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.

Last Updated: 4/24/2025Network: TVNZStatus: Continuing

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#1 - 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?

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#2 - 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.

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#3 - 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.

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#4 - Wanaka Wedge

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/25/2019

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.

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#5 - Beach Escape

Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/2/2019

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.

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#6 - Taylor's Mistake

Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/9/2019

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?

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#7 - Medieval Castle

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/16/2019

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.

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#8 - 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?

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#9 - 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.

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#10 - 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.

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#11 - 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?

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#12 - 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.

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#13 - 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.

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#14 - 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.

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#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?

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#16 - 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.

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#17 - Kenepuru Sound: Pod House

Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/21/2018

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.

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#18 - 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?

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#19 - 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.

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#20 - 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.

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#21 - 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.

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#22 - 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.

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#23 - 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.

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#24 - 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.

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#25 - 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.

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