The BEST episodes of Grand Designs New Zealand

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

Architect Tom Webster meets people all over Aotearoa who are challenging architecture, geography, sustainability, technology, and even standard building practices to create innovative, cutting edge homes.

Last Updated: 11/4/2024Network: TVNZ 1Status: Continuing
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Passive House
star
8.13
16 votes

#1 - Passive House

Season 7 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/22/2022

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Castello
star
8.00
13 votes

#2 - Castello

Season 7 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/29/2022

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

Watch Now:Amazon
Queenstown: Modern Day Castle
star
7.78
63 votes

#3 - Queenstown: Modern Day Castle

Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/30/2016

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

Watch Now:Amazon
45° House
star
7.74
69 votes

#4 - 45° House

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/1/2015

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Grand Tearooms Penthouse
star
7.72
29 votes

#5 - Grand Tearooms Penthouse

Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/14/2020

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Dunedin Glasshouse
star
7.72
18 votes

#6 - Dunedin Glasshouse

Season 8 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/7/2023

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Suspended Glass House
star
7.71
42 votes

#7 - Suspended Glass House

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/18/2019

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
South Brighton: Earthquake Rebuild
star
7.68
62 votes

#8 - South Brighton: Earthquake Rebuild

Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/13/2016

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Point Chevalier: The Concreteologist
star
7.67
103 votes

#9 - Point Chevalier: The Concreteologist

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/25/2016

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Waitaki Valley
star
7.67
15 votes

#10 - Waitaki Valley

Season 8 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/12/2023

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
New Plymouth: Hemp Home
star
7.65
93 votes

#11 - New Plymouth: Hemp Home

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/2/2016

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Kapiti Coast: Stilt House
star
7.58
65 votes

#12 - Kapiti Coast: Stilt House

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/16/2016

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Abel Tasman
star
7.57
21 votes

#13 - Abel Tasman

Season 8 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/24/2023

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Mahurangi Pohuehue
star
7.56
16 votes

#14 - Mahurangi Pohuehue

Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/21/2023

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Container House
star
7.55
11 votes

#15 - Container House

Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/15/2022

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Queenstown
star
7.55
11 votes

#16 - Queenstown

Season 8 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/5/2023

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...

Watch Now:Amazon
Burnt Timber Pavilion
star
7.51
39 votes

#17 - Burnt Timber Pavilion

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/11/2019

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Lake House
star
7.50
12 votes

#18 - Lake House

Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/1/2022

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
American Barns
star
7.48
64 votes

#19 - American Barns

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/22/2015

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?

Watch Now:Amazon
Northland: Rusty House
star
7.43
74 votes

#20 - Northland: Rusty House

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/9/2016

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Ponsonby: French House
star
7.42
95 votes

#21 - Ponsonby: French House

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/23/2016

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Straw Bale House
star
7.41
63 votes

#22 - Straw Bale House

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/15/2015

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.

Watch Now:Amazon
Chatham Islands
star
7.41
17 votes

#23 - Chatham Islands

Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/18/2022

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?

Watch Now:Amazon
Grand Designs Revisited
star
7.41
22 votes

#24 - Grand Designs Revisited

Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/23/2019

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?

Watch Now:Amazon
Mangawhai Danish
star
7.40
20 votes

#25 - Mangawhai Danish

Season 8 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/31/2023

Matthew and Rosemarie Dunning are putting 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.

Watch Now:Amazon