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The Best Episodes of Grand Designs

Every episode of Grand Designs ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Grand Designs!

The Best Episodes of Grand Designs

British television series which features unusual and often elaborate architectural homebuilding projects.
  1. Background image for River Thames: Floating House
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #1 - River Thames: Floating House

    S14:E7

    Andy and Nicki Bruce try to build an experimental flood-proof floating house on an island in the River Thames. But building such a complex design on a site with limited access is not easy. Andy and Nicki Bruce's amphibious house, the first of its kind in the UK. Their architect has come up with an ambitious, experimental design that has never been tried on a river bank in Britain and no one knows whether it will work. The Bruces decide to build on a site on a small island in the river. But it's not long before the project becomes bogged down in the logistical challenges of building such a complex design on a small island that is only accessible by a narrow footbridge.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  2. Background image for Yorkshire: The 14th Century Castle
    8.3/10(22 votes)

    #2 - Yorkshire: The 14th Century Castle

    S7:E1

    Every Englishman’s home is his castle but for Francis Shaw this is quite literally true. He and his wife, Karen, and their two young daughters, bought the ruins of a 14th Century castle in Yorkshire and took on the remarkable challenge of turning a pile of stones into a beautiful home. Surrounded by rolling green fields, the location is idyllic; however, the castle itself was little more than four crumbling walls.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  3. Background image for Worcestershire: The Cave House
    8.1/10(44 votes)

    #3 - Worcestershire: The Cave House

    S16:E4

    Kevin McCloud follows the progress of 37-year-old Angelo Mastropietro, as he transforms a damp, dark and abandoned cave in Worcestershire. Having recently been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Angelo wants to create a retreat to help him cope with the news and become a 21st century caveman. He has a budget of pounds 100,000 and plans to almost single-handedly carve, cut and drill into the hillside to make the cave comfortable for contemporary living. However, there is no manual for a project of this kind, and the unique challenge soon becomes an obsession.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  4. Background image for Billingshurst, Sussex Revisit 2023
    8.1/10(17 votes)

    #4 - Billingshurst, Sussex Revisit 2023

    S24:E8

    In 2019, Olaf and Fritha set out to build on a tricky slice of land in West Sussex, boxed in by an A-road and trainline. Kevin McCloud returns to see how their triangular triumph is faring.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for Revisited - Sussex: The Woodsmans Cottage
    8.0/10(14 votes)

    #5 - Revisited - Sussex: The Woodsmans Cottage

    S5:E8

    Kevin returns to see how Ben Law's woodsman's cottage has changed. The house has bedded down into its landscaped kitchen garden and his life has changed in unexpected ways.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for Cambridge: The Cambridgeshire Eco Home
    8.0/10(19 votes)

    #6 - Cambridge: The Cambridgeshire Eco Home

    S7:E10

    Kelly and Masoko Neville set about building not just a spectacular oak frame and straw bale house, but a whole new way of life in the Cambridgeshire Fens. Kelly is a carpenter by trade and has always dreamed of building an eco friendly home with his own hands. This highly sustainable house, sitting in harmony with nature and its surroundings, will become the base for Kelly and Masoko's new self-sufficient life where they will produce their own food and energy from the land.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Grand Designs

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  8. Background image for Milton Keynes: Round House
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #7 - Milton Keynes: Round House

    S14:E3

    Peter Berkin and his wife Chard have decided to build a new home at the bottom of their garden. Problem is, right from the start they can't agree on any part of the design - even the basic shape. Peter wants the new house to feature a workshop where he can build a plane. He wants the house to be round. Chard however wants it to be square and practical. Peter aims to spend pounds 400K, Chard wants to keep the budget around pounds 200K. With Peter building as much of the house as he can himself, helped by his mates, and Chard taking control of the money and schedule, it looks like a recipe for disaster.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for County Derry: Shipping Container House
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #8 - County Derry: Shipping Container House

