User reviews

What's about all those people thinking they could be project coordinators in their spare time? Or they don't need an architect? Of course, the show wouldn't be as interesting without it, but the same old same old budget problem is getting a little annoying. First they want to build their dream home as big and pompous as possible But all of them have wrong budget expectations. Then they want it built in months during the worst possible snow and rain storms. And in the end they magically have enough money for it, but it took 4 years instead of 2. I love seeing new ides for houses, learn more about architecture and building problems, but I don't need the personal drama in each episode. Will they have enough money? Will the weather get better? Will they finally move in? That gets a little boring. The architecture itself should be the focus. And the building site.

I've now seen at least thirty individual episodes, and this show is the best of a huge lot of home building shows that are available. There have been at least two water tower adaptations, an early 20thC fantasy castle brought into practical living space while the owner learns how to live with the architectural drawing process, a colourful Spanish luxury home and French historic building conversion built by Brits abroad, and a community co- op housing project built by a group of low-income participants to guarantee them secure rental housing for their young families. The value of seeing this wide range of people and projects is huge - you can see how dreams are realized, the number of concessions and adaptations that must be made along the way, the long-term result when projects are revisited ten years later, and, my favourite, become acquainted with new green building materials and techniques. 1960's building designer Walter Segal's methods led me to an Irish architect Dominic Stevens, who uses inexpensive sheet materials in their original sizes to reduce labour costs. The materials he specifies are only recently available in North America, so this television program has enabled me to specify materials for my architect to investigate and incorporate. The fact that this program has been useful and educational as well as entertaining is a bonus I hadn't anticipated - I'm very glad to have discovered this show. Thanks, Kevin McCloud, for a comprehensive, thoughtful presentation of quality material.

Another homebuilding series focusing strictly on the objects of design and nothing about the people who invest and labor on it? These home projects are carefully curated process tracks, spanning years. They're about real people and most with limited funds. Without their dramatic stakes revealed in each episode, you have but a nice glossy Architectural Record on TV. I couldn't watch it. Space without people interacting with it is meaningless to a lot of us!

And here they're not all brutalist modern/ Scandinavian plank designs-- although my personal taste runs to that look-- where walls and furniture provide their own function yet can be a tabula rasa for bespoke decoration, if any! No, many of the episodes I've seen reveal some way-out structures that would show up in National Geographic - don't want to give anything away here-- but it doesn't get much more diverse. These process shows are a real eyeful, with a perfect balance of visioned people, old and new tech, and the built environment.

If Kevin and crew shows up for a USA tour and are looking for a good editor-- sign me up! I live for this stuff. That's how I feel about this distinctive series.

Thanks to Netflix for the four seasons I've binged thus far-- I realize this series goes back 20 years.

'Grand Designs' is a very good program in which it follows people building their dream houses and all the dilemmas that come with it. I must admit a lot of the designs are very modern, quite impractical - definitely not my cup of tea, but it's a great show but I wonder why anyone would want to live in that sort of house. Just my opinion. That's why it's nice to see people's creative sides work, see what other people like, see people's dreams unfold before your eyes. The presenter is very good - he actually writes it himself, which is definitely a credit to him! All in all, a great show, very entertaining!

My wife and me are enjoying so much this series as it has everything. Kevin is really great in knowledge, presentation, energy, witty humor and communication. The houses are amazing on so many levels, educational and a joy to watch. It's atmosphere, soft music background and the original content every episode brings makes it so entertaining and inspiring to watch. Well done!

Kevin mc cloud is genius and so good to listen he explain and follows up perfectly.

Grand design becomes a good show with him.

One of my best number one shows ever...

I like the bit where the house takes a lot longer to build than they thought it would and cost heaps more money

It's a tv show about building your own home in the UK and Ireland. It shows the up and downs and difficulties involved in a self build. Reviews here on IMDB are pretentious to say the least. Over aliasing every aspect of it it's a diy show for mid week tv pre prime time. And just to say one last thing. 18 years it running. Season 18. So it's doing something right.

In this series, homeowner-builders frequently take old industrial buildings, dairies, barns, water towers etc. and incorporate or rebuild these structures into a new home. I like the idea that what is old can be made new again. I am very interested in the concept of conserving a well designed building made to last and reusing it, instead of discarding the labour, materials and design. As someone who hates to see buildings, that have stood the test of time, shipped off to a landfill, I am truly inspired by these grand designs that conserves and respects the past. Not only is that a worthwhile endeavour but it shows a perseverance that requires contractors to do things in ways that might never have seemed possible. Where I live, houses are demolished routinely to make way for gigantic infills that are out of scale in the neighbourhood. Small houses are the ones that get the axe when most of them could be fixed up or improved upon without removing the whole house with the bricks, woodwork and craftsmanship that have graced a street for 80 to 100 years. Often the new builds in this series are grandiose and very expensive but they build upon the existing design and materials. Also, I have to admire how people can envision a modern home using the bones of an old building whether it is a schoolhouse or country church. None of the self builds in the series is ever abandoned or do owners ever regret the final product, which is always a triumph. For that reason, I expect these people are carefully selected and coached through to the successful conclusion. Whatever the case, the program is driven by the hopes and dreams of owners and not an industry that encourages cookie cutter designs that lack imagination, do not respect the past and are not environmentally responsible.

