Grand Designs Australia

Architect Peter Madison follows the builds on unique house being built in Australia.

Architect Domenic and his partner Sue are urban animals who love inner city suburb Surry Hills in Sydney. However, the suburb comes with a nightmare price tag so their solution is to buy small and build tall.

When Jan and Ed Gillman bought a tumble-down weatherboard in Southport, their first intention was to demolish and start again, but on learning of its unique history they decided to restore it instead.

Julie and Patrick Eltridge bought in Sydney's beachside Clovelly, paying $1.6 million for an old house on a sloping block. Now they have only months to find a way to fast track a slick, ultra modern residence.

Trevor and Francoise plan to build a cyclone-proof tropical treehouse that is windowless and based on the shape of a 50-cent piece. Trevor, a wood carver, is building it all himself with the help of generous mates.

If ever there was an ideal place for a Hamptons house outside the Hamptons, the Gold Coast hinterland would be it. For Steve and Lisa Morley it's the American dream or nothing for their 4,000 square metre block.

Peter Riedel, an engineer and his interior designer wife Mary, plan to re-build the church on their property, overlooking Wilsons Promontory and convert it into a house.

Self employed entrepreneur Drew builds a Balinese resort-style mansion in leafy Cottage Point. Not one to do things by halves, his mansion will have Balinese Pavilions, an infinity pool and a nightclub.

Rob and Ian entertain all the time and so build a very large home with 7 bathrooms, a snooker room, sauna, hot tub, theatre and a pool. They have a budget of 1.8 Australian dollars to build their dream home overlooking Port Phillip Bay on the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria State.

Trevor and Jeanette Robinson begin building their house on 15 acres in the Goobarragandra hills in New South Wales, where Trevor can move about easily in his wheelchair. But as the build progresses, his health deteriorates.

In Inverloch, Victoria, Alistair and Belinda are building a replacement home, after a fire destroyed their last dwelling, that looks like a dairy shed and has silos for bedrooms.

Building a big house in inner city Melbourne is a tricky business. But architect Annalise and project manager Kim have a plan to turn their 1850s terrace into a multi-storied modern home with a triple car-stacker.

Gary and Clare left the hustle and bustle of Sydney for a more peaceful pace with plans of building a spaceship-like domed house, reminiscent of the beautiful vaulted structures seen in Europe.

Lynne and Paul have located a property with panoramic views over the Tasman Sea. Paul intends to execute the plans to build a large modern home by living on site and project managing.

Retirees and childhood sweethearts Liz and Warren have taken on a hundred-acre Macadamia farm in Byron Bay hinterland, with grand plans to build an epic five-bedroom Mediterranean style villa-cum-castle.

Tani and Tim have plans to build a medieval 'earth castle' on their 60 acre property. Built into the sides of a man-made dam, there are plans for a drawbridge, turret, underground tunnels and even a moat.

Ben and Tania are building a three-story, three-bed house on a tiny 64-square-metre scrap of land they bought in one of north Melbourne's grittier spots.

Bel and John are building a radical underground house on 25 spectacular acres at Whittlesea, in Victoria's Plenty Valley. With John away at work for much of the build, it's up to Bel to project manage the difficult and complex process.

Fiona and Sal are building a modernist, super-contemporary home, made entirely from concrete, just a few streets back from the rolling surf at Torquay in Victoria. But Sal worries that the house is going to look like a giant crypt.

Anita and Kris Martincic hope to transform an old derelict building in Sydney. With the structure virtually a ruin, the pair face an uphill battle and ballooning costs as they attempt to create a sophisticated new home.

After buying a block of land in Clarence, a tiny pocket of the spectacular Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Dennis and Karen try to build a house that can withstand bushfires out of seven shipping containers.

After spending 2 years scouring Australia for a perfect plot, Catherine and Mick settle on 50 acres atop the rolling hills of the Fleurieu Peninsula. They begin building a structure that looks more like a corrugated iron shed than a house.

Dr Shiva Gunapu and his psychologist wife, Rima, want to incorporate the vibrant colours of their Indian heritage into their new home. To make things even more challenging, they're combining these colours with a modern design.

Electrican Mick takes on the challenge of a lifetime when he and artist wife Belynda decide to build their dream modernist home in the bucolic Dooralong Valley, on the NSW Central Coast.

Constructing an underground acropolis in the desert town of Coober Pedy in south Australia is an ambitious undertaking. But when Paul's parents retire, he wants them to have the ultimate 'underground Greek mansion'.

New host of Grand Designs Australia Anthony Burke is joined by Grand Designs UK icon Kevin McCloud on a road trip to see the best contemporary Australian architecture.

