
| 5 | "The Urban Shed" | London | 1 October 2014 | 2,262,000 |
| Tracy Fox and husband Steve want to build an "urban shed" featuring two studios, three bedrooms and a double-height space with a walkway, made out of industrial-style materials including corrugated cement fibreboard and 20ft panels of polycarbonate sheeting. Having discovered an old milk yard tucked away behind some flats and shops in south-east London, their long-held desire to build a highly unconventional family home and workspace begins. But their choice of unorthodox materials proves challenging and costly. Kevin McCloud follows their progress. | ||||
| 6 | "The Periscopes House" | Norfolk | 8 October 2014 | 2,353,000 |
| Natasha Cargill wants to build a home shaped like two enormous periscopes in rural Norfolk, but to obtain planning permission, she has to ensure not only that the materials are sustainable, but also agree to measure the transportation used to deliver them. If these strict criteria are not met, she won't be allowed to live there, and to add to the pressure, she has just £330,000 to spend on construction and six months to complete the project. Kevin McCloud follows her progress. | ||||
| 7 | "The Floating House" | Marlow, Buckinghamshire | 15 October 2014 | 2,420,000 |
| Kevin McCloud follows software executive Andy Bruce and garden designer Nicki Bruce, who are planning to build a "floating" house on the River Thames, which would be the first of its kind in the UK. Their architect has come up with an ambitious, experimental design that would see the whole property magically rise up with the flood waters. However, no one knows whether it will work, and the project soon becomes bogged down in the logistical challenges of bringing to fruition such a complex structure on a small island that is only accessible by a narrow footbridge. | ||||
| 8 | "19th Century Manor House: Revisited" (Revisited from Grand Designs Abroad) | Creuse, France | 22 October 2014 | N/A |
| Kevin McCloud revisits a memorable restoration project in the remote Creuse region of central France. Back in 2003, when Denise Daniel and Doug Ibbs gave up everything in the UK to start a new life abroad, they couldn't have known what was ahead of them. Falling in love with a dilapidated manor house with just four crumbling walls and half a roof, they embarked on a mission to transform it - working day and night, doing everything themselves, year after year - until slowly but surely they created a magnificent edifice out of the ruins they bought off the internet. It's now the 70th anniversary of the destruction of the original 19th-century building by the German army - and the house is finally finished. | ||||
| 9 | "The Japanese House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 13 Episode 6) | Monmouthshire | 29 October 2014 | 1,589,000 |
| Kevin McCloud revisits a unique Japanese-Welsh fusion home in the Wye Valley, completely transformed from a damp old forester's house in 2013. Tamayo Hussey has missed Japan ever since she moved to the UK 15 years ago with her husband Nigel. To stave off the homesickness they decided to turn the property into a one-of-a-kind home, complete with roof bath, tatami room and sliding paper walls. Kevin finds out how this somewhat improvised building weathered one of the wettest winters on record and if it has brought the calm and tranquillity Tamayo remembers from her childhood in the Far East. | ||||
| 10 | "The Crooked Chocolate Box Cottage: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 13 Episode 4) | Devon | 5 November 2014 | 1,669,000 |
| Kevin McCloud returns to Devon for an update on an inspirational build. Royal Marine Captain Jon White and his wife Becky were living happily in a small cottage when in June 2010, while serving in Afghanistan, Jon stepped on an improvised explosive device, losing three limbs. Every part of their lives had to change - starting with where they could live. Their architect came up with a cutting-edge, semi open-plan building with a dramatic wing-like-roof - and crucially no obvious signs of adaptations for Jon's disabilities. Has the new home proved as enabling for the couple and their expanding family as they had hoped? | ||||
Series 15 (2015)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Living in the City" | Various | 9 July 2015 | 1,140,000 |
| Kevin McCloud presents the first of four special programmes inspired by 15 years of Grand Designs. He begins with a look at the challenges of self-building in the city, where space is at a premium and architects have to be at their most ingenious. Kevin uses footage from the best urban builds from the show over the years, meets pioneers at the forefront of the latest architectural thinking and looks at clever innovations that continue to transform people's lives to reveal which designs work best and why. | ||||
