Grand Designs

Howard and Sarah build a radical metallic floating home designed to look like a boat, nestled within an idiosyncratic houseboat community on a tidal estuary near Worthing. But will it sink or swim?

In Lincolnshire, high-flyers Zara and Giuliano set out to build a 400-square-metre malthouse-inspired home, but run into problems from the get-go. Can they get the project off the ground?

Zahid and Ferzana ambitiously set out to transform an old coastguard station set on exposed East Yorkshire headland into a cantilevered, three-storey steel and glass box

Graeme and Melanie want their new home in Hackney to celebrate their blended family. But squeezing the bright red-clad house onto their tiny garage plot proves a huge challenge.

In 2013, Jon and Noreen started building a giant treehouse in Gloucestershire. By 2016, the money ran out. Are they finally living up in the trees.

Devoted dad Danny builds a sustainable but affordable stilted house up among the trees in his garden. But with no self-build experience and spiralling costs, can he do it on ambition alone?

In the Wye Valley, Rosa and Craig battle the never-ending elements to convert a family-owned, century-old, decommissioned steam railway reservoir into a unique living space

Corinne plans to build a beautifully crafted, wedge-shaped home on a slither of garden down the side of the house she’s lived in for 24 years. But it sits in a strict conservation area…

In Dunstable, John and his wife Helen demolish an old, dilapidated house and in its place build a million-pound, high-tech, accessible glass pavilion, complete with wildlife garden

In Derbyshire, Mike and Sarah set out to build a multigenerational longhouse. But with a complicated roof, a shortage of materials and an unexpected bereavement, it proves far from easy...

Zimbabwean born Davi and Matt from Australia set out to build a house in the Chess Valley with a radical multicultural design. Can they deliver, or will it end up just a mishmash of ideas?

Ship’s captain Dorran promised his family he’d build a super-modern underground lair on a hill outside Canterbury. But as the epic build hits choppy waters, will Dorran fulfil their dream?

Kate and Rob replace their 1940s past-it prefab with a bespoke, modern, factory-built home using volumetric modular construction. But will it feel like the characterful home they dream of?

In south Manchester, can Colin and Adele overcome contractor issues, delays and financial ruin to finish the build of their eye-popping curved glass home?

Iain and Jenny plan to build an enormous black, minimalist, rectangular building in the middle of a country estate in the dramatic Scottish countryside. But what will the neighbours say?

Master carpenter Olaf faces the biggest challenge of his career: creating an oasis for himself and his partner Fritha on a tiny slice of land in Sussex near a mainline railway and A-road

Joe and Claire hope to create 'one of the greatest homes on the planet', that looks like a huge piece of art, with 34 enormous angled zinc shards. But the expensive build faces mind-boggling problems.

Kevin McCloud meets Greg and Georgie who are taking on the highly ambitious task of converting a dilapidated, 35-year-old barn in Kent. The build will be a huge challenge involving the painstaking conservation of the existing rotten structure, building a new two-storey internal steel frame and recycling everything they can to stretch their £250,000 budget.

Justin plans to restore a neo-Gothic cemetery keeper's lodge and convert its toilet block into a luxury extension complete with a moat and swimming pool. But can he keep his budget under control?

Design engineer Mark Butler is paralysed from the waist down and needs a cutting-edge, wheelchair-friendly family home. Making it for £600k proves a huge emotional strain.

Paul and Amy Wilkinson plan to build a lakeside home in Lincolnshire with five circular timber buildings linked by walkways. But Paul's health suffers as he struggles to finish in a year.

Andy and Jeanette plan a precarious cliff-top build on the west coast of Scotland. There are battles with extreme weather, budget overruns, and a sudden emotional shock.

In a leafy spot in south west London, Elinor and Born want to build Britain's first 'healthy' house, to alleviate their sons' life-threatening allergies in a race against time.

Harry and Briony are relocating and building an American modernist house inspired by 80s teen comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The project is big and proves challenging.

Kevin meets a couple converting a listed mini-castle in Buckinghamshire into a family home. The Saxon burial ground the folly is built upon throws up some macabre surprises.

Beth and Andrew rescue a crumbling Victorian dairy, hoping to make it into a 'shabby chic' family home fit for modern life. But is the building simply too derelict?

Kevin McCloud meets Chris and Kayo, who plan to build a unique, Roman-inspired home on the protected land surrounding one of Britain's most historic abbeys in Hertfordshire. The pair find themselves constrained by stringent planning conditions, and the intricate and complicated build puts both their schedule and budget under a great deal of pressure.

