Grand Designs New Zealand is a New Zealand television series.[1] It is based on the British television series Grand Designs and it was originally presented by the architectChris Moller and aired on TV3.[2] It began airing in New Zealand on 4 October 2015.[3]
Following Moller's departure after the 6th season, it was confirmed that architect Tom Webster would take over from the 7th season in 2022, which would air on TVNZ 1.[4][5] The eighth series, with Webster as host, began screening on TVNZ 1 on 24 October 2023.[6]
Format
The series' presenter follows the progress of interesting and ambitious house building projects, speaking with the owners and tracking the ups and downs of the design, construction and moving in.
Deer farmer and bachelor Lachlan McDonald is building a three-bedroom concrete home in the hopes to fill it with a family in the future. However, the choice of location is one of the most remote and stormy parts of the country – The Catlins. He's hired a top Auckland architect who is scratching his head at Lachlan's decision to project manage his first build himself. His choice of builder is also a good mate who specialises in constructing local milking sheds. Will this Grand Design be a perfect fusion of passions and experience or are these personalities destined to clash?
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 couldn't 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, it's not certain how this Grand Design will fare in Coromandel's temperamental climate.
Sydney-based writer Scott Lawrie's plans for his new life in New Zealand are encapsulated in a sculptural steel house he is building on a remote rural hillside behind Pākiri beach. Scott has an unrelenting refusal to compromise on his "legacy", but a budget can only be stretched so far. Will Scott realize his extraordinary dream?
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.
Nic Ballara clearly has a head for heights as he starts to build a family home for him and his wife Callie and their 12-year-old daughter. Nic's site in the earthquake prone city of Wellington is so steep that it looks virtually impossible to build on, however Nic is convinced he has a solution and is determined to build his first home there. A logistical nightmare lies ahead as this Grand Design looks to be an uphill battle throughout.
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 through to completion.
After years of living apart with their separate children, Mike and Catherine are finally building an extraordinary straw bale together on top of a rocky outcrop in central Otago. Between them, Mike and Cathy have seven children from their previous marriages. With the last child finally moved out of home, the couple are going to build a Grand Design in which they will live alone together for the first time. They will be calling on Catherine's skills as one of the few female joiners in the country and Mike's talents as an inventor to build a unique straw bale and hemp house on an exposed rocky outcrop near Wanaka.
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?
Builder and self-titled concreteologist Ross Bannan plans to push concrete to new limits to create a towering architectural home for his family on the cliffs of Auckland suburb Pt Chevalier.
New Plymouth couple Greg Whitham and Gayle Avery want to build a rustic French farmhouse style home for their extended family and they want to do this using hemp.
Steve Wilson and Wendy Grell want to get out of the city and live the quiet life. So they've demolished the old family holiday home and are building a permanent home in a small, isolated Northland bay.
With predicted rising sea levels, Wellington's wild Kāpiti Coastline is in danger of eventually being washed away. But that's not stopping Guy Marriage and his cousins from building an experimental home.
The suburb of Ponsonby is full of pretty historic wooden villas and the locals are very protective of them. So when Francophiles Sarah and Philippe Lods decide to build a modernist home they have some challenges ahead.
Andy Macbeth and Jo Denton are Christchurch earthquake refugees who are building a new life and modern-day fortress against the elements in alpine Queenstown.
Engineer David Fitzmaurice moved to Christchurch with his wife Joyce to work on the reconstruction of the city after the devastating earthquakes and he plans to build a home there from shipping containers.
A Christchurch family is determined to stay in South Brighton despite ongoing earthquakes, Andrei and Abby Martin are going to demolish their damaged cottage and build a prototype earthquake-proof home that can withstand shakes.
Kelly, a feisty mother of six children persuades them and her husband Joe, to pursue her dream of replicating a Dargaville Mansion she fell in love with as a child.
Ash, a Te Puke accountant pursues his long held dream of building a log cabin at the base of Ruapehu- despite his architecturally trained daughters' objections.
Sky, a wealthy bachelor is struggling with the spotlight in his small home town of Tairua. He creates a sanctuary for himself and his children on remote Slipper Island.
George and Yvonne retired to peaceful Nelson to build their dream home. But George, a retired architect, isn't ready to take it easy. He wants to pioneer a new way to build affordable and contemporary house.
Young Auckland couple Brendan and Nikki borrow a fortune to build their first home and along the way face delays, budget blow-outs, and becoming new parents.
