7.2/1017 votes#1 - Cheltenham: The Underground House
Season 8 Episode 1 - Aired 1/16/2008
A couple who live in a Regency house in Cheltenham that is expensive to run decide to sell up and build a modern low maintenance house in their back garden. However, height restrictions mean they have to build 60 per cent of their new home underground and neighbours make 90 complaints about their planning application. Undeterred, the pair continue as planned, but the project encounters further problems including the departure of the builders.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.9/1014 votes
#2 - Oxford: The Decagon House
Season 8 Episode 2 - Aired 1/23/2008
Henry Chopping finds his plans to build a new home in Oxford hampered by a listed wall and planning restrictions. With a budget of over three quarters of a million Henry is determined to make his dream home a reality.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.0/1015 votes
#3 - Bristol: The Modernist Sugar Cube
Season 8 Episode 3 - Aired 1/30/2008
An architect plans to build a new house for his family using only white materials. He ends up using stuff more commonly used in commercial buildings.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.1/1020 votes
#4 - The Gothic House
Season 8 Episode 4 - Aired 2/6/2008
Jo and Shaun Bennett want to build an Addams Family style Gothic house with a £400,000 budget. With the challenge growing bigger than they ever imagined they face financial problems and struggle to stay within their budget.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.8/1017 votes
#5 - Midlothian: The Lime Kiln House
Season 8 Episode 5 - Aired 2/13/2008
Pru and Richard make plans to build a bespoke family home on an industrial site in the middle of the Midlothian countryside. However, the plot of land, an old industrial site complete with lime kilns, comes with a condition. They can build on it only if they become custodians of the kilns, and more importantly, that the house they build blends in with the landscape.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.1/1017 votes
#6 - The Bath Kit House
Season 8 Episode 6 - Aired 2/20/2008
Kevin attempts to help Tiffany and Jonny with their dream of creating an ultra-modern, eco-friendly home in Bath in the west country. Rather than go down the traditional building route, Tiffany and Jonny opted for a German pre-fabricated kit house with great green credentials.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.4/1013 votes
#7 - Revisited - Masseria Impisi: An Artists' Retreat
Season 8 Episode 7 - Aired 2/27/2008
Kevin McCloud revisits artists David Westby and Leonie Whitton three years after they bought an olive farm in the Puglia region of Italy and planned to convert it into a home on a budget of £25,000.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.5/1011 votes
#8 - Revisited - Peterborough- The Wooden Box
Season 8 Episode 8 - Aired 3/5/2008
Kevin McCloud drops in at John and Terri Westlake's self-built, contemporary wooden home, which has a wall made entirely of glass and great views across open countryside near Peterborough.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.2/1014 votes
#9 - Revisited - German Kit House
Season 8 Episode 9 - Aired 3/12/2008
Kevin revisits David and Greta Iredale, who replaced their original house which they designed and built themselves with a German built, precision engineered Huf Haus.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.7/1012 votes
#10 - Revisited - Surrey- The Victorian Threshing Barn
Season 8 Episode 10 - Aired 3/19/2008
Kevin McCloud revisits Philip Trail and his wife Angela who moved to stress-free Surrey and renovated a 150-year-old threshing barn after Philip was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.0/1013 votes
#11 - Cumbria Underground House Revisited
Season 8 Episode 11 - Aired 3/26/2008
Five years on, Kevin McCloud goes back to the wilds of Cumbria to see how the Reddy family have adapted to their ecologically sound earth-sheltered home.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.4/1015 votes
#12 - Maidstone: The Hi Tech Bungalow
Season 8 Episode 12 - Aired 4/2/2008
In Maidstone, Jean and Bill Letley, a septuagenarian couple plan a highly contemporary bungalow complete with underfloor heating and prototype steel foundations. The project would test even the most accomplished workmen, but is left to their daughter and son-in-law, who have little building experience and have to make personal sacrifices.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Grand Designs Season 8
Every episode of Grand Designs Season 8 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Grand Designs Season 8!
British television series which features unusual and often elaborate architectural homebuilding projects.
Genre:Documentary
Network:Channel 4
Season 8 Ratings Summary
"Cheltenham: The Underground House" is the best rated episode of "Grand Designs" season 8. It scored 7.2/10 based on 17 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 1/16/2008. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "Oxford: The Decagon House".