Kevin McCloud meets young architect and shed fanatic Micah Jones, who plans to transform an old agricultural building in County Down, Northern Ireland. Micah plans an upside down, four bedroom shed using new techniques and materials, but the £200,000 budget runs short, and Micah is forced to take on some of the building work himself.

Kevin McCloud meets neurologists Penny Talelli and Mark Edwards, who plan to combine their love of old and contemporary architecture as they transform a derelict Victorian gatehouse in North London. However, the pair soon find themselves struggling to balance their busy working lives alongside project managing the build.

After a four year stint living in New Zealand, ex-RAF pilot Jon and GP Gill Flewers want to build a Kiwi-style hill house on the slopes of the Malvern hills in Worcestershire. They plan to build an ambitious three-storey home clad in wood and stone, but the pair encounter problems as the site is so steep builders do not want to take on the job.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kevin McCloud follows the progress of teacher Michele Long and architect Michael Howe, who want to restore and transform a 100-year-old blacksmiths in County Antrim near the coast of Northern Ireland. With virtually no practical experience, Michael wants to do as much of the project as possible by himself. However, the weather on the coastline is fierce, and the freezing weather coupled with a tight budget of 150k means the build is stretched from one to three years.

Kevin McCloud follows the progress of 37-year-old Angelo Mastropietro, as he transforms a damp, dark and abandoned cave in Worcestershire. Having recently been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Angelo wants to create a retreat to help him cope with the news and become a 21st century caveman. He has a budget of pounds 100,000 and plans to almost single-handedly carve, cut and drill into the hillside to make the cave comfortable for contemporary living. However, there is no manual for a project of this kind, and the unique challenge soon becomes an obsession.

After recovering from a life-threatening brain haemorrhage, Bram Vis, his wife Lisa and their two children want to build a house for sharing on a seaside plot on the Isle of Wight. Kevin McCloud follows the family's progress as they build an ambitious home complete with entertaining spaces and a swimming pool. However, the sheer scale of their project soon becomes clear when their original pounds 850k budget spirals out of control.

Boat enthusiast James Strangeways invites Kevin McCloud to survey progress on the construction of his new home, which his architect nephew Ben Hebblethwaite has designed to be as 'un-houselike' as possible. James has spent the past 35 years travelling the canals and waterways of Britain, and despite never liking houses, has decided now is the time to put down roots on dry land. Ben hoped a home standing on stilts above a marsh, and incorporating ship-like qualities such as a keel-shaped roof, will be enough to satisfy his boat-mad uncle. However, Ben's contractor goes into liquidation a few months into the project, taking pounds 87,000 of the pounds 300,000 budget, and when James decides to make a few tweaks to the design, alarm-bells begin to ring for the young architect.

Kevin McCloud meets Clinton Dall from Sussex, a self-made businessman and father of four aiming to build one of the largest homes ever featured on the show. Dall wants the end project to be perfect - from the finish of his mirrored cruciform steel columns, to how the floor tiles line up with the dining room table, and is willing to spend whatever it takes to achieve his vision. However, the construction represents a huge risk, as down one road lies abject failure and financial ruin, while down the other, is the creation of something sublime and almost heroic.

Natasha Cargill wants to build a home shaped like two enormous periscopes in rural Norfolk. But a limited budget and tight planning restrictions start to take their toll. To get planning permission for her build, Natasha Cargill has to ensure not only that the materials used are sustainable, but also agree to measure the amount of diesel used to deliver them. The planning controls are so rigid in fact that even details like the type of portaloos the builders use and the size of her bath have to be monitored. Natasha has just pounds 330k to spend on construction and just six months to complete.

Tracy Fox and husband Steve want to build an 'urban shed' out of industrial materials in an old milk yard in south east London. But the choice of unorthodox materials proves challenging and costly. The build will feature two studios, three bedrooms and a double height space with walkway, with materials including corrugated cement fibre board and 20 foot panels of polycarbonate sheeting. Work on the build stalls until they meet Romas and Remi, a young firm of builders, who boldly decide to take on the challenge of building it for just pounds 300k.

A young farmer and architect in Northern Ireland hopes to make a home out of four large shipping containers welded together to form a giant cross. Patrick Bradley has come up with a pounds 100k house design to be built out of four 45-foot shipping containers, welded together to form a giant cross and cantilevered over the top of a stream at a beautiful secluded spot on the family farm. His mum is hoping his new home will get Patrick a girlfriend. But his tiny budget is soon under threat.