Seeking a country retreat for all their family, Ross and Cathy use their knowledge and love of the outdoors to build a cutting-edge straw home that can withstand the harshest of elements.

Husband and wife architects Gaurav and Vish design a multigenerational home for their aging parents and young children, entirely clad in over 9000 terracotta tiles.

Above Tasmania's breathtaking Huon River, Dan Rawlins must overcome personal tragedy, and his own lack of building experience, to almost singlehandedly construct an off-grid home, made of hemp.

Rookie architect Nick is aiming to solve Australia's housing crisis by showing that good design is affordable for everyone.

Returning to sixth generational family land, Sam along with wife Selina, build an off-grid forever home for their three sons from beloved Canberra Red bricks.

Sydney couple Anna and Celeste are hoping to transform a rundown Victorian terrace into a modern celebration of colour and character, with not a white wall in sight.

A former Olympic snowboarder and her builder husband take on a mountainous challenge when they decide to build a unique shed-like home on a remote ridge in Victoria's Strath Creek.

Natalie and Stuart promise to save the soul of their "fixer-upper", but face obstacles with eccentric renovations that risk upsetting the old owners.

Locked out of Melbourne's soaring housing market, Matt and Kate move to Tasmania to build two Earthships with no building experience.

Following a cancer diagnosis, Gary and Lorilie set out to build a multi-million dollar multigenerational family home.

At Rye on the Mornington Peninsula, Ryan plans to build a unique home, with boulders in the living room, and his bedroom in a cave.

Acclaimed Australian architect Ed Lippmann discovers transforming his childhood home into a signature steel and glass showpiece may be the most daunting assignment of his storied career.

Builder Nick is hoping to build his wife Rachel the ultimate house in the idyllic Blue Mountains; a place that for the first time in her life, she can finally call home.

Richard Rowles plans to live with climate change by building a flood-proof house on the banks of the volatile Brisbane River.

Psychologist Paul North employs his son Josh to take on the unique task of building a bulletproof earth berm house. The house, deep in Victoria's Yass Valley, is designed to protect them from bush fires and the extremes of climate change.

Richard and Erin Sims start out building a farm-style lodge. However, it balloons into a building of epic proportions.

A family builds an eco-friendly three-bedroom home in Hunter Valley using handmade bricks, recycled materials and earthen floors, facing timeline and budget challenges.

A pigeon racing clubhouse in Yarraville becomes a family home, built as a passive house with sustainable materials. The project faces challenges during construction while racing against time.

A couple plan to build a large home for themselves and their 3 children. They are keen to build in the 1960s modernist style with finishes of polished concrete and movable glass walls in the Brighton suburb of Melbourne. They will incorporate a central planted area, tennis court, pool and jacuzzi.

Peter Maddison meets retired engineer Bernie Ryan, who plans to use an eccentric, industrial design, a minimal budget and a cowboy attitude to build a new home in Paynesville, Victoria.

Anne and Michael plan to build a modern home with curved steel and glass walls in Sydney's Five Dock area.

Rod and Di have chosen a two acre plot of land on a rocky outcrop overlooking Kyneton for their new home.

Daniel and Andrew plan to build a resort-inspired home on a hillside overlooking the Coral Sea in Queensland.

A couple, Michael and Sandy, try to merge two house styles with a home that has thick walls encased with dry stone. For 9 years they have been making a weekend pilgrimage to their lush 20 acre property just an hour east of Melbourne. It is set in green verdant land in wine country rife with local produce. Their dream is to move there permanently, but the old house was 50-60 years old and small.

In Adelaide, Mike Dare appoints himself architect, engineer and project manager as he sets about creating a home supported by water tanks with the roof acting like a giant funnel.

Art teacher Laurie and his wife artist Renee want to build their dream home in Yellingbo, in the state of Victoria. They want to use steel, stone and grass in the single storey modern build.

Greg and Tish enlarge an old cottage by the sea, in Tasmania, and they start without a building permit. Even as they start they are over budget.

Peter Maddison meets Edd and Amanda Williams from Steels Creek in Victoria, who plan to build a robust concrete bunker that would be embedded in the landscape and safe from bushfires.

Pamela and Stuart are looking to transform their cattle property in Mansfield in the foothills of Victoria's ski fields. Will they embrace their architect's avant-garde approach for their new rural retreat?

Brett and Jenny Parsons are about to embark on a journey of blind faith with Architect Tim Jackson, who has free rein to build a replacement for their Californian Bungalow, which will be part house, part sculpture.

