Grand Designs New Zealand (2015)

Architect Chris Moller meets Southland farmer Lachlan McDonald, who's building a modernist concrete home with a controversial roof in one of the most remote parts of NZ.

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 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.

Chris meets Scottish migrant and urbanite, Scott Lawrie, who has a dream for a new life and a radical new stainless steel home in the remote hills behind Pakiri. 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 Pakiri 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?

Chris meets builder Steve Sygrove, who's 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 architect Nic Ballara, who's planning to build a house on a steep 45-degree slope overlooking Wellington. 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.

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.

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 Otego. 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.

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?

Ross plans to create a towering home for his family on the cliffs of Point Chevalier. But after living on site for nearly 10 years, his family is now wondering if he'll ever get their home finished.

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.

Steve Wilson and Wendy Grell move from Auckland to the Northland beachside where they plan to build an architectural marvel of corten steel in an unassuming seaside community.

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 Wellington's Kapiti Coast.

Philippe and Sarah Lods hope to create a modernist home based on Parisian apartments on a rare empty site in the heart of Auckland's historic Ponsonby.

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

Building with shipping containers seems like a creative way to create a home, but construction falling a year behind is only the start of this Christchurch family's build problems.

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.

Kelly wants to recreate an ornate historic homestead in Helensville - just like one she fell in love with as a child. And she's not letting her six kids hold her back.

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

Sky wants to build a remote, off-grid island sanctuary, where he and his family can escape the demands of mainland life.

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.

George and Yvonne are leaving Auckland to retire in Nelson. They've chosen a difficult site over a tidal estuary and George wants to paint the entire house black - inside and out.

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.

Wedding dress designer Robyn and husband David have a dream to build a home that looks across a native canopy. But will getting materials to their Waiheke site make the build impossible?

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.

The daughter of world famous motorbike inventor, John Britten, takes on the multi-million dollar task of restoring the eclectic earthquake damaged family home.

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?

Ric and Boio turn a tree house childhood dream into reality. But building in a pine forest where trees frequently blow over in winter storms complicates things.

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.

Sustainability experts Karl and Amelie have a dream to build a home heated from the sun. But on a steep, windy Wellington hillside site they're challenged right from the start.

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

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 are on top of a sand dune.

Kate and Ian want to live in the remote Kenepuru Sound, but it's a place tradies won't go to. Instead, the pair build off site and truck the home along a dangerous road.

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 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.

Six years in the making, Craig Jarvis' tiny 65 square metre home overlooking Taylor's Mistake is Grand Designs' longest running house build. Hand built, but is it finally finished?

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.

Chris Moller takes a tour of three exceptional Grand Designs homes from the last four seasons to see how they've developed and to ask the big question - was it all worth it?

Mahuia and Mindy are preparing to be the first-time parents and want to build a family home that will double as a recording studio and a rooftop performance space. In this episode we take you back to the home doubling as a recording studio as Mahuia and Mindy try to find harmony between an inspirational music space and a place to raise their family.

One of Grand Designs' most compelling builds, in which concretologist Ross risks life and limb to create a towering home for his family on the cliffs of Pt Chevalier.

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.

Joseph and Susannah battle storms and complex topography as they attempt to build a coastal paradise on a steep site with stunning view of Piha.

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?

Kim Powell and Boon Yap scour Northland for the perfect spot to build a Feng Shui home. It's a rollercoaster ride.

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.

An off the grid monolith in the Marlborough Sounds is a challenging build. But when you live 12,000 miles away like the O'Briens, it's nigh on impossible.

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?

Heritage building enthusiasts Ted and Ita Daniels create an ultra-modern rooftop apartment on top of one of the city's most beautiful renovations.

Aaron and Christine Green create an unconventional, curvaceous creation in Cass Bay. It's as much of an artwork as it is a house, but at what cost?

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?

In Kerikeri, local weekend market and café owners Warrick and Judy Hyland are building the biggest house they can on a budget.

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

Carefree childhood memories are the inspiration behind 32-year-old James Davis' complex build on the Kapiti Coast.

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 Featherston, Swedish architect Josefine Watterson tackles the challenge of creating a Passive House for her young family in pursuit of both a more sustainable lifestyle.

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

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 Brenchly is prepared to do whatever it takes to get their family home built.

An hour - and 7 river crossings - inland from Geraldine is where arborist Li Tane and his landscaper wife Michelle are building their rammed earth, off-grid, sustainable mountain home for their family

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.

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 cherished family holiday home at Lake Ōhau is rebuilt after destruction and near-death experience.

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

The dream of a sustainable rammed earth house at Waikanae risks crumbling in the face of building delays and steadily rising costs.

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

An old tennis court in Paraparaumu is set to become a couple's new family home but the project lobs up a series of backhanders.

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

A rambunctious retired bricklayer builds one final house, for himself and his ever-patient wife on their farm near Whanganui.