Peter Berkin and his wife Chard have decided to build a new home at the bottom of their garden. Problem is, right from the start they can't agree on any part of the design - even the basic shape. Peter wants the new house to feature a workshop where he can build a plane. He wants the house to be round. Chard however wants it to be square and practical. Peter aims to spend pounds 400K, Chard wants to keep the budget around pounds 200K. With Peter building as much of the house as he can himself, helped by his mates, and Chard taking control of the money and schedule, it looks like a recipe for disaster.

Rebecca Sturrock has returned to her family home in Cornwall with her partner Gregory Kewish and a highly ambitious plan. Together they will transform a small, damp, single-storey bungalow into a cutting-edge home on a budget of just pounds 80,000. With rain and wind hammering the site, however, it soon becomes dangerously clear they may have bitten off more than they can chew.

Rob Hodgson and Kay Ralph plan to build an architectural monument high on a cliff top. They want to build a sleek glass-fronted house inspired by the cliff-top villas of California. Their plot overlooks a beautiful National Trust beach in North Wales, but to have their jaw-dropping panoramic views will mean taking the biggest gamble of their lives. Access will be incredibly difficult and expensive because of a low bridge over the narrow track to the site. Erosion specialists predict their stunning new home could one day fall into the sea. Prohibited by the local council from reinforcing the cliff face, they decide to build anyway, believing at least the house will outlive them.

A young couple want take on an average 1950s house and turn it into an architectural masterpiece. After a year of searching London for somewhere exciting to live with their young girls Lola and Sylva, Ben and Rachel Hammond stumbled upon a house on a totally unique plot, buried within the leafy depths of a beautiful south London park. Only problem is the house itself - an ugly, inefficient and uninspiring red brick property. Their solution is uncompromising. With the help of their architect friend Zac, they decide not to knock it down, but to radically redesign, remodel and transform this unsightly lump it into a sleek, crisp, modernist masterpiece. This is no easy task however. Their cutting edge new materials struggle to get past the local planning department and building control. Delivery of key elements like the giant glass window panes is massively delayed. The contractors struggle to deliver on an incredibly tight fixed price contract, and Ben and Rachel have to work flat out in their day jobs to pay for everything.

Tamayo Hussey's missed Japan ever since she moved to the UK with her husband Nigel. To stave off the homesickness they've decided to transform a forester's lodge into a Japanese house complete with roof bath, tatami room and sliding paper walls. Keen to keep costs under control, Nigel and Tamayo decide to engage only the design skills of an architect and with no previous building experience they bravely go it alone, working without any detailed drawings and fire-fighting problems every step of the way. The wood they're using for the timber frame - Japanese larch - hasn't been used for building houses before in the UK, so no one can be sure it will be strong enough, the new interior walls don't meet properly and the replacement window design can't cope with the rain. But Nigel and Tamayo are determined to overcome any obstacle to get the Japanese house they're so desperate for.

Kevin meets flying instructor Colin Mackinnon and trapeze artist Marta Briongos and the incredible metal home they're building next to their very own airfield in Strathaven, Scotland. There aren't many people in Britain who can say they own their own airfield. But Colin and Marta Briongos are part of the very select few. The airfield is so important to them, they've decided to live there too. Their ambitious plan is to build an incredible metal sculptural home next to the runway, designed by one of Scotland's most eminent architects and inspired by aircraft hangars. But the difficulties of building their beautiful design soon become apparent. And before the project is barely off the ground they're contending with violent rain, snow, 100-mile-an-hour winds and the worst storms for 100 years. With work slowed down to a snail's pace, what was supposed to be a year-long project heads into its third year.

When he lost three limbs in Afghanistan, Jon's life changed forever. Now he wants to build a house that allows him to live independently. The design is cutting edge, but the budget spirals. Marine captain Jon's life changed forever when he stepped on a land mine. Before his injuries, home for Jon had meant a crooked chocolate box Devon cottage. After countless viewings of uninspiring specialist dwellings and awkward conversions, they realised that the only way to get a house that would enable Jon to live independently was to build it themselves. The design boasts sleek glass walls, open plan spaces and a dramatic wing-like roof. Crucially the design concept is for there to be no noticeable adaptations due to Jon's disabilities. Despite his lack of experience, Jon decides to project manage and calls on the support of a number of military charities for this hugely ambitious project. The pressure to finish on time increases when Becky discovers she is pregnant.

Kevin meets Martin and Kae Walker, who want to build the ultimate family home inspired by a giant farm shed.

