The BEST episodes of Grand Designs: House of the Year

Every episode of Grand Designs: House of the Year ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Grand Designs: House of the Year!

Every year the Royal Institute of British Architects looks for the best new home in Britain, and this time Grand Designs is along for the ride.

Last Updated: 10/31/2024Network: Channel 4Status: Continuing
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Houses That Take You by Surprise
star
8.36
14 votes

#1 - Houses That Take You by Surprise

Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/17/2021

Kevin McCloud, Damion Burrows and Michelle Ogundehin visit five breathtaking buildings that stop you in your tracks, including a futuristic, 1960s sci-fi-inspired water tower in rural Norfolk.

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Houses That Reinvent
star
8.18
11 votes

#2 - Houses That Reinvent

Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/8/2021

Kevin McCloud, Damion Burrows and Michelle Ogundehin visit a low-key eco-home and a modern oast, before the winner is revealed.

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Surroundings
star
8.13
15 votes

#3 - Surroundings

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/30/2019

Kevin McCloud, architect Damion Burrows and design expert Michelle Ogundehin visit five more inspiring homes in the running for the 2019 Royal Institute of British Architects House of the Year, featuring a contemporary London home, a property in the middle of a nature reserve on the Isle of Man, a historical house in south London, a property in Hampshire built with local materials, and a cantilevered black timber box in Skye on a rocky foreshore.

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The Final
star
8.00
8 votes

#4 - The Final

Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/13/2019

Kevin McCloud, architect Damion Burrows and design expert Michelle Ogundehin visit the final homes in the running for the 2019 Royal Institute of British Architects House of the Year, featuring a property in London with a sculptured copper roof, a Warwickshire home made entirely from exposed concrete, a perfectly crafted timber wedge hidden in a Devonshire arboretum, a Welsh house covered with locally quarried stone and slate, and a London home built with an incredible attention to detail. Finally, Kevin reveals with this year's winner. Last in the series.

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Problem-Solving Houses
star
8.00
14 votes

#5 - Problem-Solving Houses

Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/1/2021

Kevin McCloud, Damion Burrows and Michelle Ogundehin visit five properties that solve problems, including a camouflaged home that blends into its overlooked setting.

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Hard-to-Build Houses
star
7.89
9 votes

#6 - Hard-to-Build Houses

Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/16/2022

Kevin McCloud explores the homes in the running to win the RIBA House of the Year award 2022, starting with five hard-to-build houses, including a pink beach house.

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The Winner
star
7.84
19 votes

#7 - The Winner

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/15/2016

Kevin McCloud reveals the winner of the Royal Institute of British Architects House of the Year 2016. First though, there are four extraordinary nominated houses to review, all of which offer a creative response to a tricky site. There is a house stitched into a wall that sits between a Zen courtyard and an English walled garden; a clever, open plan family home built in a former allotment; a house made from a group of red tin pods on a piece of urban wasteland; and a large, glamorous home in Northumberland that creatively pulls northern light through the house.

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Local Materials
star
7.84
25 votes

#8 - Local Materials

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/7/2017

Kevin McCloud visits homes in the running for the 2017 Royal Institute of British Architects House of the Year. He is joined by architect Damion Burrows and Michelle Ogundehin, editor-at-large of Elle Decoration. In this episode, they visit five properties which draw on local materials and traditions, including a 21st-century shepherd's hut in Scotland.

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Space Makers
star
7.74
23 votes

#9 - Space Makers

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/8/2016

Kevin McCloud reveals another five homes vying to be crowned House of the Year 2016. These are houses that create space out of the smallest sites. There's an ultra-stylish one bedroom live/work space with an experimental garden roof; the transformation of a dark mews into a light and airy family home; a beautiful blend of beach living and high architecture in Dungeness; a clever extension in Harrogate; and a narrow beachfront garage that's been made over into a stunning home packed with a large art collection.

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The Minimalists and the Winner
star
7.74
23 votes

#10 - The Minimalists and the Winner

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/28/2017

Kevin McCloud reveals the winner of the most prestigious prize for residential architecture, the Royal Institute of British Architects House of the Year 2017. But first, Kevin, the architect Damion Burrows and magazine editor Michelle Ogundehin sift the final category from the long list, all of them homes that share a pared-back, minimal look. Properties include a former caretaker's shed in London, and a small but perfectly formed home with oak panelling and sleek polished concrete floors. Last in the series.

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Materials and Craftsmanship
star
7.73
11 votes

#11 - Materials and Craftsmanship

Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/24/2021

Kevin McCloud, Damion Burrows and Michelle Ogundehin explore five houses demonstrating exceptional craftsmanship, including a Scandi-Scottish lochside bolthole.

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Houses That Dare to Be Different
star
7.67
27 votes

#12 - Houses That Dare to Be Different

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/7/2018

Kevin McCloud visits homes in the running for the 2018 Royal Institute of British Architects House of the Year, including a magnificent monolithic dark-rendered block in London, a controversial, cutting-edge glass modernist building in Henley, and a north London townhouse filled with Nicaraguan mahogany.