| 2 | "Living in the Wild" | Various | 16 July 2015 | 1,110,000 |
| In the second of four special programmes, Kevin McCloud looks at the challenges of self-building in the UK's most remote places, where beautiful landscapes often meet savage weather. Drawing on footage from 15 years of the programme, as well as new visits to extraordinary and incredible homes, Kevin reveals which designs work best, and why. Along the way, he interviews pioneers at the forefront of architecture in the wilderness and sees the astonishing lengths people go to live on the edges of society. | ||||
| 3 | "Living in Suburbia" | Various | 23 July 2015 | 1,090,000 |
| Kevin McCloud reveals how self-builders in the suburbs are transforming this most maligned of residential environments. He draws on some of the best examples from the 15-year history of Grand Designs, talks to experts in the latest architectural thinking and reveals the designs that have reinvented the suburbs as a place where home-owners really can have it all. | ||||
| 4 | "Living in the Country" | Various | 30 July 2015 | 1,120,000 |
| Kevin McCloud looks at the challenges of self-building in the countryside, where design must embrace and enhance tradition, yet often overcome stringent planning constraints. Drawing on footage from the show's 15-year history, as well as new visits to extraordinary homes, he finds out how pioneers at the forefront of architecture are transforming agricultural and historic buildings, and bringing cutting-edge contemporary design to rural parts. | ||||
Series 16 (2015)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Perfectionist's Bungalow" | West Sussex | 9 September 2015 | 2.97 |
| Kevin McCloud meets Clinton Dall from Sussex, a self-made businessman and father of four aiming to build one of the largest homes ever featured on the show. Dall wants the end project to be perfect - from the finish of his mirrored cruciform steel columns, to how the floor tiles line up with the dining room table, and is willing to spend whatever it takes to achieve his vision. However, the construction represents a huge risk, as down one road lies abject failure and financial ruin, while down the other, is the creation of something sublime and almost heroic. | ||||
| 2 | "The Boat House" | East Sussex | 16 September 2015 | 2.38 |
| Boat enthusiast James Strangeways invites Kevin McCloud to survey progress on the construction of his new home, which his architect nephew Ben Hebblethwaite has designed to be as 'un-houselike' as possible. James has spent the past 35 years travelling the canals and waterways of Britain, and despite never liking houses, has decided now is the time to put down roots on dry land. Ben hoped a home standing on stilts above a marsh, and incorporating ship-like qualities such as a keel-shaped roof, will be enough to satisfy his boat-mad uncle. However, Ben's contractor goes into liquidation a few months into the project, taking £87,000 of the £300,000 budget, and when James decides to make a few tweaks to the design, alarm-bells begin to ring for the young architect. | ||||
| 3 | "The Seaside House" | Isle of Wight | 23 September 2015 | 2.45 |
| After recovering from a life-threatening brain haemorrhage, Bram Vis, his wife Lisa and their two children want to build a house for sharing on a seaside plot on the Isle of Wight. Kevin McCloud follows the family's progress as they build an ambitious home complete with entertaining spaces and a swimming pool. However, the sheer scale of their project soon becomes clear when their original £850k budget spirals out of control. | ||||
| 4 | "The Cave House" | Worcestershire | 30 September 2015 | 2.82 |
| Kevin McCloud follows the progress of 37-year-old Angelo Mastropietro, as he transforms a damp, dark and abandoned cave in Worcestershire. Having recently been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Angelo wants to create a retreat to help him cope with the news and become a 21st century caveman. He has a budget of £100,000 and plans to almost single-handedly carve, cut and drill into the hillside to make the cave comfortable for contemporary living. However, there is no manual for a project of this kind, and the unique challenge soon becomes an obsession. | ||||
| 5 | "The Blacksmith's House" | County Antrim | 7 October 2015 | 2.81 |