Jonathan Broom and his wife Deborah have put everything on hold while he pursues his dream of building a mini Hollywood Hills-style mansion right in the gritty heart of north London. For ten years Jonathan Broom has been obsessed with building his own home.They finally stumble across a scrap of land right in the gritty heart of North London, but it's fraught with problems, and the only way they can build their wildly ambitious £1million pound family home, complete with nanny flat and swimming pool, is by sinking half of it six metres below ground. It's a project that pushes the couple and their builder to the very limit. Desperate to make every penny of the budget stretch, Jonathan strikes every deal he can, and even sells his business to raise funds. Originally scheduled to take a year, this giant hole in the ground consumes their money and lives for much longer.

Kevin McCloud follows a project to renovate and extend a classic 1920s cinema in Thorne, South Yorkshire. With little knowledge of restoration, Gwyn and Kate boldly set about turning the dilapidated building into a family home using masses of concrete after taking advice from an architect friend. The couple are hoping to create a hydraulic glass wall that opens up one side of the house to form a UV-filtered canopy, and there are also plans for a white roof extension that resembles a diving board.

Henning Stummel and his partner Alice Dawson attempt to convert an awkward,covered space, trapped between buildings in the crowded heart of north London into a contemporary family home and office for Henning's practice.

Kevin McCloud meets artists Indi and Rebecca, who are planning to build a modern, larch-clad home on the Isle of Skye, with a second hand-crafted building alongside to use as their studio, all on a tight budget of £150,000. They have been saving for years, but making it happen will mean taking on the savage weather, not to mention the sceptical locals - and as if that weren't enough, most of the work is being done by one man, local builder Donald.

Kevin McCloud meets Audrey and Jeff, who dream of living in one of west London's most exclusive areas. However, the way they can afford it is to go underground. Their plan is to transform a listed Edwardian artist's studio - along with 5,000 sq ft of derelict basement - into a bespoke subterranean home, complete with supersize kitchen, mezzanine sitting room, four en-suite bedrooms, a gym, cinema, steam room and wine cellar. As if the task weren't tricky enough, they are doing it without proper architect's drawings and Audrey is project managing - and the difficulties begin almost from the start.

Kevin McCloud marks the 100th episode with one of the programme's most ambitious projects to date. Leigh Osborne and Graham Voce want to convert and extend a landmark 150-year-old water tower in central London into a luxury home. Grade II-listed, derelict and with 6ft-thick walls, it's a huge challenge for the pair, who also plan to build two structures at the base - a lift shaft connected by a series of glass tunnels, and a modern living space. The result will be a four-bedroom property over nine floors, complete with a room at the top offering spectacular 360 degree views across the capital.

Kevin McCloud follows Lysette and Nigel Offley, who are knocking down an old Thames boathouse and constructing a cutting-edge home in its place. Taking inspiration from the river itself, they have designed a building of waves and curves with a huge glass porthole for a roof light. But problems begin almost from the start, as they can't find a contractor willing to build over the water, their architect leaves unexpectedly and the costs turn out much higher than expected. To make matters worse, the neighbours aren't happy about such a radical sight in their traditional community. As they begin to compromise, Kevin wonders if the couple's dreams will ever be realised.

In Brixton in south London design-mad couple Mary Martin and Carl Turner want to build a home that resembles a giant stack of glass cubes that's a Zen retreat from the noise and chaos of the capital. Mary and Carl want to build something never seen before amongst Brixton's traditional Victorian terraces. Minimalism-obsessed Mary and her architect partner Carl have spent years renovating their homes to be as simple to live in as possible. But this project is bigger and more ambitious than anything they've taken on before. In order to save money, Carl decides he has to take on as many of the specialist build jobs as he can. The results are hair raising as the cranes and steel frames hit the narrow plot. But Carl's biggest test lies ahead, when it comes to finishing the minimalist interior. The tiniest error in the detailing could ruin all the blood, sweat and tears he's put into building this urban sanctuary.

Kevin meets a pair of civil-partnered university professors, Celia Brackenridge and Diana Woodward.  They have enlisted the services of industrial designers who have developed a new computer-assisted method for cutting precision-engineered building blocks, however although the technique may be clever, its creators have never created a building before

The new series kicks off with a Grand Design on an epic scale, with the story of one man's heroic attempt to fulfil his childhood dream and bring back from the ruins an incredible castle set in one of the most beautiful landscapes of southern Ireland. Actor Sean Simons fell in love with the ruins of Cloontykilla Castle when he played there as a boy. Years later he bought it, with the idea of turning it into a spectacular, theatrical mock 16th century home, complete with grand baronial hall, luxury bedrooms, sweeping staircases, water spouting gargoyles, Jacuzzis in the battlements and a huge recording studio in the basement. But would it prove to be a magnificent personal masterpiece, or a garish sub-Disneyesque disaster? After borrowing an eye-watering 1.2 million Euros, Sean launches into his project just as Ireland plunges into recession. He has a head full of fairy tales, but no help from an architect, or indeed any formal plans whatsoever. Making things up as you go along is fine if you're building a toy castle, but not when you've got a large team of builders on site, a schedule to hit and the bank looking over your shoulder. Over two years, rooms are built, then knocked down again. Contractors walk out in frustration. Planning permissions are ignored. But somehow Sean's vision starts to come alive... just as Ireland collapses into financial meltdown.