Peter Maddison introduces Claire Jackson and Lisa Daniel, two entertainers who want to build a sustainable home out of recycled materials. The first problem was that the foundations took 8 weeks longer than planned due to the unstable ground. Then the windows arrived but the installers never turned up.

A couple plan to build a sweeping arch house with a living roof that will have a minimum impact on the earth, but not before consulting with a Feng Shui expert.

A couple plan to build a beach house with an Asian influence in Byron Bay, NSW Australia.

Brett Ramsay and Rees Rear plan to build a tri-level design, a 21st century re-imagining of the traditional terrace house with a central indoor swimming pool on a small allotment in Sydney's inner city suburb Annandale.

James and Helen Knight's new house design isn't the norm. Set high on a ridge overlooking the undulating hills of Adelaide's Barossa Valley, the success of this logical and simple design relies on perfection in the detail.

Brunella and Carlo Novello are building on a sensitive ridgeline overlooking Queensland's glorious Glasshouse mountains. Will their concrete castle be a brilliant Brutalist adaptation that is also a warm home environment?

After years of planning, Melbourne couple Glenn and Kate Morris are finally making a start on their striking, sustainable UFO-shaped 'sand dune' house near Inverloch on Victoria's Gippsland coastline.

Bricklayer Greg and his partner Emma tear down their South Melbourne laneway townhouse to build a 3-level home out of brick. They invite their extended family to help out with Emma's parents assigned the entire ground floor.

Richard and Denise own 14 hotels so it is no surprise that when it came to designing their new house in a prime location high up in the Adelaide hills, their inspiration would come from the buildings that they love.

Ardent collectors Kerry and Judy build a Santa Fe style mud house with thick natural clay rendered walls and exposed timbers, on a sloping bush block on Sydney's north shore.

Darren and Ruth have found a large patch of land near the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Hidden down a laneway with no street frontage, this secret garden will be transformed into a contemporary three-story family mansion.

Chris and Belinda bought the land next door to their existing house, just 3.9 metres wide: a tiny gap in a long row of heritage listed cottages in Sydney's Forest Lodge. They plan to build a uniquely sustainable house.

The Bayfield's plan to build a house for their family on the highest point on their 1000-acre property - but not a traditional country homestead, they are chasing something agricultural with materials all grown on their land.

Daniela and Niran knock down their house in the prestigious Sydney suburb of Hunters Hill to, at the surprise of their neighbours, build a smaller house. The house will feature a floating concrete slab with hanging gardens.

The Blake's plan to build a new home in the harsh environment of King Island in Bass Strait. Their challenge is to produce a building that allows them to experience this environment in relative comfort.

Hippies Cole and Jane Bradshaw bought a thin sliver of land on a steep site only a landscaper could love. Cole plans to build a house on this challenging slope - a tricky task as his design consists almost entirely of curves.

Host Peter Maddison revisits Julie and Patrick who fast tracked the construction of their super slick, ultra modern home in beachside Clovelly, thanks to a firm of pre-fab builders in Victoria.

Host Peter Maddison revisits architect Domenic Alvaro and his partner Sue who bought small and built big in Surry Hills.

Host Peter Maddison returns for another season. In this episode he meets a feisty and resourceful couple who decide to trial a whole new way of building, using 31 steel shipping containers.

Georgina and Phillip buy the perfect block in Mount Eliza. All they need to do is build Georgina's latest creation - a slick, lightweight, modernist design with a schedule focused on one key ingredient, speed.

With three adult children Ariane and husband Neil are ready to downsize - but Neil needs a little arm twisting. Ariane has found the ideal block just 400 square meters in the conservative suburb of Claremont.

A few years ago, Joe Cato and his wife Maura decided to slow everything down and spend more time with their children, but it didn't take long for them to hatch a plan to turn Foxground into their permanent home.

Melbourne doctors Ian Kronborg and Ann Howard want to create a home like no other - their plan is to build a three-storey house clad entirely with water tanks.

After working abroad, Sarah and English born husband Alistair Brodie-Fraser decide to relocate back to Sarah's home town of Toowoomba, Queensland. Their plan is for something that oozes heritage, a classic English farmhouse.

When Jason Bretell and Jennifer Pancari first set eyes on a dilapidated old bluestone cottage in Melbourne's bayside suburb of Williamstown, it was love at first sight. They plan to add a two storey townhouse out the back.

Milly Bradshaw and her partner Andrew Wilson want to build a modern farmhouse with natural materials. The brief to their architect was simple: a home that not only makes the best of its location, but is truly unique.

Dean and Sherill Lamb yearn for a simpler existence, for them and their three children. They plan to minimise their carbon footprint by using natural building options, by building a house made of straw.