| Kevin McCloud follows the progress of teacher Michele Long and architect Michael Howe, who want to restore and transform a 100-year-old blacksmiths in County Antrim near Portrush,[7] near the coast of Northern Ireland. With virtually no practical experience, Michael wants to do as much of the project as possible by himself. However, the weather on the coastline is fierce, and the freezing weather coupled with a tight budget of 150k means the build is stretched from one to three years. | ||||
| 6 | "The Concrete Cow-Shed" | Somerset | 14 October 2015 | 2.47 |
| Kevin McCloud follows the progress of private chef Ed Versluys and Pilates instructor Vicky Anderson, who want to convert a concrete cow-shed in the Somerset countryside into a three bedroom home. With the help of one young builder and the knowledge they can learn from the Internet, the couple plan to project manage the conversion themselves. However, they have only eight months and a budget of just over £200,000 to make a warm and comfortable home with straw bale walls and wide expanses of glass. | ||||
| 7 | "The Rusty Metal House" | Lewes, East Sussex | 21 October 2015 | 2.30 |
| Kevin McCloud follows the progress of Stephen Yeoman and Anita Findlay, who want to build a cutting-edge, post-industrial house covered in rusty metal. However, their prominent riverside plot in the traditional and architecturally conservative area of South Downs means everyone will be watching. The project proves to be a real rollercoaster when the fitting of the rusty steel cladding goes wrong, cash flow problems threaten to bring work to a halt, and the couple announce that a baby is on the way. | ||||
| 8 | "The Floating House: Revisited (Revisited from Series 14 Episode 7)" | Marlow, Buckinghamshire | 28 October 2015 | N/A |
| Kevin McCloud revisits Andy and Nicky Bruce who were building an experimental amphibious house on a small island on the Thames in Buckinghamshire. They spent £1.2 million on one of the most ambitious Grand Designs ever, but the logistical headache of building on an island only accessible by a narrow footbridge soon became clear. Heavy machinery was swept away by the river, contractors were changed, and the site was hit by severe storms, causing delays and resulting in an unfinished and untested building. Kevin returns to find out what living on a regularly flooded piece of land is like, and whether the floating home performed when the river burst its banks in January 2015. | ||||
| 9 | "The Cross-Laminated Timber House: Revisited (Revisited from Series 14 Episode 2)" | Cornwall | 13 November 2015 | N/A |
| Kevin McCloud returns to north Cornwall to see one of his favourite Grand Designs, and discover whether Rebecca Sturrock and Gregory Kewish have been successful with their ambitious plans. Their project, to reinforce the walls of an old bungalow and put a new living space on top made entirely of cross-laminated timber, soon ran into difficulties, but now fully complete both inside and out, Kevin finds out whether this innovative house is really big enough to accommodate a growing family. | ||||
Series 17 (2016)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Gloucestershire Treehouse" | Dursley | 21 September 2016 | 2.72 |
| Kevin McCloud meets a plumber who used to dream of living in a treehouse as a child and has made his vision a reality in spectacular fashion. John Martin, 53, and his partner Noreen Jaafar, 46, have spent three years and £355,000 so far creating an incredible open plan, four-bed home 40ft in the air on a patch of forgotten woodland in Dursley, Gloucestershire. | ||||
| 2 | "Fun House" | Horsham | 28 September 2016 | 2.68 |
| Kevin McCloud follows Matt and Sophie White from Sussex as they build a giant family house of fun for themselves and their children. Going against the norm of designing a serious and practical home, the couple's property features a revolving bookcase door, secret dens, hiding places, one-way mirrors, and a fireman's pole. Matt uses a steel frame system to allow them to change the layout of the property, and other changes include amending the window shapes and sizes, and adding a half floor to create a James Bond room. | ||||
| 3 | "Steam Bending House" | South Cornwall | 5 October 2016 | 2.60 |
| Tom and Danielle Raffield's lifelong passion is steam-bending wood into extraordinary curvy shapes. They've spent much of their working lives using the technique to make furniture and lighting. Desperate to escape their tiny gamekeeper's lodge, they've decided to build a spectacular wavy wooden house in South Cornwall, with curvy cladding, twisty furniture, and interior walls covered with naturally-weathered timber. With only a £100k budget to play with, they decide to do a lot of the building themselves. But have they taken on too much? | ||||