Running out of money is always a grim prospect for anyone attempting their own Grand Design. Perhaps no one has come closer than Robert and Milla Gaukroger. When Kevin last saw them a year ago, they were camping out in the incomplete shell of their ambitious Lake District home with their two children. With hundreds of thousands of pounds of work still to do, the bank was threatening to foreclose on the mortgage.

Claire and Ian try to build a home big enough for a disco on a small plot at the end of a London mews. But as angry locals begin to object to their plans, things start to go awry.

Ever since he was a child, stonemason Adam Purchase has loved the old silver mine engine houses that characterise Cornwall's landscape. When he and his partner Nicola Brennan chanced upon a dilapidated Grade II listed engine house with planning permission to turn into a home, it was a dream come true. But converting this important historic ruin into a place to live was never going to be easy. The building itself was little more than a shell, with crumbling plant-infested walls and no roof, windows or floors: a challenge for even the most experienced builders like Adam. Meanwhile the banks refuse to lend them more than £100k, which Adam and Nicola both know is barely enough to get them through. Still, driven by their passion for old buildings, Nicola agrees to support Adam while he takes a year off work to complete the project.

Kevin McCloud meets estate manager Ed Waghorn and his wife Rowena, a couple living an almost self-sufficient life with their four children on a smallholding in Herefordshire. They have been constructing a timber-framed house using recycled materials, wood from nearby forests and stone from around the site, but as construction becomes a way of life for Ed they seem to have lost sight of their goal.

Kevin McCloud follows the conversion of a large, Grade II-listed timber-framed barn in Essex into a family home and work-space by artists Freddie Robbins and Ben Coode-Adams. Their plans involve few interior walls to display their collection of toys, but at seven times the size of an average three-bedroom house, the transformation of the 500-year-old building proves extremely challenging.

Kevin follows the progress being made as Tim and Philomena O'Donovan, convert a lifeboat station in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, into a contemporary home.

Paul and Penny are tearing down their million pound home in south London to build a contemporary mansion. But the challenge of building a complex home soon starts to bite.

Kevin McCloud looks at the transformation of a derelict mill cottage in Northumberland into a contemporary family home, the longest-running project ever featured on the programme. Stefan Lepkowski and Annia Shabowska began work in 2006, and their ambitious plans involved restoring the Georgian building, reconstructing a watermill and adding a steel-and-glass atrium, but their budget of £250,000 was completely inadequate.

Master carpenter Bill Bradley and his wife Sarah built not one but two timber houses in south London on the site of Bill's old wood workshop. Their plan was to sell one to pay for the other in the hope of living mortgage-free, but the long narrow site, sandwiched between two rows of houses, was far from an easy proposition.

In 2006, Daren Howarth and Adi Nortje moved from Brighton to Brittany to take on a huge life experiment. Their plan was to build an earth-sheltered home almost entirely from recycled materials, and to live the most sustainable lifestyle as possible. Now that the work is finished, Kevin returns to see whether their big life experiment has been a success.

When Robert and Milla Gaukroger find a plot overlooking Lake Windermere in the Lake District National Park, they reckon they've hit gold.

Alan Dawson has invented his own way of making a house, with every piece put together on site in days. But it must all fit perfectly. Only then will Alan know if his unique house works.

Kevin meets interior designer Kathryn Tyler, who has decided the best way onto the property ladder is to design and build her own house in her parents' back garden in Falmouth.

Jonathan and Lindsay want to build a house that's exciting to look at, cheap to run, and ecologically sound. But the build is a battle, with technologies that don't work and a tight budget.

Kevin McCloud follows the progress of Simon Bennett and his wife Jill as they try to restore two timber-framed barns in Suffolk. The couple found out that one of the buildings is among the smallest surviving medieval guildhalls in the country, and while Kevin advises the pair to conserve it in its present state, Simon is determined to restore it to its former glory.