    S14:E4

    A young farmer and architect in Northern Ireland hopes to make a home out of four large shipping containers welded together to form a giant cross. Patrick Bradley has come up with a pounds 100k house design to be built out of four 45-foot shipping containers, welded together to form a giant cross and cantilevered over the top of a stream at a beautiful secluded spot on the family farm. His mum is hoping his new home will get Patrick a girlfriend. But his tiny budget is soon under threat.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  10. Background image for Revisited – Creuse, France: 19th Century Manor House
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #9 - Revisited – Creuse, France: 19th Century Manor House

    S14:E8

    Kevin McCloud returns to a remote part of France and a restoration project of a dilapidated manor house started back in 2003 by Denise Daniel and Doug Ibbs. When Denise Daniel and Doug Ibbs gave up everything in the UK to start a new life in a remote part of central France, they couldn't have known what was ahead of them. Most people would have regretted falling in love with a massive, dilapidated manor house with just four crumbling walls and half a roof, but not Doug and Deni. This impressive, extraordinary and utterly determined couple rolled up their sleeves and slogged away day and night, doing everything themselves, year after year, until slowly but surely they created a magnificent edifice out of the ruins they bought off the internet.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  11. Background image for Revisited – Herefordshire: The Recycled Timber-Framed House
    8.0/10(45 votes)

    #10 - Revisited – Herefordshire: The Recycled Timber-Framed House

    S18:E9

    Following the work of Ed and Rowena Waghorn as they continue to build a handcrafted, five-bedroom house on an eight acre smallholding in Herefordshire, 10 years in the making. Progress on the build was slow as Ed decided to do most of the work himself, and after four years the house was still a shell. Now, years later, is it possible this house may finally become a medieval masterpiece?

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  12. Background image for Hull
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #11 - Hull

    S20:E4

    Richard and Felicia almost singlehandedly turn an underground water reservoir in the Humber Estuary into a family home. It's an epic task. And then a life threatening illness strikes.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for Suffolk
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #12 - Suffolk

    S20:E5

    After recovering from leukaemia, Toby is driven to build a complex home around an old oak tree. But can he balance high architecture and health with a comfy family place?

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  14. Background image for Newhaven Revisit 2024
    8.0/10(8 votes)

    #13 - Newhaven Revisit 2024

    S25:E6

    On a nostalgic revisit to the first ever Grand Design, from back in 1999, Kevin finds out if Tim and Jules are still flying high in their timber-framed home on the cliffs above Newhaven

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for Wales: The Isolated Cottage
    7.9/10(21 votes)

    #14 - Wales: The Isolated Cottage

    S2:E4

    An isolated hilltop in the Brecon Beacons might seem an inhospitable place for a couple's first home. But Adrian and Corinna both grew up in the area, and the ruined farmhouse they chose to restore had been in Adrian's family for generations. The site's lack of mains water and electricity gave them no qualms. True, the track up the hill was often inaccessible in winter. But the landscape was beautiful and they both felt they belonged there

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  16. Background image for Revisited - Buckinghamshire: The Inverted-Roof House
    7.9/10(14 votes)

    #15 - Revisited - Buckinghamshire: The Inverted-Roof House

    S4:E3

    In November 2001, Tom and Judy demolished a bungalow and started building an infinitely more ambitious house. Designed on different levels, with glass walls and exposed steelwork, it was to be a miraculous piece of engineering, giving the couple and their two young children a beautiful, technologically advanced home. Tom appointed himself project manager—a job that proved to be more challenging than he had expected. Grand Designs 3 followed the first 16 months of the build. As Grand Designs 4 goes on air, how close is it to completion?