Wedding dress designer Robyn and her husband David are pursuing a dream to build a home that they could one day retire to. Sea views and privacy were at the top of their wish list.
Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper is a musician and composer building a designer home with a built- in recording studio and a performance stage by his parents' house in Auckland's Pt Chevalier.
Isabel Weston, daughter of world famous motorbike inventor John Britten takes on a daunting endurance test with her husband Tim – restoring the earthquake damaged family home can they pull it off?
Ric and Boio make a child hood dream a reality by building a tree-house in a pine forest, in a high wind zone, where trees frequently blow over in winter storms- what could possibly go wrong?
Cathy and Vince Moores strive to create a sumptuous Italian style villa surrounded by beautiful mature gardens, but their budget takes on a life of its own, threatening to turn their long awaited dream into a nightmare.
Sustainability experts Karl and Amelie have a dream of a house that is heated solely from the sun. But on a steep, exposed, windy Wellington hillside site they're challenged right from the start.
Photographers Johannes and Jo take on a heritage restoration adding a bold architectural statement home next door but will the marriage between the old with the new prove more than they bargained for.
Young builder Zac wants to save money by building his own home. The problem is he's promised his mum he'll build hers at the same time and both on top of a sand dune. Who'd be mad enough to do that?
Kate and Ian want to build a home in the remote Kenepuru sounds. A place tradies won't go to. Answer? Build off site, and truck the home along a dangerous, windy road. Sheer, heart-thumping drama.
Shane and Tina Nicholls design a unique family home using Japanese burnt timber and Scandinavian brick, a special memorial garden, views over the gulf, a wine cellar, a pool, and much more – it’s a truly international affair.
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.
Musicians Justine Cormack and Marc Taddei swap their Auckland home for the mountains of Central Otago. They risk all by adapting an American design for the Southern Hemisphere.
David and Tracey Lewis share a passion for art and architecture but don't always share the same opinion. So when they jointly create a home in Waipu Cove, there's a creative clash and a battle over the budget.
Craig Jarvis's tiny 65 square metre home overlooking Taylor's mistake is Grand Designs longest running house build. Hand built from the ground up, Craig proves he's a man on a mission who will not be defeated.
Neil Lawrence is on a quest to build a Medieval castle for his wife and son. Creating a 50-metre long castle wall is just the first of many uphill battles this brave family face as they tackle this huge task.
Chris Moller takes a tour of three exceptional Grand Designs houses from the last four seasons to see how they've developed and asks whether the huge budget, hard work and heartaches were really worth it. The houses had previously been profiled in "American Gothic" (season 1, episode 4), "Vinegar Lane Apartment" (season 3, episode 6), and "Te Arai Lodge" (season 4, episode 4).[7]
Normally, you'd think twice about building extreme beachfront in Paekākāriki... but it's a challenge top industrial designer Mark Pennington is ready to take on! Will Mark and Pip's dream home come to life or get washed away?
An off the grid monolith in the Marlborough Sounds is a challenging build. But when you live 12,000 miles way like the O'Briens, it's nigh on impossible.
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?
Tony Hodge discovers that building with the humble container is not as easy as he thought it would be on his vertiginous, bush-clad site on Waiheke Island.
In Featherston, Swedish architect Josefine Watterson tackles the challenge of creating a Passive House for her young family in pursuit of a more sustainable lifestyle.
Charles Webster, a man with a passion for technical engineering, and his wife Yvonne pour their energy into creating a home in the shape of a sand dune on the Coromandel Peninsula.
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.
Matthew and Rosemarie Dunning are put down roots in Mangawhai and have decided to throw convention out the window by embracing their son's intriguing concept of a brick house in a sand dune.
Eternal globetrotter Tessa Kingsbury's dream is to convert an old Dunedin Sunday school into her forever home, but it comes with a twist - she's incorporating a glasshouse into the heart of it.
Josh and Esther Perriam have always wanted to build their family home on New Brighton's beachfront but, with a limited budget and on just a slip of land, will the design live up to their dream?
On a steep site in the wilds of Mahurangi, just north of Auckland, architect Felicity Brenchley is prepared to do whatever it takes to get their family home built.
An hour and several river crossings inland from Geraldine is where arborist Li Tane and his horticulturalist wife Michelle are building their rammed earth, off-grid sustainable mountain home.
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.
In the Waitaki Valley, Michael and Olivia Pavelitch discover they have their work cut out for them when they embark on breathing life into an historic rabbiters' cottage.