Kevin McCloud follows the efforts of Lucie Fairweather to build an eco-friendly house in Woodbridge, Suffolk. After the death of her partner 18 months earlier, and not having a large budget, Lucie is determined to create a beautiful and affordable family home with the help of Jerry Tate, an architect who was involved in the design of the Eden Project

Helen and Chris Seymour Smith are architects who are planning to build a subterranean, eco-friendly house underneath a ruined 300-year-old barn in the Cotswolds. Kevin McCloud follows their progress as they set out to create a building that is airtight and needs no heating, but whose spartan interior raises questions of habitability

Kevin McCloud follows the progress of architectural designer Lincoln Miles and his wife, artist Lisa Traxler, who want to create their own home on the Isle of Wight. They have bought a property on a prime piece of land and set out to transform it into a creative structure that complements the unspoilt woodland setting.

Kevin returns to see how Daren Howarth and Adi Nortje's project has fared four years after they decided to build an earth-sheltered home in Brittany.

Every Englishman’s home is his castle but for Francis Shaw this is quite literally true. He and his wife, Karen, and their two young daughters, bought the ruins of a 14th Century castle in Yorkshire and took on the remarkable challenge of turning a pile of stones into a beautiful home. Surrounded by rolling green fields, the location is idyllic; however, the castle itself was little more than four crumbling walls.

Mimi De Costa and her husband Andre, a doctor, had spent years looking for a plot of land when they came across a bungalow in Kent. The original bungalow They bought it for the site - 12 acres of organic pasture and woodland - and started to plan a new home for their sons, Sean and Tye, that would suit a lower impact way of living. But what they're building isn’t going to be a reproduction of the bungalow. It's a squarish, modular building, with glass walls from floor to ceiling. The outside of the building is clad in cedar that will go grey to match the surrounding oak trees. The idea is that by prefabricating most of the house it should be quicker and easier to put together on site. But although it will be precision made, it isn’t a kit house.

Dairy farmer Andrew Ainslie and his artist wife Meryl, who run a gallery on their farm, build a modern barn-style farmhouse on their 700 acre farm in the rolling chalk hills of Wiltshire.

Daren Howarth and Adi Nortje are keen to build an earth-sheltered home from recycled materials in Brittany. The house is a very low tech one, mainly constructed from old car tyres.

Kevin McCloud follows the progress of architect Richard Hawkes and wife Sophie, who are moving from London to the Kent countryside to build a hi-tech eco-friendly house with room to grow their own food. Richard also wants their new home to blend effortlessly into the surrounding countryside, concealed beneath a huge arch of clay tiles covered with earth and planted with grass

Sarah and Dean Berry grew up on a council estate in Newport. Having moved away to London and made good, they have now returned home 17 years later and bought an 18th century folly - a castle perched on a hilltop. They not only plan to restore the folly to its former glory, but wrap a large modern extension around the original structure, with lots of glass to capitalise on the amazing views.

Inspired by an illustration on a yoghurt pot, Chris Ostwald decides to build a New England-style water mill in the Chilterns, on a hill and nowhere near any water.

Ian and Sophie Cooper met at university and have since spent their time together enjoying life in London. Ian works as a marketing consultant in telecoms and Sophie is a sales manager for a fashion firm. Both are passionate about design. They’ve done the usual thing of renovating flats and moving on... but three years ago they realised they wanted a different kind of life in a different kind of building.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Monty Ravenscroft and Clare Loewe bought a plot of land in Peckham to build their own home - only to be told it was too small for a traditional house. Engineering expert Monty designed a space-age property with a sliding glass roof and mezzanine bedroom pods, and as they grapple with unexpected obstacles, Kevin McCloud visits them to discover how the ambitious project has progressed.

When Pilots Andrew Berry and his wife Helen bought their cottage near Guildford in Surrey 7 years ago they always planned to add a small extension. But over the last few years the modest extension has evolved so much that retaining any of the original cottage simply wasn’t practical. Now it’s being completely demolished to make way for a new five bedroom Art Deco style house.

Dean Marks has dreamt of living in a church for as long as he can remember. After searching for the right building for years, he came across St Martin’s near Birmingham, a huge 18th century grade II listed church which looks more like a mausoleum. The church wanted £25,000 for it but Dean knocked them down to £12,500. Now, after fighting for planning permission for four years, Dean and his wife, Hilary, are about to transform this derelict monstrosity into a family home.

Kevin revisits Andrew and Lowri Davies who embarked on a project to build an environmentally friendly farmhouse in rural Wales. Encouraged by their architect, they opt for some state-of-the-art experimental building materials; but do their builders know how to use them? As the budget spirals out of control, they find it increasingly difficult to balance the budget with their desire for a sustainable home.