He had the land - but the house had to fit. Crucial in the design, was accommodating his late wife Anne's wishes in creating a pavilion style home inspired by the aesthetic of the rural Australian shearing shed.

Artistic brothers bond over a spectacular one bedroom creation at Yackandandah.

Art and Troy are swapping out their life running a grand old Bendigo bed and breakfast for a bold new and dramatically modern enterprise.

A couple who are building a fire proof, sustainable, non toxic house at Kinglake, an hour out of Melbourne.

Ralph Alphonso has grand plans for his 5x4m inner city design. It will be a massive challenge on a small scale, and Ralph is adamant this eco-friendly build will not sacrifice style or luxury at the cost of the world around him.

Seasoned renovators Mark and Karen are taking on the challenge of converting a derelict 1920's electricity substation into a cutting edge home - while preserving its history and integrity.

Nick and Kate take inspiration from their vineyard location for the first build. Their architect designed home in the shape of a leaf, with a spine stone wall running through the middle and comes with a singing studio.

Two collectors of all things 1950's build a new home with a 50's modern feel.

Photographer Nigel is building his first house with wife Nina on a site steeped in bush-land that will form his inspiration.

Barbara and Bill love modernist design so they've sought an architect designed 70s style home.

Owner/Architect Adrian is passionate about sustainable building. He has grand plans for turning his Vinegar Factory inside out by creating a four storey eco-friendly house complete with a series of walled rainforest.

Brendan and Penelope dream of a multi-tiered, multi-million dollar home, complete with infinity pool on the side of a cliff in Bondi.

A house is put together piece by piece by using cross laminated timber.

A home with an engineered tent design has a retractable roof to showcase the rainforest canopies overhead.

A house with a medieval manor design is built using methods from another time.

A couple with two small children plan to build an economical, solar passive home with three bedrooms.

An architect plans to build a foot-shaped house made entirely of curves.

An eco-loving couple plan to build a shack that will float on a pair of sand dunes.

A couple with 3 young children hope to build a stone home with a Tuscan feel and modern look. Will the two styles work harmoniously together?

A perfectionist hopes a Japanese architect will bring his Japanese-inspired home to life.

Trace and Ronnen created an original grand design in Victoria that incorporated a house, garden, stables, and animal enclosures when they combined their differences to construct their very own giant greenhouse.

Yvette and Doug bought a 100-year-old house on a whim, to transport to their idyllic 10-acre Gold Coast property, where they have resided for the last two years.

More self-builders transform their dream designs into practical living space. A designer builds a home on French Island, Victoria, featuring exposed timber trusses and dry stacked stone walls, transporting materials to the site by barge.

In Stanley, Tasmania, retired chef Phillip Murphy is tired of living between two different historical structures. He hires architect Greg Prentice to design a unique house that will bring all his properties together.

An IT engineer from Canberra uses green building materials and commercial elements to create a zero-carbon family home with sophisticated high-tech features.

A couple took early retirement and decided to build a 700 sq metre home in an isolated spot on the brow of a hill with magnificent views. The 2 year project took 5 years and went way over budget.

A young family buy a lot in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick and tear down the old home. The area is full with many Edwardian homes, and the city have many rules about what residents can do with their homes. Surprisingly this couple build a 3 building home that looks very modern. They have plans to have a fun home for the kids.

A builder wants to build a home for his family on a very steep site. It takes over 3 1/2 years and went over budget. The home has lots of stairs but has an elevator to make things easier when bringing groceries and supplies up from the driveway.

A couple with two teens want to built a unique modern home in the outskirts of Adelaide. Troubles prevail the build, they have a $400,000 budget, will that be enough?

A woman plans to built a very small home of 450 sq ft, not far from Hobart Tasmania. A crisis develops when a quote nearly quadruples for glasswork.

120 acres of old growth rainforest in Toolangi, 73 km north east of Melbourne, this couple plans to build a two storey farmhouse inspired by the 15th century 'salt box' homes of New England.

A teacher and mechanical engineer want to build the ultimate underground man shed in suburban River- basically a concrete bunker that will double as his home.

A young couple built a very modern minimalist home for themselves and 3 daughters. A few costly mistakes occur.

A couple want to build a house with mixed styles Asian, Queensland and others. The main focus is to protect them from any insects entering the house. The house will have various indoor/ outdoor areas.

Craig invented a pre-fab system of building. It should be cheaper as made in China. The couple have 2 kids and a dog.

Dion and Turi have big plans but a limited budget when they build a new, harbourside home. As the daring build, with a lap pool running through it, becomes all-consuming, there are doubts they will finish.