Grand Designs
Season 17

s17e01 / Gloucestershire: Treehouse

21st Sep '16 - 9:00pm
Gloucestershire: Treehouse Summary

Kevin McCloud follows plumber Jon Martin and ceramicist Noreen Jaafar as they transform a neglected half-acre site in Gloucestershire. However, they are unable to cut down the 27 protected trees on the plot, so their solution is to build a big, modern treehouse with stilts screwed into the earth and balconies that will have views for miles.

371 have watched this episode

s17e02 / Horsham: Fun House

28th Sep '16 - 9:00pm
Horsham: Fun House Summary

Kevin McCloud follows Matt and Sophie White from Sussex as they build a giant family house of fun for themselves and their children. Going against the norm of designing a serious and practical home, the couple's property features a revolving bookcase door, secret dens, hiding places, one-way mirrors, and a fireman's pole. Matt uses a steel frame system to allow them to change the layout of the property, and other changes include amending the window shapes and sizes, and adding a half floor to create a James Bond room.

349 have watched this episode

s17e03 / South Cornwall: Wavy Wooden House

5th Oct '16 - 9:00pm
South Cornwall: Wavy Wooden House Summary

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.

357 have watched this episode

s17e04 / Essex: Black House

12th Oct '16 - 9:00pm
Essex: Black House Summary

Kevin McCloud meets Michelle Parsons, an artist and teacher who decided to seize the day and build her own private hideaway in a woodland environment in Essex after she recovered from a serious illness. Together with her architect husband David, Michelle planned to construct a sleek, black-clad, three bedroom house complete with an art studio. However, torrential rain and a potentially disastrous gas leak stalled progress on the build, and as construction gets under way, Kevin wonders whether the couple's decision to eliminate windows on two sides of the property may leave them living in a gloomy bunker.

355 have watched this episode

s17e05 / Bolton: Ultra-Modern House

19th Oct '16 - 9:00pm
Bolton: Ultra-Modern House Summary

Bolton-based bricklayer Paul Rimmer, who has spent his career restoring and renovating Victorian terrace houses, sets his sights on constructing a state-of-the-art home on a budget of £350,000. However, instead of using the construction materials he has spent the past 40 years mastering, he has opted to build his new home from wood.

Roping in his wife Carol, daughter Abby and a selection of favoured workmates, Paul and his team begin work on the ultra-modern, five-bedroom build, and Kevin McCloud reveals how extreme weather, exhaustion, and rapidly dwindling funds place the entire project in jeopardy.

350 have watched this episode

s17e06 / Pembrokeshire: Low-Impact House

26th Oct '16 - 9:00pm
Pembrokeshire: Low-Impact House Summary

Simon and Jasmine Dale take on the challenging task of building a 21st-century, low-impact three-bedroom family home with a budget of only £500. As part of a pioneering, government-backed, sustainable village called Lammas, the couple must adhere to their fierce planning conditions of self-sufficiency or risk losing everything.

326 have watched this episode

s17e07 / Devon: Plough-Shaped House

2nd Nov '16 - 9:00pm
Devon: Plough-Shaped House Summary

Kevin McCloud meets Mark and Candida Diacono, who have set about building a home in the shape of a plough on their 17-acre smallholding in Devon. With its complex curved roof, timber-clad exterior and steel-framed working barn, the ambitious project presents a unique technical challenge for a local builder and his team of employees, and the task proves even more intimidating when considering Mark and Candida hope to complete work on the build within seven months.

337 have watched this episode

s17e08 / The Wirral: Floating Timber House

17th Nov '16 - 9:00pm
The Wirral: Floating Timber House Summary

Stuart and Rosie Treasurer from the Wirral plan to transform a small bungalow from a 1960s dormer into a slick piece of 21st-century architecture. The couple decapitate the building and balance a new floating timber box on top to create five bedrooms, spending as little as possible on plumbing, electrics and insulation, but stress levels spiral when neighbours grumble at the ultra-modern creation.

308 have watched this episode
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