Grand Designs Australia

Electrician 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. For Mick, this project is more than just a test of his building capabilities. Diagnosed with dyslexia from a young age, formal education was a challenge and this project is his chance to disprove the theory he would 'never amount to much'. 

With the help of friends in the building trade, and leaning heavily on his best mate Greg, the vast and elegant building slowly but surely takes shape. But devastating and unexpected events including a broken neck and the death of his beloved father take an enormous toll, both on the project and his family and Mick is forced to make a devastating decision

Constructing an Underground Acropolis in the South Australian Desert town of Coober Pedy is an ambitious undertaking - but when Paul Athanasiadis' parents retire, he wants to build them the ultimate 'underground Greek Mansion'. Underground homes are common in Coober Pedy as a way of keeping cool, but there's none of the scale or grandeur that Paul plans for Yannis and Maria's house. 

But constructing a house under the earth is never easy. As well as the risk of catastrophic collapse, tunnelling into rock-hard ground is a test of time and patience, and when equipment breaks down everything stops. Adding to the stress, Paul is juggling two businesses, being the town Mayor and commuting 850 kilometres to Adelaide to see his own family.