| 4 | "Black House" | Essex | 12 October 2016 | 2.35 |
| Michelle Parsons, an artist and teacher decided, after she recovered from a serious illness, to build with her architect husband David her own private hideaway in a woodland environment in Essex. Michelle planned to construct a sleek, black-clad, three bedroom house complete with an art studio. However, torrential rain and a potentially disastrous gas leak stalled progress on the build. | ||||
| 5 | "Ultra-Modern House" | Bolton | 19 October 2016 | 2.43 |
| Paul Rimmer has worked with bricks for 40 years renovating Victorian houses in Bolton. But now he plans to hand-build a state-of-the-art wooden home. If his funding holds up that is. | ||||
| 6 | "Low-Impact House" | Pembrokeshire | 26 October 2016 | N/A |
| Simon and Jasmine Dale take on the challenging task of building a 21st-century, low-impact three-bedroom family home. As part of a pioneering, government-backed, sustainable village called Lammas Ecovillage, the couple must adhere to their fierce planning conditions of self-sufficiency or risk losing everything. | ||||
| 7 | "Plough-Shaped House" | Devon | 2 November 2016 | N/A |
| Kevin McCloud meets Mark Diacono and his wife Candida, who have set about building a home in the shape of a plough on their 17-acre smallholding in Devon. With its complex curved roof, timber-clad exterior and steel-framed working barn, the ambitious project presents a unique technical challenge for a local builder and his team of employees, and the task proves even more intimidating when considering Mark and Candida hope to complete work on the build within seven months. | ||||
| 8 | "Floating Timber House" | The Wirral | 17 November 2016 | N/A |
| Stuart and Rosie Treasurer from the Wirral plan to transform a small bungalow from a 1960s dormer into a slick piece of 21st-century architecture. The couple decapitate the building and balance a new floating timber box on top to create five bedrooms, spending as little as possible on plumbing, electrics and insulation, but stress levels spiral when neighbours grumble at the ultra-modern creation. | ||||
Series 18 (2017)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Somerset Cowshed Revisit 2017" | Somerset | 30 May 2017 | N/A |
| Kevin McCloud revisits the converted cow-shed in the Somerset countryside of private chef Ed Versluys and Pilates instructor Vicky Anderson. | ||||
Grand Designs Indoors (2001)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Former Electricity Sub-Station" | Sunderland | 1 March 2001 |
| Anne and Richard Curtis found a disused electricity substation in Sunderland and set about converting it into a large four bedroom family home on a tight budget. Never having been to Morocco, but are taking inspiration from a Moroccan Interiors book. Trying to keep costs down Richard does most of the work himself while trying to hold down a day job as a Policeman. | |||
| 2 | "The Barbican Flat" | London | 8 March 2001 |
| Financial Analyst Yuen-Wei Chew commissions Paul Daly, top nightclub designer, (this was his first time doing a domestic interior) to redesign the interior of his fifth floor, 1 bedroom 750sq ft, Barbican flat. As a vision of contemporary living with a fusion of two strong design elements, Zen meets Pop. With an initial budget of around £20,000, but with bespoke elements such as a walk-in wardrobe costing £6,000 and window blinds costing £9,000, things soon go out of control with the total being closer to £115,000. | |||
| 3 | "The Dilapidated Georgian House" | London | 15 March 2001 |
| Featuring Tony and Sharon Relph, a couple restoring a dilapidated 200 year old Georgian house in London, to its former glory. They have very little money and plan to do most of the work themselves. If they manage to restore the grade two listed house in the Georgian style, the council will allow them to live there rent free for a period of their lease. They peel back layers of wallpaper to find a historical scrapbook of finishes which is donated to The English National Heritage. A modern interpretation of a period home with close attention to detail and sensitive repair, this is a true labour of love. | |||
| 4 | "The Half-Timbered Cottage" | Cheltenham | 22 March 2001 |
| Kathryn and Charlie Raywood set about renovating a farmhouse cottage. The couple draw inspiration from Sainte Chapelle, Shakespeare's birthplace and Gwidyr Castle. They start to strip the place back to its medieval roots. But with a meagre budget of just £10,000 the basic structural work to the house eats up 80% of the budget, leaving a mere £2,000 for all decoration including a new kitchen, bathroom, lavish fabrics, tapestries and medieval furniture. They resort to enlisting family and friends to get things back on track. They buy Asian antiques which resemble medieval originals at a fraction of the price and up their overdraft in an attempt to get the project completed. | |||
