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 ambitious, and no obstacle too large in their quest for the perfect house.
Overview
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 ambitious, and no obstacle too large in their quest for the perfect house.
Episodes
1. Concrete Farmhouse
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.
2. Earthship
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.
3. Steel House
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?