James and Katrin Gray live in Bournemouth on the south coast. James runs his own book distribution business and Katrin works for an investment bank. They used to live in an apartment on the second floor of a former Victorian hotel. But three years ago, James bought the top floor flat. It was originally built as a solarium for the hotel in the 1920’s where holiday-makers could soak up the sun. Now James and Katrin plan to convert it into a modern, luxury penthouse

Chris Miller and his wife Sze Liu Lai lived in a tiny flat in East London with their two children Alexion and Tayszea. It was very tight for space and as the kids grew they really felt in need of more room. Chris and Sze are both social workers on low incomes and they have very little in the way of savings.

Eight years ago Alex and Cheryl Reay left London for a new life in the New Forest. They bought a run down medieval thatched cottage and lovingly brought it back to life. Then just before Christmas, with Cheryl pregnant, disaster struck. A fault in the chimney caused a massive fire which destroyed the entire building. Overnight Alex and Cheryl had lost almost £400,000. Whilst most people would have walked away from this, Alex and Cheryl couldn’t let go of their dream. Nine months after the fire, they decided to start all over again and rebuild the cottage, bigger and better than before.

Every Englishman’s home is his castle but for Francis Shaw this is quite literally true. He and his wife, Karen, and their two young daughters, bought the ruins of a 14th Century castle in Yorkshire and took on the remarkable challenge of turning a pile of stones into a beautiful home. Surrounded by rolling green fields, the location is idyllic; however, the castle itself was little more than four crumbling walls.

For six years Bruno and Denise Del Tufo stared at the large concrete water tower at the bottom of their garden trying to figure out what to do with it. It’s a very rare object – a square water tower on stilts designed by architect Edwin Lutyens, who built it to supply the manor house nearby. The planners were open to persuasion so they approached an architect who came up with a bold, uncompromising extension in metal, glass and concrete. Denise and Bruno were keen to keep the original structure visible so the new house is threaded between the legs of the water tower.

Theo and Elaine Leijser hoped to bring a bit of Dutch style to Scotland in the building of their first family home – a colourful, contemporary three storey house, with a striking cedar clad exterior. The couple stumbled across the perfect plot overlooking the beautiful Campsie Fells near Glasgow, bought it and began to plan their dream build.

Hillcott Barn looked more like a Tuscan monastery than an English barn. When the farmer put it up for sale, most people who viewed it walked away. It was dark and isolated and could only be reached by a half mile farm track with a steep 1:8 gradient. But furniture designer Robert Ellis (58) had had his eye on it for some time. For years he’d been jogging past the barn and always thought one day he’d like to live there. Against all advice, Rob and his wife Jane, (58) a textile designer, went ahead and bought the barn for £210,000 and proposed to convert at £250,000.

Jim Fairfull considers himself a very lucky guy. He was out fishing with a friend when he came across a beautiful, secluded loch. It’s a magical place with stunning views over the nearby hills. He got chatting to the farmer who owned it and discovered the site was for sale. Within a week, he’d done a deal and bought the land. The loch also gave them a fantastic opportunity to build a very unique house. They can control the water level of the loch which means they could actually build over the loch without worrying about flooding. So with the help of their architect, they designed an extravagant split level five bedroom house that actually hovers over the loch.

Kevin McCloud meets Pat Becker, who lives in a large Georgian house in Devon. But now that her family have flown the nest, she's building a new home at the bottom of the garden.

Louise and Milko wanted to build the home of a lifetime. Milko's job as a well-paid City banker meant they could think big, so Louise set up her own architectural practice and they bought a disused violin factory in the heart of London's Waterloo. The crumbling building was hemmed in on all sides and had no views, but Louise had a vision of a spectacular loft-style home that would combine stunning design with utter luxury

Kevin takes a trip back to the home of John and Eleni Flood, who completely gutted their Victorian terraced house to create an open, light and modern space

John Cadney and Marnie Moon have never had a permanent home. For 16 years they've camped on land owned by Marnie's parents because they could never afford to buy a house in the area where they live. So John, a carpenter, rolled his sleeves up and decided to build a house for his family with his bare hands. After much searching for the right kind of house they settled on an environmentally friendly four-bedroom log cabin. The whole thing was imported from Finland as hundreds of pre-cut bits of wood. All John had to do is figure out how it all fits together!

Kevin McCloud follows Jeremy and Louise Brown as they try to bring their Grade II Listed 16th-century Gloucestershire farmhouse into the 21st century.