| 5 | "The Shaker Style Summer House and Thames Houseboat" | Devon & London | 29 March 2001 |
| Featuring renowned artist Damien Hirst and his wife Maia Norman, a couple who are pursuing the ultimate dream – a personally designed, secluded Shaker style summer house in the grounds of his country home (in Devon), as a retreat from the big bad world. Designer Mike Rundell, whom he worked with to create the Pharmacy restaurant in West London, to help him with his challenge. Maia is getting to work on their new houseboat in Chelsea (overall budget of £300,000 including the purchase of the boat), with the hope of turning it into the perfect London hang-out. | |||
| 6 | "The Regency Home" | Brighton | 5 April 2001 |
| Hayley and Pedro Castle have lived in Brighton for 5 years in a small regency style cottage near the seafront. They want to clear out their place and start again. Using the 'St Martins' Lane Hotel' as inspiration, they plan to modernise their home into a light, airy and totally modern space. The planned budget is just £23,000. As the work starts, all does not run smoothly, tensions run high as they fall out with the main contractor, after the property is plagued with structural problems, damp and leaks. Despite all of these nightmares, delays and overspending, the results in the end are very glamorous. | |||
Grand Designs Abroad (2004)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Modernist Villa" | Málaga, Spain | 8 September 2004 |
| Gil Briffa, an architect, and his wife Hilary, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, wanted a house they could retire to in southern Spain, but not just any old place would do. High in the Andalucian hills, 30 minutes from Malaga on Spain's Costa del Sol, the Briffas' hearts' desire was a ruthlessly modernist construction of glass and light, far removed from the whitewashed fincas (farmhouses) that dot the local countryside. | |||
| 2 | "House from Straw" | Lot, France | 15 September 2004 |
| Mark and Deborah (Debbie) Sampson and daughter, Tilley, like to practice an ecologically sound way of life. Together, the family's over-riding desire is to make a statement about who they are and how they choose to live their life, and to be accepted for the way they are by the local people. | |||
| 3 | "Masseria Impisi: An Artists' Retreat" | Puglia, Italy | 22 September 2004 |
| Puglia, in Italy's deep south, where the country's heel rounds to the foot's arch, is a land of shimmering heat, olive groves and artists' dreams. It is also the place where artists, like David Westby and Leone (Leo) Witton, became hard-working artisans to turn a derelict olive farm into a Roman country estate – despite the worst obstructions of Italian bureaucracy and with very little money. | |||
| 4 | "19th Century Manor House" | Creuse, France | 29 September 2004 |
| Denise (Deni) Daniel and Doug Ibbs don't hang around. The couple, in their mid-50s and from Dorset, bought a 19th-century manor house in Creuse, Limousin – in central France – on a Sunday, having seen it for the first time ever on the previous Tuesday on the Internet and visited it on the Thursday. They don't mind hard work too, which is even better news because the house was a wreck. | |||
| 5 | "Church Conversion" | Ireland | 6 October 2004 |
| A chance encounter, childhood memories and a desire to split their time between Dublin and County Mayo was all the inspiration Andrew and Jackie Lohan required to go about buying and restoring a derelict church. Built in 1835 and abandoned for 101 years, since it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground in 1902, the church was in a dreadful state of disrepair when the Lohans and their two children stumbled across it on a family holiday to the area in the west of Ireland in 1998. | |||
| 6 | "The Tuscan Castle" | Tuscany, Italy | 13 October 2004 |
| This week Kevin meets a couple, Janne Hoff-Tilley and Howard Smythe, who bought a ruin and moved to Italy in 1999, hoping to start work building their dream home in Tuscany. Since then they've spent all their time trying to get planning permission, but finally, after four years, they are about to start work. And it's an epic project: they have bought a derelict 1,000-year-old castle in the Tuscan hills. Now, the couple face their biggest battle of all: rebuilding this massive ruin into a comfortable and luxurious five-bedroom home. | |||
