''Grand Designs'' is a British television series that has broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

since 29 April 1999 and is presented by Kevin McCloud.

Format

Episodes generally follow a regular format, with small variations depending on the progress of the build. At the beginning of an episode, McCloud meets the clients embarking on the project; he visits the site with them, and discusses the plans for the building. A computer visualisation or computer-aided design view of the intended project is shown. Once ground work commences, he visits the site periodically, following the build progress, noting any changes, hitches or delays; the build frequently runs over budget and completes later than scheduled. McCloud will often do a piece to camera concentrating on any unique materials or features in the house. He visits again once the building is made watertight, and the first and second fixes have commenced. He makes a final visit to the site in its finished or near-finished state, once the occupants have moved in. A tour of the house is then given; McCloud brings the episode to a close summarising the house, its construction, and his opinions. If a house is not completed before filming finishes, it will sometimes be revisited in a later episode. In more recent series, McCloud revisits past unfinished builds once they have been completed and may stay overnight. The properties featured in ''Grand Designs'' are hugely varied in style and design, from underground homes to converted water towers to buildings constructed in methods of

sustainable architecture Sustainable architecture is architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings through improved efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, development space and the ecosystem at large. Sometimes, su ...

; the only common factor is that they are all unusual or extravagant. The most popular episode of the series for both Kevin McCloud and viewers was Series 3, Episode 3 with Ben Law's home and a sweet chestnut frame made from his own woodland costing very little.

Transmissions

International versions

*'' Grand Designs Australia'' premiered on 21 October 2010 in Australia on The LifeStyle Channel. *'' Grand Designs New Zealand'' ::hosted by Chris Moller for its first six seasons, premiered on 4 October 2015 in New Zealand on TV3. The first season consisted of 8 x 60 minutes episodes. The second season premiered on 25 September 2016 and also consisted of 8 x 60 minutes episodes. A third season of eight episodes aired in 2017. *''Grand Designs Sweden'' (2020) *''Grand Designs Finland'' (2022)

DVDs

Exhibition

Grand Designs Live takes place biannually, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the spring and in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in the autumn. The exhibitions display contemporary design and technology for the home and garden, with stands for suppliers and manufacturers to promote their goods and services. Design and media personalities McCloud, George Clarke and Jo Hamilton are show ambassadors. The nine-day Grand Designs Live 2008 event, held at London's ExCeL, attracted over 100,000 visitors. To accompany the event Channel 4 broadcast two live daily programmes directly from the show, ''Grand Designs Live: Today'' and ''Grand Designs Live''. Grand Designs Live launched in Australia in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 21–23 October 2011. It launched in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 21–23 September 2012 and returned to Sydney on 5–7 October 2012.

Awards and nominations

The programme has been nominated a number of times in the BAFTA Features category and won in 2015.

References

External links

* * * * * * * * *
Grand Designs LiveGrand Designs MagazineGrand Designs Australia Official Website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602040035/http://www.lifestyle.com.au/granddesigns/ , date=2 June 2013
Grand Designs New Zealand Official Website
1999 British television series debuts 1990s British television series 2000s British television series 2010s British television series 2020s British television series Building Architecture in the United Kingdom Television shows about British architecture Channel 4 original programming Television series by Fremantle (company) British English-language television shows