When Monty Ravenscroft and Clare Loewe began looking for a house to buy in London they soon realised that the only affordable option was to build one themselves. They snapped up a dirt cheap slither of land in Peckham at an auction only to be told it was too small to put a house on. Undeterred, three years ago, engineering whiz Monty began building an extraordinary experimental bungalow that filled the site to bursting point.

Kevin returns to see whether the couple's solo attempts to transform a wreck of an old stone building in Leith, with no previous building experience, has been successful.

When Reuben and April came across a ruined 19th-century house amid the tower blocks of Leith, Edinburgh, they saw it as their future home. They had no clear idea of how to restore it, and precious little building experience. Still, they were young and fit (they had met on Reuben's climbing wall) and they liked a challenge. So they bought the crumbling shell and set about transforming it with their own hands.

In November 2001, Tom and Judy demolished a bungalow and started building an infinitely more ambitious house. Designed on different levels, with glass walls and exposed steelwork, it was to be a miraculous piece of engineering, giving the couple and their two young children a beautiful, technologically advanced home. Tom appointed himself project manager—a job that proved to be more challenging than he had expected. Grand Designs 3 followed the first 16 months of the build. As Grand Designs 4 goes on air, how close is it to completion?

David and Greta loved their home, a modernist structure in Surrey that they had built themselves almost 40 years ago. It was filled with things they'd chosen over the years—design classics, mementoes, David's paintings. But that house was falling apart and had to come down. Meanwhile, they had lost their hearts to a German post-and-beam house, designed by architect Peter Huf and available as a customised kit.

Louise and Milko wanted to build the home of a lifetime. Milko's job as a well-paid City banker meant they could think big, so Louise set up her own architectural practice and they bought a disused violin factory in the heart of London's Waterloo. The crumbling building was hemmed in on all sides and had no views, but Louise had a vision of a spectacular loft-style home that would combine stunning design with utter luxury

Revisited Season 2 (2002) episode 4 Kevin travels to the beautiful setting of south Devon to revisit Sue and Martin, whose dream was to create a family home using old English building techniques

Revisited Season 2 (2002) episode 3 Kevin is in Amersham to update on a project taken on by Deborah and architect Andrew. Their venture involved designing an 'invisible' house that blended in with the surrounding reservoirs.

Revisited Season 2 (2002) episode 2 Kevin revisits Tony and Sharon, who fell in love with a completely dilapidated Georgian home in London and undertook the challenging task of restoring it to its former glory

Revisited Season 2 (2002) episode 1 Kevin McCloud revisits Adrian and Corrina, who decided their first home was to be a 300-year-old ruin. The former cottage is set in the inhospitable climate of the Brecon Beacons National Park.

Merry's family have been Herefordshire builders for generations, so she knew that the county was rich in traditional building crafts. She and Ben decided to combine these with technology for a new house with a genuinely rural feel. Her father drew up a design that followed the traditional cottage layout while incorporating modern comforts.

The old quarry stood on a slope of the Eden valley and commanded beautiful views. Local architect John Bodger designed a two-storey house that burrowed backwards into the rock and made maximum use of natural resources for light, warmth and power.

After 10 years of living in a small house in east London, John and Eleni hankered after modern, open-plan living. They didn't want to move, so they decided to give their Victorian terrace home a radical redesign. The house was in a conservation area, so the outside had to remain unchanged. Inside, however, they decided to rip out everything including walls, ceilings, floors and start again.

Tom and Judy wanted more than just a home for themselves and their two children. On a site of outstanding natural beauty in Buckinghamshire, they set out to build an ambitious house - a symphony of angles, glass walls and exposed steel, with a dramatic inverted roof. Tom made himself site manager and main contractor. He had no experience but he liked a challenge - and, after all, how difficult could it be?

For Philip and Angela, the build was part of a life change that had begun two years earlier. Just after their second daughter was born, Philip fell seriously ill, prompting the family to leave London and move back to his parents' village. Acquiring the site was easy, as Philip's parents owned it. Getting planning permission took longer, and a crucial factor in their success was that they would be restoring the outside of the barn and keeping the innovation hidden.

For 10 years, Ben lived in tents and caravans in a wood in West Sussex. As a woodsman, he needed and wanted to live among the trees. But after a battle with planning he finally got permission to build himself a house with more creature comforts. He invited volunteers to help him build one by hand, from the materials growing around him.

The 1930s derelict water-works Chris and Leanne fell in love with was huge and its design had clearly been inspired by Gilbert Scott's Bankside power station, now better known as the Tate Modern. But nothing would deter the couple. 'We looked at it,' said Chris, 'and saw our home.'