| 7 | "300 Year Old Chalet" | Les Gets, France | 20 October 2004 |
| Nicky and James Dobree were raised in France and in a mountainous area respectively. Nicky was raised in France, James in Beirut – both have fond memories of the mountains as children. So it was natural for them to one day look to buy a place amongst France's tallest peaks, the Alps. The journey moving the family, including their two young sons, Fabian and Felix, from South London to a renovated 300-year-old farmhouse in Les Gets was to have its ups and downs. It was never meant to be a permanent move. The original plan was to develop the top two floors of the chalet so the family could spend the summer there, overseeing the completion of the bottom floors. They would then be able to rent out the whole chalet in the winter months. The family were only planning to use their new home for the summer seasons. | |||
| 8 | "Florida Villa" | Alicante, Spain | 27 October 2004 |
| Spain is the first choice of many Britons planning to build a new life abroad, but it is a little more unusual for South Africans to settle on the Iberian Peninsula. Ten years living and working in London may help explain why Derek and Jen Ray chose Orihuela, inland of Alicante on the Costa Blanca, as the place to build a home and raise their three children, Jenna, Eden and Linzi. | |||
Grand Designs Trade Secrets (2007–2008)
Series 1 (2007)
| Ep no | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The 14th Century Castle" | Skipton, North Yorkshire | 28 February 2007 |
| 2 | "The Thatched Cottage" | Hampshire | 7 March 2007 |
| 3 | "The Eco-Barge" | Medway | 14 March 2007 |
| 4 | "The Bournemouth Penthouse" | Bournemouth | 21 March 2007 |
| 5 | "The Eco-House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 5: Episode 11) | Carmarthen, Wales | 28 March 2007 |
| 6 | "The Birmingham Church" | Tipton, Birmingham | 4 April 2007 |
| 7 | "The Art Deco House" | Guildford | 11 April 2007 |
| 8 | "The Sliding Glass Roof House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 5: Episode 2) | Peckham, London | 18 April 2007 |
| 9 | "The Oak-Framed House: Revisited" (Revisited from Series 4: Episode 7) | Argyll, Scotland | 25 April 2007 |
| 10 | "The Cambridgeshire Eco Home" | Cambridgeshire Fens | 2 May 2007 |
| 11 | "The Tuscan Castle: Revisited" (Revisited from Grand Designs Abroad) | Tuscany, Italy | 9 May 2007 |
| 12 | "The Glass & Timber House" | Dulwich, London | 16 May 2007 |
Series 2 (2008)
| Ep no | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Underground House" | Cheltenham | 16 January 2008 |
| 2 | "The Decagon House" | Oxford | 23 January 2008 |
| 3 | "The Modernist Sugar Cube" | Bristol | 30 January 2008 |
| 4 | "The Gothic House" | Hereford | 6 February 2008 |
| 5 | "The Lime Kiln House" | Midlothian | 13 February 2008 |
| 6 | "The Bath Kit House" | Bath | 20 February 2008 |
| 7 | "Masseria Impisi: An Artists' Retreat" | Puglia, Italy | 27 February 2008 |
| 8 | "The Wooden Box" | Peterborough | 5 March 2008 |
| 9 | "Customised German Kit House" | Surrey | 12 March 2008 |
| 10 | "The Victorian Threshing Barn" | Surrey | 19 March 2008 |
| 11 | "The Underground House" | Cumbria | 26 March 2008 |
| 12 | "The Hi Tech Bungalow" | Maidstone | 2 April 2008 |
| Architect Richard Paxton | |||
Kevin's Grand Design (2011)
| No. | Title | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Kevin's Grand Design: The Great British Property Scandal" (Part 1) | Swindon | 8 December 2011 |
| This special episode follows Kevin as he begins on an epic adventure to create his very own Grand Design. | |||
| 2 | "Kevin's Grand Design: The Great British Property Scandal" (Part 2) | Swindon | 15 December 2011 |
| Kevin continues with his epic adventure to create his very own Grand Design. | |||
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs-revisited/4od#2920083 Archived 28 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs-revisited/4od#2920084 Archived 28 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs-revisited/4od#2920085 Archived 28 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs-revisited/4od#2920082 Archived 28 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "Hospitals". Derelict London.
- ↑ "OS Map of Water Tower to Former Lambeth Workhouse - Lambeth - Greater London - England - British Listed Buildings". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk.
- ↑ "Grand Designs – Whiterock Construction". whiterock.construction. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
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