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The Best Episodes of Grand Designs New Zealand

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

The stories of creative and enterprising Kiwis who are taking on the challenge of building their own unique and inspirational homes. No design is too...
Genre:Reality
Networks:ThreeTVNZ 1

Best Episodes Summary

"Helensville: Imitation Villa" is the best rated episode of "Grand Designs New Zealand". It scored 6/10 based on 5 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 9/19/2017. This episode scored NaN points higher than the second highest rated, "Concrete Farmhouse".

  • Helensville: Imitation Villa
    6.0/105 votes
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    #1 - Helensville: Imitation Villa

    Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 9/19/2017

    Kelly wants to recreate an ornate historic homestead in Helensville - just like one she fell in love with as a child. And she's not letting her six kids hold her back.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Concrete Farmhouse
    NaN/100 votes
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    #2 - Concrete Farmhouse

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 10/4/2015

    Architect Chris Moller meets Southland farmer Lachlan McDonald, who's building a modernist concrete home with a controversial roof in one of the most remote parts of NZ.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Earthship
    NaN/100 votes
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    #3 - Earthship

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/11/2015

    Chris meets Gus and Sarah whose solution to spiraling house prices is to make their first home an Earthship - an off-the-grid house made of recycled rubbish, earthen bricks and clay. An Earthship is a non-traditional home built using recycled materials such as bottles and tyres, and even mussel shells for insulation. Young Coromandel couple Gus and Sarah Anning decided to step outside the norm with their Grand Design when they realized they couldn't afford a traditional home. Enlisting the help of community volunteers, both here and overseas and using unique building techniques originally designed for the desert in California, it's not certain how this Grand Design will fare in Coromandel's temperamental climate.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Steel House
    NaN/100 votes
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    #4 - Steel House

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/18/2015

    Chris meets Scottish migrant and urbanite, Scott Lawrie, who has a dream for a new life and a radical new stainless steel home in the remote hills behind Pakiri. Sydney-based writer Scott Lawrie's plans for his new life in New Zealand are encapsulated in a sculptural steel house he is building on a remote rural hillside behind Pakiri beach. Scott has an unrelenting refusal to compromise on his "legacy", but a budget can only be stretched so far. Will Scott realize his extraordinary dream?

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • American Gothic
    NaN/100 votes
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    #5 - American Gothic

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/25/2015

    Chris meets builder Steve Sygrove, who's planning to build and ornate and colourful American Gothic home in the Titirangi bush. Fifth generation builder Steve Sygrove and his wife, Chrissy, have a passion for things pretty, floral and pink. Their unique build in the Titirangi bush near Auckland is a handcrafted American Gothic style house complete with ornate detailing like a Juliette balcony, spandrels, a horseshow window, lacework valences, and interior walls made of fabric. Steve rallies against the bureaucracy that is stifling the creativity in his craft and expects this grand dame of a building will be his swansong.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • 45° House
    NaN/100 votes
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    #6 - 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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Clifftop House
    NaN/100 votes
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    #7 - Clifftop House

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 11/8/2015

    Chris meets Hamish and Diane Divett, who are rebuilding their house on the most unlikely spot - on the edge of a crumbling cliff top that plummets 40 metres to the sea below. Surfing Pastor Hamish Divett and his psychologist wife Diane have lived by the ocean for years, but in a dark, south-facing house that failed to take full advantage of the beautiful vista. To get the view they desperately desire, the couple have decided to push structural and logical planning to the limits. By building on a crumbling cliff with a sheer drop to the sea below, the Divetts will push their team to the edge to see this Grand Design though to completion.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Straw Bale House
    NaN/100 votes
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    #8 - 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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • American Barns
    NaN/100 votes
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    #9 - 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?

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Point Chevalier: The Concreteologist
    NaN/100 votes
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    #10 - 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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • New Plymouth: Hemp Home
    NaN/100 votes
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    #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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Northland: Rusty House
    NaN/100 votes
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    #12 - 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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Kapiti Coast: Stilt House
    NaN/100 votes
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    #13 - 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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Ponsonby: French House
    NaN/100 votes
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    #14 - 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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Queenstown: Modern Day Castle
    NaN/100 votes
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    #15 - 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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Christchurch: Shipping Container Home
    NaN/100 votes
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    #16 - Christchurch: Shipping Container Home

    Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 11/6/2016

    Building with shipping containers seems like a creative way to create a home, but construction falling a year behind is only the start of this Christchurch family's build problems.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • South Brighton: Earthquake Rebuild
    NaN/100 votes
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    #17 - 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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Mount Ruapehu: Log Home
    NaN/100 votes
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    #18 - Mount Ruapehu: Log Home

    Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 9/26/2017

    Ski enthusiast Ash dreams of building a traditional European Log Cabin at the base of Mount Ruapehu. But will his daughter's input compromise his dream?

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Slipper Island: Island Hideaway
    NaN/100 votes
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    #19 - Slipper Island: Island Hideaway

    Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 10/3/2017

    Sky wants to build a remote, off-grid island sanctuary, where he and his family can escape the demands of mainland life.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Queenstown: Moving Mansion
    NaN/100 votes
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    #20 - Queenstown: Moving Mansion

    Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 10/10/2017

    Jamie and Melissa went to buy a staircase from a Christchurch villa and ended up buying the whole house. Now they must transport their massive manion overland to Queenstown.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Nelson: Black House
    NaN/100 votes
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    #21 - Nelson: Black House

    Season 3 Episode 5 - Aired 10/17/2017

    George and Yvonne are leaving Auckland to retire in Nelson. They've chosen a difficult site over a tidal estuary and George wants to paint the entire house black - inside and out.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Auckland: Vinegar Lane Apartment
    NaN/100 votes
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    #22 - Auckland: Vinegar Lane Apartment

    Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 10/24/2017

    A young Auckland couple borrow a fortune to build their first home - and along the way face delays, budget blow-outs, and becoming new parents.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Waiheke: Canopy House
    NaN/100 votes
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    #23 - Waiheke: Canopy House

    Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 10/31/2017

    Wedding dress designer Robyn and husband David have a dream to build a home that looks across a native canopy. But will getting materials to their Waiheke site make the build impossible?

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Point Chevalier: Music Box House
    NaN/100 votes
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    #24 - Point Chevalier: Music Box House

    Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 11/7/2017

    Mahuia and Mindy are preparing to be first-time parents and want to build a family home that will double as a recording studio and a rooftop performance space.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Christchurch: Britten Stables
    NaN/100 votes
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    #25 - Christchurch: Britten Stables

    Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 10/3/2018

    The daughter of world famous motorbike inventor, John Britten, takes on the multi-million dollar task of restoring the eclectic earthquake damaged family home.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A