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  17. Background image for The Derelict Water Tower
    7.9/10(43 votes)

    #16 - The Derelict Water Tower

    S12:E5

    Kevin McCloud marks the 100th episode with one of the programme's most ambitious projects to date. Leigh Osborne and Graham Voce want to convert and extend a landmark 150-year-old water tower in central London into a luxury home. Grade II-listed, derelict and with 6ft-thick walls, it's a huge challenge for the pair, who also plan to build two structures at the base - a lift shaft connected by a series of glass tunnels, and a modern living space. The result will be a four-bedroom property over nine floors, complete with a room at the top offering spectacular 360 degree views across the capital.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for South Cornwall: Steam Bending House
    7.9/10(41 votes)

    #17 - South Cornwall: Steam Bending House

    S17:E3

    Kevin McCloud meets Tom and Danielle Raffield, whose lifelong passion has been steam-bending wood. They've used the technique to create extraordinary furniture and lighting, but now plan to use it on a larger scale. In an attempt to escape the confines of their tiny gamekeeper's lodge, they have decided to build a wavy wooden house in South Cornwall, completed with curved cladding, twisted furniture and interior walls covered with weathered timber. With a £100,000 budget, the pair have decided to do a lot of the building themselves, and Kevin is on hand to discover whether they're up to the challenge.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for Pembrokeshire: Low-Impact House
    7.9/10(40 votes)

    #18 - Pembrokeshire: Low-Impact House

    S17:E6

    No description available

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for East Devon Revisited
    7.9/10(25 votes)

    #19 - East Devon Revisited

    S19:E7

    Kevin returns to Devon to meet Kevin McCabe, who wanted to build one of the biggest houses ever on Grand Designs, out of mud. Seven years after it began, the cob castle is complete.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for Revisited: The Woodman's Cottage, Sussex
    7.8/10(15 votes)

    #20 - Revisited: The Woodman's Cottage, Sussex

    S9:E13

    No description available

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for The Computer Cut House, Herefordshire
    7.8/10(40 votes)

    #21 - The Computer Cut House, Herefordshire

    S12:E2

    Kevin meets a pair of civil-partnered university professors, Celia Brackenridge and Diana Woodward.  They have enlisted the services of industrial designers who have developed a new computer-assisted method for cutting precision-engineered building blocks, however although the technique may be clever, its creators have never created a building before

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  23. Background image for South West London: Cemetery Keeper's Lodge
    7.8/10(44 votes)

    #22 - South West London: Cemetery Keeper's Lodge

    S21:E1

    Justin plans to restore a neo-Gothic cemetery keeper's lodge and convert its toilet block into a luxury extension complete with a moat and swimming pool. But can he keep his budget under control?

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  24. Background image for Kent: Converted Barn
    7.8/10(42 votes)

    #23 - Kent: Converted Barn

    S21:E2

    Kevin McCloud meets Greg and Georgie who are taking on the highly ambitious task of converting a dilapidated, 35-year-old barn in Kent. The build will be a huge challenge involving the painstaking conservation of the existing rotten structure, building a new two-storey internal steel frame and recycling everything they can to stretch their £250,000 budget.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  25. Background image for South Herefordshire 2023
    7.8/10(22 votes)

    #24 - South Herefordshire 2023

    S24:E5

    Furniture maker Lucinda wants to construct a beautifully crafted, two-storey, highly insulated timber home in the woodland of South Herefordshire on a very modest budget, and without using heavy machinery.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  26. Background image for Surrey: Customised German Kit House
    7.7/10(20 votes)

    #25 - Surrey: Customised German Kit House

    S4:E2

    David and Greta loved their home, a modernist structure in Surrey that they had built themselves almost 40 years ago. It was filled with things they'd chosen over the years—design classics, mementoes, David's paintings. But that house was falling apart and had to come down. Meanwhile, they had lost their hearts to a German post-and-beam house, designed by architect Peter Huf and available as a customised kit.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

Best Episodes Summary

"River Thames: Floating House" is the best rated episode of "Grand Designs". It scored 9/10 based on 1 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 10/15/2014. This episode scored 0.7 points higher than the second highest rated, "Yorkshire: The 14th Century Castle".