A great idea; watching people bring their dream homes to life, building what they pondered over and worked for, often all of their lives. Watching every stage of a building; from architectural planning to execution. What a dream series that would be... The reality is different. It turns out to be a systematic production with a strict time line. Meeting excited people who wish to build something that they can just about (not) afford. Their approach is new, they wish to be in by Christmas and there's no way they can go beyond their budget.

Then reality sets in; their unique approach doesn't work, it costs more than they budgeted for, but somehow find the additions 100's of 1000's of pounds... amazing!

Not much of the actual building process is shown, the emphasis is on how the (unrealistic) dream unravels. We see stressed out people who, had they ever watched so much as one episode of the program they are a part of, should have known they are not unique, nor smarter than any of their predecessors.

So, what could have been a program about design, building techniques, sustainability, creativity and the endurance of the human race becomes a mini drama that can scarcely be believed. It may once have been what I had hoped for, it is no longer... too bad.

I started watching this show on Netflix and they have only two seasons so I went hunting elsewhere for more. I found it on IMDB. I think Kevin McCloud is a fantastic host who is funny, witty and asks honest questions to the home owner/builder about budget, timeline and if they achieved what they hoped. I looked at some of the other reviews on this show on IMDB and I was surprised with people writing that the show focuses on expensive homes (true), people building homes without concern for their neighbors needs or building like neighborhood architecture (true). What I get out of this show is inspiration on maybe building my own modest home some day 1200 - 1500 square feet and incorporating some interesting building materials, window ideas, roof lines or exterior cladding. It gives me some ideas on what to expect for timelines on building your own home and realistic budgets. Some of the episodes shows homes are simply stunning, and I want to find ways to make my home (if I ever build my own) look high end with materials that do not cost much.

Watch this if you want to learn about house building.

This episode involves demolishing an existing house, building a vast barnlike new-build for a family with 2 children and, to cap it all, building a pretentious and unplanned tennis court. Rampant middle-class self-indulgence, yes, climate sensitive modest innovation, most definitely not. Why film it?

The new Grand Designs was such a disappointment tonight. £££££££ but no taste or environmental protection. I hate these silly people who ruin habitats and don't care about the local area. Sod off you lot. Rich idiots are unfashionable.

For me, the highlight of the show is the host and his love of architecture and his love of unlikely architecture projects. I love the way he loves a dreamer who wills a project to be and he also loves those who are along for the dream ride, the spouses who often labour ain uneasy relationship to the projects involved. The houses are always.interesting.som , very unlikely to succeed. I do not always watch the whole show which has much attention to the midwifing Of the house and its birthing pains. Some of the homes have been truly amazing and are very wonderful to see you at the end. I feel like this show attends to something that is human and loving, something so important and much better than a detective mystery show. I feel happy in myself after watching these shows more so than after the detective mystery shows. Which are everywhere and with whichI feel kind of bored.

Recently discovered this show on Netflix where there were only Seasons 10 & 15 available. Had to pick up two other Seasons here on IMDB! They showcase some of the most ambitious endeavors of people trying to build or restore their dream homes. Host Kevin McCloud checks in with each project injecting his own brand of sardonic but realistic humor. The hook is watching to see if the home owner/s achieve their "dream home" goals while managing tight budgets, contractors, and their sanity.

Absolutely love this show, and it is such a bummer that season 21 has only 5 episodes.

Fascinating Insight into Ambitious Architecture and Design.

Grand Designs is a captivating series that showcases the creativity, passion, and perseverance behind ambitious home builds. Hosted by the insightful Kevin McCloud, each episode follows homeowners as they tackle incredible projects, from eco-friendly homes to modern architectural marvels. The show brilliantly highlights the challenges, emotions, and triumphs of building unique homes from scratch. With stunning visuals and storytelling, Grand Designs is a must-watch for design enthusiasts and those inspired by innovation and resilience in home building.

Love the houses and ideas but is it just me or is the host just kinda negative??? Would be better if he left his opinions out of it

Some of the designs are quite nice, however the show actively discussed "fighting the system" to destroy historic structures and build homes on ancient archeological sites. It's absolutely unacceptable even if it involves just a small percentage of episodes

The show's great at showing how you can have great architecture without necessarily gigantic budgets or lots.

The host though...it was never super clear to me what it was that he was doing there, apart from criticizing in a generally negative way every aspect that he didnt agree on. Using big words to sound knowledgeable, directly confronting the clients on why they chose to spend their money the way they did, and pushing harder when they clearly weren't comfortable responding...

Anyway, entertaining show.

Decent until the host talks. He completely destroys any enjoyment this show has to offer. Arrogant and horribly negative.

While the buildings are often awesome, the degree of waste, stupidity, poor planning, fiscal boondoggling, and general horrific decision making, make this show a black comedy.

Worse, to treat these egotistical, financially retarded, and foolish people as heroes.

Nice reviews by those involved with the show, though.

The earlier series dealt more with normal people with normal aspirations and incomes, who took on interesting projects such as restorations of interesting abandoned buildings or realistic and relevant new builds. The budgets were small and the outcomes pleasant, reasonable and timely. Then, at some stage, the series went into 'green' overload where all buildings had to be environmentally friendly and carbon neutral. Mostly involving couples with more money than sense. Like so many reality shows, they start off with good intentions, then lose the plot. But then the show keeps popping up so someone must be watching. I don't have any issue with Kevin McCloud who (to me), gives the impression of being quite normal and reasonable. He must surely cringe when dealing with some couple's fantasies. I've given 4 out of 10 as I admit to watching latest episodes when desperate.