Grand Designs New Zealand

Chris meets Gus and Sarah whose solution to spiraling house prices is to make their first home an Earthship - an off-the-grid house made of recycled rubbish, earthen bricks and clay. An Earthship is a non-traditional home built using recycled materials such as bottles and tyres, and even mussel shells for insulation. Young Coromandel couple Gus and Sarah Anning decided to step outside the norm with their Grand Design when they realized they couldnt afford a traditional home. Enlisting the help of community volunteers, both here and overseas and using unique building techniques originally designed for the desert in California, its not certain how this Grand Design will fare in Coromandels temperamental climate.

Chris meets builder Steve Sygrove, whos planning to build and ornate and colourful American Gothic home in the Titirangi bush. Fifth generation builder Steve Sygrove and his wife, Chrissy, have a passion for things pretty, floral and pink. Their unique build in the Titirangi bush near Auckland is a handcrafted American Gothic style house complete with ornate detailing like a Juliette balcony, spandrels, a horseshow window, lacework valences, and interior walls made of fabric. Steve rallies against the bureaucracy that is stifling the creativity in his craft and expects this grand dame of a building will be his swansong.

Chris meets Hamish and Diane Divett, who are rebuilding their house on the most unlikely spot - on the edge of a crumbling cliff top that plummets 40 metres to the sea below. Surfing Pastor Hamish Divett and his psychologist wife Diane have lived by the ocean for years, but in a dark, south-facing house that failed to take full advantage of the beautiful vista. To get the view they desperately desire, the couple have decided to push structural and logical planning to the limits. By building on a crumbling cliff with a sheer drop to the sea below, the Divetts will push their team to the edge to see this Grand Design though to completion.

The series finale sees Marty import two old American barns from New York valley, which are raised by heritage builders and merged with a design for a modern home. Timber merchant Marty Verry and his Venezuelan wife Morella have imported two historic New York barn frames that could be considered the oldest buildings in New Zealand. With plans to assemble the barn on the couples rural site on the outskirts of Auckland, they intend them to become part of a modernist mansion acting as a tribute to the different timber Marty loves. But will the new homes honour the history they are built on or is this Grand Design set to take on a life of its own?

New Plymouth couple Greg and Gayle build one of the first hemp homes in NZ, and spend thousands shielding themselves against what they believe are the ill effects of electromagnetic radiation.

Predicted sea level rises are not stopping architect Guy Marriage and his extended family from building a DIY Bach, only metres from the high tide mark on Wellingtons Kapiti Coast.

Christchurch earthquake refugees Andy Macbeth and Jo Denton build a modern-day fortress against the elements in alpine Queenstown.

A terminally ill Christchurch man and his family are determined to stay in South Brighton despite on-going earthquakes, and the fact their house is being built on a sand dune.

Ski enthusiast Ash dreams of building a traditional European Log Cabin at the base of Mount Ruapehu. But will his daughters input compromise his dream?

Jamie and Melissa went to buy a staircase from a Christchurch villa and ended up buying the whole house. Now they must transport their massive manion overland to Queenstown.

A young Auckland couple borrow a fortune to build their first home - and along the way face delays, budget blow-outs, and becoming new parents.

Mahuia and Mindy are preparing to be first-time parents and want to build a family home that will double as a recording studio and a rooftop performance space.

Antiques lover Patty scours the country for historic materials to build a contemporary home. Her journey throws up weighty challenges like what to do with a hundred year old wharf?

Cathy and Vince strive to create a massive Italian style villa with petanque court and heated pool. But their budget takes on a life of its own.

Photographers Johannes and Jo face double trouble - a heritage restoration with the addition of an architectural statement home on the side.

Kate and Ian want to live in the remote Kenepuru Sound, but its a place tradies wont go to. Instead, the pair build off site and truck the home along a dangerous road.

A site with a river running through it would put most people off. But not Harlem and Nicola who attempt to build a glass-house on a bridge over the water.

David and Tracey share a passion for architecture, but with diverging taste. Their joint home in Waipu Cove results in a clash of wills and an epic battle over the budget and infinity pool.

Creating a 50-metre long castle wall is just the first of many uphill battles a brave family faces as they tackle the gargantuan task of creating a Medieval Castle in north Canterbury.

Auckland couple Bridget and Steve Varney take on the challenge of converting Farmers grand tea rooms built in 1930 into a New York style loft.

Normally, youd think twice about building extreme beachfront in Paekākāriki... but its a challenge top industrial designer Mark Pennington is ready to take on! Will Mark and Pips dream home come to life or get washed away?

Roland and Lucienne Vanderwal join forces with their son Michiel to build a home out of local schist, in the middle of their central Otago vineyard.

Ex cops Sumita and Cameron Dale want to build a lighthouse with virtually no money. Will they pull it off? And what will the neighbours say?

After renting the local schoolhouse for 20 years, Chatham Islanders John and Bridget Preece are finally embarking on their own dream build. But will the challenges of building on a remote island prove to be their undoing?

On the shores of Lake Tarawera, kiwi fruit farmers Stew and Gill Moss are building a final family home in time for Gills 60th birthday party.

Tony Hodge discovers that building with the humble container is not as easy as he thought it would be on his unforgiving, vertiginous, bush clad site on Waiheke Island.

In North Canterbury Phil Metaxas takes on the ambitious task of completing another mans dream - that of a post-modernist castle.

Mark Ahearn and his Australian restaurateur wife Liz are taking time out from their hectic lives in Perth to build a legacy family holiday home in Abel Tasman.

Eternal globetrotter Tessa Kingsburys dream is to convert an old Dunedin Sunday school into her forever home, but it comes with a twist - shes incorporating a glasshouse into the heart of it.

On a steep site in the wilds of Mahurangi, just north of Auckland, architect Felicity Brenchly is prepared to do whatever it takes to get their family home built.

When John and Sharon Russell bought their vertiginous site above Queenstown for their shared-ownership holiday house, they thought their biggest challenge would be signing up other owners...

Plans for an elegant “empty nest” home on Waiheke Island are swamped by a sea of mud and a tsunami of rising construction costs.

A concrete, steel and glass citadel above a popular Auckland beach combines austere functionality with luxury living.

Two psychologists undergo their own stress tests building a Mountain Modern home overlooking Otago Harbour.

A couple with peaceful retirement in mind, plan a rustic retreat in North Canterbury inspired by a Stealth Bomber fighter.