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Materials and Craftsmanship
star
7.57
7 votes

#13 - Materials and Craftsmanship

Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/7/2022

Kevin McCloud looks at a meticulously crafted barn conversion and a timber-framed, timber-clad eco home, before the winner of the RIBA House of the Year 2022 is announced.

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House of the Year
star
7.57
35 votes

#14 - House of the Year

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/18/2015

Kevin McCloud reveals five more candidates vying to be crowned Riba House of the Year 2015, including a luxurious city home complete with a basement swimming pool, a concrete an brick open-plan house in Liverpool, and a geometric homestead in Northern Ireland. Plus, a Hollywood-inspired pad in north London, and a modernist villa in north Wales.

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Pioneers
star
7.55
11 votes

#15 - Pioneers

Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/30/2022

In the pioneering houses category, Kevin McCloud and the experts explore a home that fuses mock-Tudor with industrial chic, and a home with a mountain on the roof.

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Down to Earth
star
7.50
6 votes

#16 - Down to Earth

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/6/2019

Kevin McCloud, architect Damion Burrows and design expert Michelle Ogundehin visit five more inspiring homes in the running for the 2019 Royal Institute of British Architects House of the Year, featuring a stylish property in Devon, a cleverly engineered home in London, a self-build eco home on the South Downs, a 21st century manor house in Northamptonshire, and an elegant home in Northern Ireland.

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The Final
star
7.46
26 votes

#17 - The Final

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/25/2015

Kevin McCloud visits three more houses competing for a place on the finalist shortlist, including a timber and steel clad home in Dungeness, a pink brick house in Belfast, and an 18th century converted mill in rural Scotland. At the end of the show he announces the overall winner of the Royal Institute of British Architects House of the Year 2015, before visiting the house and discovering why it has been crowned the best new home in Britain.

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House of the Year
star
7.38
34 votes

#18 - House of the Year

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/11/2015

Kevin McCloud explores more inspiring homes in the running for the Riba House of the Year Award, before revealing which one has made it onto the shortlist. He visits a bright orange metal clad residence in the suburbs of Kew, a modernist property built over a river in Belfast, a low budget home constructed around a series of courtyard gardens, and a hidden house that uses vaulted roof lights to illuminate its depths.

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Boundary Pushers
star
7.38
24 votes

#19 - Boundary Pushers

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 12/1/2016

Kevin, Zac and Damion profile five homes that are testbeds for architectural ideas, pushing the boundaries for residential design: a cool, concealed house built from glass and concrete; an uber-creative Wallace and Gromit-style house in Edinburgh squeezed onto a disused plot; a gorgeous, low-slung modern home in Cumbria camouflaged with stone; an experimental extension in London with a Japanese flavour; and an elegant house in Buckinghamshire that combines sustainability with glamour. Kevin then reveals which one has made it onto the shortlist and is in with a chance of winning House of the Year 2016.

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Country Homes
star
7.35
34 votes

#20 - Country Homes

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/24/2016

In this first episode, Kevin and co profile five amazing country homes on the long-list for the prize: including a large house camouflaged within a hill; a loving restoration in Wiltshire of a prototype modernist retreat; a Scottish home that blends an agricultural exterior with a sleek modern interior; and a slice of spectacular California modernism in Cornwall. Kevin then reveals which of these homes will make it onto the final shortlist.

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Extreme Houses
star
7.23
22 votes

#21 - Extreme Houses

Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/21/2018

Kevin and his fellow judges visit an awe-inspiring set of cantilevered black boxes, a far-flung crofter's cottage, a curvy concrete property, and a wedge house

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Experimental
star
7.22
41 votes

#22 - Experimental

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/23/2019

Kevin McCloud visits homes in the running for the 2019 Royal Institute of British Architects House of the Year. This time, Kevin and his co-presenters, architect Damion Burrows and design expert Michelle Ogundehin, visit five experimental homes competing for a place on the shortlist. The properties include a pioneering home made entirely from cork in Eton, an innovative Derbyshire stone cottage, a bold family home on the South Downs with a vaulted interior, a micro-home built on the site of a double garage in London, and an extraordinary ultra-low-energy house in Buckinghamshire.

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Water
star
7.20
20 votes

#23 - Water

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/14/2017

Kevin McCloud, Damion Burrows, and Michelle Ogundehin look at five more inspiring homes in the running for the Royal Institute of British Architects House of the Year 2017. This episode considers homes with a watery connection, including a glamorous, white, curvy, cliff top residence with extensive views over the English Channel.

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The Final
star
7.18
17 votes

#24 - The Final

Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/28/2018

Kevin visits homes on the longlist that use materials in interesting ways, before revealing the overall winner of House of the Year 2018

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Incredible House Transformations
star
7.15
13 votes

#25 - Incredible House Transformations

Season 7 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/23/2022

Kevin McCloud and the experts visit five homes that have undergone incredible transformations, from a factory reborn to a library hidden within a former cowshed.

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