The WORST episodes of Grand Designs New Zealand
Every episode of Grand Designs New Zealand ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst 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.
#1 - Ōkaihau
Season 7 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/25/2022
In Kerikeri, local weekend market and café owners Warrick and Judy Hyland are building the biggest house they can on a budget. However, a global pandemic and building supply crisis force them to make some heart-wrenching decisions.
#2 - 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.
#3 - 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.
#4 - New Brighton
Season 8 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/14/2023
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?
#5 - 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.
#6 - Sand Dune
Season 7 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/6/2022
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.
#7 - 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.
#8 - 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.
#9 - Round House
Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/8/2022
Carefree childhood memories are the inspiration behind 32-year-old James Davis' complex build on the Kapiti Coast.
#10 - 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.
#11 - 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.
#12 - 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?
#13 - Copper Curve
Season 6 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/9/2020
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?
#14 - Ultramodern Rooftop Home
Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/2/2020
Heritage building enthusiasts Ted and Ita Daniels create an ultra-modern rooftop apartment on top of one of the city's most beautiful renovations.
#15 - Lighthouse
Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/26/2020
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?
#16 - Sounds Hideaway
Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/19/2020
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.
#17 - Schist Vineyard
Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/12/2020
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.
#18 - Feng Shui Palace
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/5/2020
Kim Powell and Boon Yap scour Northland for the perfect spot to build a Feng Shui home. It's a rollercoaster ride.
#19 - Floating Beach Bach
Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/28/2020
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?
#20 - Piha Clifftop Retreat
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/21/2020
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.
#21 - Loburn Lifestyle
Season 9 - Episode 7 - Aired 6/8/2025
A couple with peaceful retirement in mind, plan a rustic retreat in North Canterbury inspired by a Stealth Bomber fighter.
#22 - Rock House
Season 10 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/31/2026
A seemingly impossible to build on section high above Queenstown is the location for Hans and Suzy Raetz’s “fun” project – a modular home constructed in Cromwell.
#23 - Omaha
Season 10 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/24/2026
In a prominent position in one of New Zealand’s most well-known beach-side communities, an Auckland couple plan a holiday home work of art.
#24 - Martinborough
Season 10 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/17/2026
A “forever” home amongst the vines in Martinborough wine country, with a black and white combination of Yakisugi timber and Oamaru Stone, tests the limits of an enterprising couple’s resources.
#25 - Kawau
Season 10 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/10/2026
A Hauraki Gulf island with an illustrious history looks to be an idyllic family retreat but building there proves a logistical nightmare.